Science and Technology

in the Philippines

Filipino Inventions and Discoveries

 Scientists greatly help in the
economic development of a country.
In the Philippines, we have a number
of renowned scientists and
technologists whose exemplary works
and discoveries have contributed to
the progress of different industries.
Fe del Mundo
Invention: Incubator

• The first Asian to

have entered the
prestigious Harvard
University's School
of Medicine.
• She was an alumna
of the University of
the Philippines (UP)
College of Medicine.
Invention: Incubator

• An incubator is an
apparatus used to
maintain
environmental
conditions suitable
for newborn baby.
• It is used in pre-term
births or for some ill
full-term babies.
Gregorio Y. Zara
Invention: Videophone • He is a renowned
Filipino engineer and
physicist.
• He was the inventor
of the first
videophone.
• And enrolled at the
Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology (MIT) in
the United States,
and graduated with a
degree of BS in
Mechanical
Engineering in 1926.
Invention:Videophone
(1955)

The two-way
television telephone
or videophone in
1955 patented as a
"photo phone signal
separator network."
Agapito Flores • He is the inventor of the
Invention: Fluorescent fluorescent lamp funnel,
Lamp Funnel which is the most widely used
source of lighting in the world
today. The fluorescent lamp
reportedly got its name from
Flores.
• The fluorescent lamp,
however, was not invented in
a particular year. It was the
product of 79 years of the
development of the lighting
method that began with the
invention of the electric light
bulb by Thomas Edison.
Daniel Dingel
Invention: Daniel Dingel started working
on a water-powered car and
Water-powered car prototype in 1969.

His hydrogen reactor uses

electricity from a 12-volt car
battery to transform ordinary
tap water with salt into
deuterium oxide or heavy
water.

Dingel’s car has never been

patented and commercialized
because of what he suspects
as an anti-Dingel car
conspiracy by multinational oil
companies.
 • Filipinos consider Eduardo San
Eduardo San Juan Juan as the inventor of the Lunar
Invention: Lunar Rover, or more popularly known
Rover as the Moon Buggy. The Moon
Buggy was the car used by Neil
Armstrong and other astronauts
when they first explored the
moon in 1969.
• He worked for Lockheed
Corporation and conceptualized
the design of the Moon Buggy
that the Apollo astronauts used
while on the moon. As a NASA
engineer, San Juan reportedly
used his Filipino ingenuity to
build a vehicle that would run
outside the Earth's atmosphere.
He constructed his model using
homemade materials.
 San Juan, however, was not listed as the
inventor of the Moon Buggy in American
scientific journals. It said the vehicle was
designed and constructed by a group of space
engineers. In Poland, the Moon Buggy is
attributed to a Polish inventor.
Diosdado Banatao • Banatao is most known
Invention: GUI for introducing the first
(Graphical User single-chip graphical user
Interface) interface accelerator that
made computers work a
lot faster and for helping
develop the Ethernet
controller chip that made
Internet possible.
• In 1989, he pioneered the
local bus concept for
personal computers and in
the following year
developed the First
Windows accelerator chip.
• Intel is now using the chips
and technologies
developed by Banatao.
Angel Alcala
Invention: Artificial
Coral Reefs
Angel Alcala is
behind the
invention of
artificial coral reefs
used for fisheries in
Southeast Asia.
Julian Banzon

Julian Banzon researched

methods of producing
alternative fuels.
He experimented with the
production of ethyl esters
fuels from sugarcane and
coconut, and invented a
means of extracting
residual coconut and
invented means of
extracting residual coconut
oil by a chemical process
rather than a physical
process.
Marc Loinaz
Invention: One-chip The inventor of the one-chip
video camera video camera was Marc
Loinaz, a Filipino resident of
New Jersey who works with
Lucent Technologies. He was
featured in the July 1999
issue of Discover Magazine.

The 1-chip camera uses a

single computer chip to
process the colors the
camera sees. Most videos for
a Web site used with a 1-
chip camera mainly because
the video is compressed in
one-chip camera so it
transmits more quickly.
Roberto del Rosario He developed a sing along
Invention: Karaoke (1975) system in 1975 and
patented it in the 1980s
called his sing-along system
"Minus-One," now holds the
patent for the device now
commonly known as the
"karaoke machine."
Roberto del Rosario, a
Filipino, is claiming the
right for the invention of
the Sing-Along-System
(SAS) that eventually led to
the development of
Karaoke, a Japanese term
for "singing without
accompaniment".
Narciso Mosuela
Invention: Superkalan The Superkalan is a stove
that can be powered by any
substance that burns.
Narciso Mosuela of the
Filipino province of La Union
invented it and received the
Best Design award from the
Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) in 1987.
Among the substances that
can power the Superkalan
are wood, paper, dried dung
and leaves, corncobs and
coco shells. Mosuela has also
invented a functional rice
thresher.
Juan Salcedo Jr.

Developed “Enriched
Rice,” a rice variety
fortified with vitamin
B1, which helps
prevent beriberi. His
discovery helped
reduce the cases of
beriberi in the
Philippines and in
other countries.
 Horticulturist Ramon Barba
Ramon Barba
is known for inventing
techniques to promote crop
flowering. His work, which
has helped develop the local
mango industry, is the only
invention in Southeast Asia
that the World Intellectual
Property Organization
recognizes.
Barba’s other researches,
meanwhile, focus on tissue
culture of bananas,
sugarcane, and other
horticultural crops to
develop methodologies in
plant physiology and plant
breeding.
Famous Filipinos in the
Field of Science
Lee-Chua (2000)
identified 10 outstanding
Filipino scientists who
have made significant
contributions in Philippine
science.

These scientists are also

famous abroad in different
science disciplines:
agriculture, mathematics,
physics, medicine marine
science, chemistry,
engineering and biology.
Dr. Ramon Cabanos Barba
was named a National
Scientist of the Philippines
in 2014 for inventing a
way to induce flowering in
mango trees regardless of
season, boosting the local
mango industry.
• Dr. Josefino Cacas Comiso:
NASA’s Filipino physicist
• He has studied many polar
processes and was among
the first researchers to report
dramatic changes in the
Arctic sea ice cover and
accelerated warming at high
latitudes in the Northern
Hemisphere.
• He is a recipient of the NASA
Exceptional Achievement in
Science Medal (one of the
most prestigious award given
to a NASA scientist) and many
other awards,.
Dr. Jose Bejar Cruz
known internationally in
the field of engineering
and for outstanding
contributions to the
field of automatic
control in research,
teaching, and service.
• Dr. Lourdes J. Cruz is lauded
for her research on Conus
geographus, a marine snail
found in the Philippines.
• Working alongside fellow
experts, she studied the
properties of the snail’s
venom, which were largely
unknown at the time.
• Their research paved the
way toward finding practical
uses for conotoxins, leading
to breakthroughs in
neuroscience and medicine.
• Dr.Fabian Millar Dayrit is
known for his phytochemical
work for the development of
lagundi as part of the
National Integrated Research
Program on Medicinal Plants.
• He has worked on other
important natural products,
including medicinal plants,
coconut oil, and
carrageenan. He is currently
focused on the development
of standardization and
profiling methods for
medicinal plants.
• Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero
was recognized because
of his scientific and
technical contributions
to the growth of Sex
Reversal and Hatchery
Techniques that help
the commercial
fabrication of high
yielding market-size
tilapia in the Philippines
and other nations.
• Dr. Enrique Mapua
Ostrea Jr. pioneered
the use of meconium in
the testing the
mother’s abuse of
drugs during the
course of pregnancy.
• A Filipino medical
doctor known for his
researches in
pediatrics.
Dr. Lilian F. Patena is a Filipino
scientist who discovered a breed
of calamansi and seedless pomelo and
discovered micropropagation which
established the banana industry in the
Philippines.
She is also an inventor of leaf-bud
cutting in cassava.
She was recognized as one of The
Outstanding Women in the Nation's
Service (TOWNS) in 1998, Women of
Distinction for Science and
Technology in 1995, and Outstanding
Young Scientist in 1990.
Dr. Mari-Jo Ruiz is
known locally and
internationally as an
expert in graph theory
and operations
research, and her
expertise is valued not
only in the academe but
in different industries
and sectors as well.
•Dr. Gregory L. Tangonan
Specialties:
• Innovation and Technology
• Intellectual property
strategies for innovators
• International engineering
projects in smart energy
solutions and sustainable
environment and
environmental monitoring.
• High Technology
Competitiveness Analysis
and Leap-frog Strategies
for developing countries.
• Dr. Caesar A. Saloma
received the Galileo
Galilei Award from the
International Commission
for Optics in recognition
of his significant
contributions in the field
of optics that were
accomplished under
comparatively
unfavorable conditions.
• He is the first scientist
from an ASEAN member
country to receive the
Galileo Award.
• Dr. Edgardo D. Gomez
is known for his
pioneering works and
invaluable contributions
to marine biology,
• Gomez led the world’s
first national-scale
assessment of damage
to coral reefs, work
which led to him being
conferred the title of
National Scientist of the
Philippines in 2014.
• Dr. William G. Padolina,
professor and
academician, is the
current president of the
National Academy of
Science and Technology
(NAST).
• His professional career is
truly a rich convergence
of his roles as scientist,
teacher, researcher,
administrator, and policy
maker.
• Dr. Angel Alcala is a world-
renowned Filipino ecologist and
biologist with more than 30
years of contributions to the
field of conservation biology.
• He was the first scientist to
comprehensively study the
reptiles and amphibians of the
Philippines, and his research led
to the identification of more
than 50 new species.
• He was named a National
Scientist of the Philippines in
2014 for his research into
Philippine amphibians and
reptiles, as well as the
conservation of marine-
protected areas.
• There are other scientists in the Philippines who
were not identified in the list. Yet, the Philippines
still need more scientists and engineers, and there
is a need to support scientific research in the
country.
• The UP-Los Baños is a science paradise for
agriculture, forestry, plant and animal science, and
veterinary science. It has produced numerous
scientists and various research in the field
mentioned.
• Many of these Filipino scientists are products of
good school science. It means that they were
taught and inspired by great teachers. Their
interests in science started to manifest during their
childhood years.