Kickass inventors with heart
Is there a brain drain of Pinoy scientists and environment-friendly inventions? Nope. Here, an army of creations from local geniuses that would please Mother Earth.
We all crave for and rave about the latest iPhone6, the grooviest car, the tallest building, the most reliable power banks—but all at the expense of the planet. But hey, in some parts of the globe, there is still a community of modernized nymphs and deities and protectors of nature, who have compassion for Mother Earth. In Australia, there’s a waste sifting system that segregates the recyclables. Israel, meanwhile, has a green wheelchair made from cardboards. Germany, Switzerland, and Japan have green roofs.
The Philippines is not to be outdone. Our 7,107 islands have a surplus of local Einsteins and Edisons, though they are mostly unappreciated, underrated, even unrecognized. When Jose Rizal was exiled in Dapitan, he discovered three new species of animals, all later named after him, the dracoli rizali (lizard), apogania rizali (beetle), and rhacophorus rizali (frog). He also invented a water system for the community. In the field of science, Fe del Mundo is credited for her studies that led to the discovery and invention of the incubator.
While we have lots of geniuses and future inventors in the making, the problem, however is the limited or lack of support and resources. According to non-government organization Filipino Inventors Society secretary general Teodorico Castañeda, we have an RA 7459 (Inventors and Inventions Incentives Acts of the Philippines) that was approved in 1992 after a series of legislative processes.
PINOY PRIDE From left: Solar panels (Image by ali vicoy) and solar stove (Image by mark balmores) that Mother Earth would surely love.
“Incentives are given to our inventors, but instead of grants they are becoming loans. Worse, some of our local inventions don’t get patented because of a tedious process. Minsan nawawalan sila ng loob or nabubuwisit. Minsan, tinatawaran pa ng gobyerno. So the tendency is they sell their works to other interested parties, mostly abroad or to private companies,” says Teodorico.
Many aspiring inventors apply at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) to get patent and assistance. Nevertheless, Teodorico says, we must support all our untapped natural resources to be converted into a powerful economic tool.
In 2007, Bacolod native Jayme Navarro discovered a way to convert plastic bags into fuel: gasoline, diesel, and kerosene. The process is nothing new—many inventors have already turned plastics into fuel, According to the Got Eco Technology, Jayme got his patent approved with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines because of his unique system called Pyrolysis. This process includes dried plastic, which will be shredded into smaller pieces and heated in a thermal chamber. The invention has been going for months and, on average, can produce 400 liters of diesel from 5,000 kilos of plastic bags.
There’s an army of other Pinoy inventors coming up with goods that don’t cost the earth. A group of engineering and agro-industrial technology students at UP Los Baños invented a solar powered balut maker. La Union native Narciso Mosuela created super kalan, a stove that runs on paper, wood, leaves, or coconut shells. This year, 15-year-old high school student Angelo Casimiro invented an in-sole shoe power generator that can charge phones, radios, and flashlights. He says jogging eight hours straight can charge a 400mAh lithium ion battery.
While he is not an engineer or a scientist, visual artist Frederick Epistola is the brains (and the heart) behind the Solar Power Initiative (SPIN) project, a compact and affordable home lighting system that has given light and hope to over 86 Mangyan families and over 500 houses in far-flung areas.
While there are more private companies and individuals investing on environment-friendly discoveries, in all fairness to our government, Makati City has launched its green e-jeepneys, which carry 24 passengers and can run 43 miles per day.
The Philippines (and the world) is not lacking in scientists and inventors, but rather, Teodorico stresses, in support. While we invest time and effort and money in technologies that ease and please us, why don’t we do the same for our environment? After all, anyone can be his or her own inventor and we don’t need fancy laboratories or Einstein-level IQ.
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