What We Value...

Image Source: The Daily Show, skit

Topics: Commentary, Nobel Laureate, Nobel Prize, NSBP, NSHP, Steven Weinberg

I can say I've met a Nobel Laureate in Professor Weinberg, and potential ones in my life (one of his students in particular, he and his wife personal friends). I can state I haven't been disappointed in them as people, warm, approachable and knowledgeable about physics and life. I lament I am too young to not have lived when Einstein was alive.

Open carry became law in the state of Texas this month on January 1st; August 1st for the campuses. Some businesses have the ability to mitigate them as likely, their customers don't want to think about weapons next to their groceries or lattes...

Dr. Weinberg - in the brief time I met him at the NSBP/NSHP conference in Austin - probably doesn't do "too much fuss" well. He likely endures it, but would rather not.

There is not one scintilla of evidence that a "good guy with a gun" thwarts a bad guy. There's more data that flying lead tends to have an exponential multiplier effect, and that sometimes tragically with trained law enforcement personnel...and citizens.

So, this is a very bold stance, but an important one: what do we value as a culture? Is it knowledge, as in the competitive knowledge needed for 21st Century employment in a global economy, or macho John Wayne/G.I. Joe fantasies of shootouts with cap pistols/paint balls, and a cartoon (no death) reset?

Everyone in this country has the right to every single amendment of the Constitution. We tend to overlook this:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. I'd think part of that happiness is coming home in the same shape you left in.

A professor: any level, anywhere - Nobel Laureate, Tenured, Assistant, Associate, Teacher K-12 - has to teach with a certain impunity to tell the student sometimes hard things, such as you didn't master the material. That's usually known as drop before the last date, or accept the less-than-"C" grades. No one wants to feel held hostage in their classrooms. Hormones and hurt feelings: what could POSSIBLY go wrong?

Hopefully, a flagship university values having a Nobel Prize winner as part of their science research faculty. If not, I'm sure any other campus will welcome him with open arms and demands met, or as he has alluded, he might retire. Other scientists, engineers and other fields might follow the example of his exodus.  It could possibly be a great loss to the university, to science; the epitome of a Pyrrhic Victory.

Entropy - the tendency of systems to go from order to chaos/disorder - is how we came to measure something called time and its changes; it claims us all eventually.

It just needn't be as sudden as our current national asylum.

Texas Tribune:
Nobel Laureate Professor: I'm Banning Guns in My UT Classroom, Matthew Watkins
Nobel Laureate Becomes Reluctant Anti-Gun Leader, Madlin Mekelburg

Einstein's Dead Sea Scrolls...

Source: Link below

On the sexist treatment of Madame Curie (fellow Nobel Laureate):

The treatment to which Einstein referred included the fact that the French Academy of Sciences denied her application for a seat, possibly because of rumors that she was Jewish — or because she was having an affair with a married man, the physicist Paul Langevin.

“I am convinced that you consistently despise this rabble,” Einstein wrote, “whether it obsequiously lavishes respect on you or whether it attempts to satiate its lust for sensationalism!”

“Anyone who does not number among these reptiles,” he said of her critics, “is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages among us as you, and Langevin too, real people with whom one feels privileged to be in contact.”

Einstein concluded that “[i]f the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don’t read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptiles for whom it has been fabricated.”

On the discrimination against African Americans:

“Even among these there are prejudices of which I as a Jew am clearly conscious,” he continued, “but they are unimportant in comparison with the attitude of the ‘Whites’ toward their fellow-citizens of darker complexion, particularly toward Negroes. The more I feel an American, the more this situation pains me. I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.”

Einstein then addressed the complaints of those who have had “unfavorable experiences…living side by side with Negroes” which have led them to believe “[t]hey are not our equals in intelligence, sense of responsibility, reliability.”

“I am firmly convinced that whoever believes this suffers from a fatal misconception,” he wrote. “Your ancestors dragged these black people from their homes by force; and in the white man’s quest for wealth and an easy life they have been ruthlessly suppressed and exploited, degraded into slavery. The modern prejudice against Negroes is the result of the desire to maintain this unworthy condition.”

“The ancient Greeks also had slaves,” he wrote. “They were not Negroes but white men who had been taken captive in war. There could be no talk of racial differences. And yet Aristotle, one of the great Greek philosophers, declared slaves inferior beings who were justly subdued and deprived of their liberty. It is clear that he was enmeshed in a traditional prejudice from which, despite his extraordinary intellect, he could not free himself.”

The "Dead Sea Scrolls of Physics" online: Princeton Einstein Papers
#P4TC: Einstein

Diaspora Denouement...

Alder Koten Institute

From the beginning of the month, I quote the post Mes de la Herencia Hispana:

"The irony: in a country of immigrants, we're becoming "tribal"; somehow E pluribus unum: out of many, one - has lost its original Latin origins and just become a slogan printed on our money - if we ever bother to look at it.

"'Self-deportation' and repatriation as some have suggested would be a logistical and political nightmare that the global economy would immediately reject us as incompetent and unstable. Diversity has to be our strength, we have no other choice for continued existence as a nation state. If not, other countries that had neither a 'remember the Alamo' nor Civil War will make us look like a byword, an anachronism...a joke on the pages of history.

"That devolution does not have to take long..."

If you've reached this point, I hope you've learned something that you didn't already know about Hispanic History; Hispanic and Latino diaspora.

Diaspora: a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived (Merriam-Webster). The term is typically used for certain groups - African Americans, Jews, etc., but it should apply to everyone - EVERYONE in America is from somewhere else, voluntarily or not, than where their ancestors lived.

Hispanic and Latino culture originated in Europe/Spain, spread through colonization to the Central and South Americas; the Philippines. It is a story that is not often told, as diversity studies are under assault by myopic, authoritarian forces that attack education  - important for an informed citizenry as well as the 1st Amendment right of civil disobedience; voting rights and thus the underpinnings of democracy itself.

I am neither Hispanic/Latino nor an expert in your history. I am a science enthusiast and an advocate of the democratization of knowledge - real knowledge, based on observation, empirical study and peer review - bringing to its participants freedom and empowerment.

You are the generation that since 1982 have never known life without a search engine. It's on your cell phones. Use it to fill in the gaps your schools for various reasons cannot. If the Internet is a playground, let it be for your own enrichment, knowledge and thus your power. You are also the generation that has not thought deeply about your rights, how tentative they are and the forces aligned* to block you from them, delude them and ultimately eliminate them.

"Remember, remember the 4th of November." The fourth - if you're 18 and above - is important for you to register and participate in. I will be, off line: volunteering, calling, campaigning and voting. It's homage to my sister - a youthful soldier in the Civil Rights Movement, so that her sacrifices and temps of fate - nearly losing her several frightening times - won't have been in vain. Democracy is not for armchair athletes; solutions are by the "consent of the governed," as shown in participation in the democratic republic procedure of elections, and that cannot be downloaded at optical speeds. Participation is vital to its existence; lacking it the opposite becomes undesirable, and darkly obvious.

Seeing where you've been as a culture hopefully will give you pride and confidence in where you are all eventually going - inevitably, to the future and the majority. That is a matter-of-fact; not destiny. Be an informed citizenry - and be involved in your country. Now is a good time to practice.

"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely."

Edward Osborne Wilson, entomologist and biologist known for his work on ecology, evolution, and sociobiology.

* “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."

Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, scientist, statesman and 2nd President of the United States.

Inventor Benjamin Valles...

Source: LinkedIn

Hometown: Chihuahua, Mexico

Link to patents: here

System and method for preforming cable for promoting adhesion to overmolded sensor body
Patent number: 7077022
Abstract: The end portion of the insulation sheath of a cable is formed into a grommet to promote better mechanical bonding with a vehicle sensor housing that is overmolded onto the cable.
Type: Grant
Filed: March 3, 2004
Issued: July 18, 2006
Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
Inventor: Benjamin Valles

Embed for some platforms (patent 1 of 5 in both mediums):

Inventor Emilio Sacristan...

Source

Hometown: Santa Ursula Xitla, Mexico

Link to patents: here

7 of 17:
Universal pneumatic ventricular assist device
Patent number: 7217236
Abstract: A pneumatic ventricular assist device (VAD) is disclosed for use in any circulatory support application including RVAD, LAVD, or BIVAD, trans-operative, short-term or long-term, tethered implantable or extracorporeal. In the preferred embodiment, the VAD consists of a soft contoured pump shell and a disposable pumping unit, which includes: a pump sac; an inlet and an outlet (a.k.a. discharge) with one-way valves; and tubing connectors. The valves comprise a cantilevered pair of closely adjacent thin ledges, nicknamed “valve leaflets,” that resemble needle-nose pliers. The valve leaflets permit a one-way flow of blood between them, as an opposite flow pinches the distal ends of leaflets together, thereby closing off the channel between them. This design is specially designed to allow continuous and fluid movement of blood (in one direction) while limiting blood-contacting surfaces.
Type: Grant
Filed: May 25, 2004
Issued: May 15, 2007
Assignee: Innovamedica S.A. de C.V.
Inventors: Moises Calderon, Emilio Sacristan

Embed for some platforms (patent 7 of 17 for both mediums):

Juan Manuel Lozano...

Image Source

At Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana ( TAM ) we transform dreams into reality.

TAM is the world leader in hydrogen peroxide rocket engines for helicopters and related technologies.

Juan Manuel Lozano has been working with hydrogen peroxide propulsion systems since 1975, inventor of the penta-metallic catalyst pack to be used with organic hydrogen peroxide, and inventor of the most popular machine in the world to produce your own hydrogen peroxide to be used as a rocket fuel.

Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana: Juan Manuel Lozano, inventor

Felipe Vadillo-Ortega, M.D., PhD...

Source: Biology of Reproduction

Research Interests & Projects

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Birth Outcomes in Mexico City. We will investigate how air pollution and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) component of particles can influence the outcome of pregnancy, and whether certain periods of gestation represent critical time windows and opportunities for preventive intervention.

Air Pollution, Inflammation and Preterm Birth: A Mechanistic Study in Mexico City. We will advance understanding of prematurity by investigating how air pollution and inflammation may act together to influence the outcome of pregnancy, and whether certain periods of gestation represent critical time windows and opportunities for preventive interventions, both clinical and environmental.

Professional Affiliations

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)

School of Public Health
University of Michigan: Felipe Vadillo-Ortega, M.D., PhD

Dr. María González...

“500 million people worldwide suffer from invasive amebiasis, the disease kills 110,000 people per year.”

Born on Sept. 10, 1955 in San Buenaventura, Coahuila, Mexico. Dr. González won the MEXWII 2006 award for her work on diagnostic methods for invasive amebiasis. María González patented the processes to diagnose invasive amebiasis, a parasitic disease that kills over 100,000 people each year.

Her parents are Maria del Socorro Garcia Gonzalez and Humberto Flores Flores. She is the first of 5 siblings from her family and is now married to Federico Castaneda and has a daughter Ana Cecilia and son Juan Jorge. Dr. González grew up in a home where everyone was treated equally and her parents always instilled the importance of a good education. She was raised to help people study and get ahead. Dr. Gonzalez’s parents had a very open relationship with their children and always had open dialoge during dinner. Dr. Gonzalez’s Grandmother was a very strong willed woman that inspired Dr. Gonzalez to excel.

She studied her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry as a drug biologist at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences at the Autonomous University of Coahuila (1976). Master’s and doctorate of Science specializing in immunology (1986) at the National School of Biological Sciences of the National Polytechnic Institute (1982). Conducted a post-doctoral in the Unité d, Immunohematopatologie. Institute in Paris Paris (1985). Dr. Gonzalez is the author of 21 articles published in national and international journals and 17 popular articles.

Amazing Mexicans: Dr. María del Socorro Flores González

Dr. José Hernández-Rebollar...

José Hernandez-Rebollar -- Electrical Engineer

Inventor of the AcceleGlove, a glove-like device that translates sign language into written words for deaf individuals.

Born in the state of Puebla, Mexico, Jose Hernandez-Rebollar is a young scientist whose made a reputation for himself as a young innovator with big ideas. Long before this electrical engineer moved to the U.S. from Mexico on a Fulbright scholarship to complete work for his Ph.D at Georgetown University, he had dreamed of the possibility of creating a way for deaf people to translate sign language into text and sound by electronic means. Through persistence and the power of engineering, he has achieved that goal.

In His Own Words: Commenting on future applications of his invention, he says: “The idea is not to fix deafness. The idea is to provide an instrument that can translate ASL [American Sign Language] to other languages.”

USA Science Festival: José Hernandez-Rebollar, PhD

Roberto del Rosario...

Source: Link below

Music is an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner, and one true bloodied Filipino have it’s own share of this kind of fashion. He is the inventor of the one-man band.

Roberto del Rosario is the president of the Trebel Music Corporation and the inventor of the Karaoke Sing Along System in 1975. Roberto del Rosario has patented more than twenty inventions making him one of the most prolific Filipino inventor. Besides his famous Karaoke Sing Along System Roberto del Rosario has also invented:

•Trebel Voice Color Code (VCC)

•piano tuner’s guide

•piano keyboard stressing device

•voice color tape

Roberto del Rosario – Noted Patents:

•Patent No. UM-5269 dated 2 June 1983 for audio equipment and improved audio equipment commonly known as the sing-along system or karaoke

•Patent No. UM-6237 dated 14 November 1986 audio equipment and improved audio equipment commonly known as the sing-along system or karaoke

Roberto del Rosario – Karaoke Sing Along System:

Karaoke is a Japanese expression for singing along to a famous record with the vocals removed. Roberto del Rosario described his sing-along system as a handy multi-purpose compact machine which incorporates an amplifier speaker, one or two tape mechanisms, optional tuner or radio and microphone mixer with features to enhance one’s voice, such as the echo or reverb to stimulate an opera hall or a studio sound, with the whole system enclosed in one cabinet casing.

Del Rosario, 71, died peacefully in August 2003.

Pinoy Achievers Blog: Roberto del Rosario, one-man band inventor

Dr. Gregorio Zara ...

Gregorio Zara — Filipino physicist and aeronautical engineer

Creator of the first videophone (a forerunner of such video telecommunication applications as Skype, Webcam and videoconferencing) and discoverer of the physical law known as the “Zara Effect.”

Back in the 1950′s, the videophone — a telephone device that allows you to see the individual you are speaking with in real (or near-real) time — was a mere dream of science fiction. But physicist and aeronautical engineer Gregorio Zara, one of the Philippines’ most celebrated inventors, began to change all that in 1955 when he introduced the first videophone. Gregorio, the creator of other early models of futuristic technology ( including a solar battery, a talking robot, and an airplane engine powered by biofuel), was born in 1902 in Lipa City, Batangas, a province in the Philippines. After graduating as valedictorian of his high school class, he enrolled at the University of the Philippines, and later went on the U.S. and France to complete his training in engineering and physics. Already he was formulating innovative ideas of the future that would hallmark his career.

Why He’s Important: Gregorio is perhaps best known as the inventor of the videophone, which he patented in 1955 as a “photo phone signal separator network.” Five years after he invented the instrument, AT&T began work on commercial application of a video phone (or “picturephone”). The company introduced the video phone to the public in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair, but the device did not become a viable marketable item until about 30 years later when it was integrated with the internet as the digital revolution took off. Video phones are especially popular today with the hearing impaired, in addition to being rooted in such familiar technologies as cell phones, telemedicine, Skype, distant learning and videoconferencing.

Other Achievements: In 1930, Gregorio discovered the physical law of electrical kinetic resistance (called the Zara Effect). “Kinetic electrical resistance is the resistance to the passage of electric current when contacts are in motion. Permanent electrical resistance manifests itself when contacts are at rest,” according to the online library Scribd.com in describing the Zara Effect.

Education: Gregorio earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1926 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), his Master’s of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan (graduating summa cum laude), and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Sorbonne University in Paris (again, graduating summa cum laude, or “Tres Honorable” — the first Filipino given that honor from the university).

USA Science and Engineering Festival: Gregorio Zara, PhD

Dr. Benjamin Cabrera...

Source: Famous Scientists link below

Filipino scientist Benjamin Cabrera is one person that really deserves a pat on the back because not only is he a physician but he is also known for his works on public health and medical parasitology. He is a scientist that never seems to run out of ideas and uses his brain to bring advances solutions to problems. He has had a lot of achievements and while most of the have been significant, there are some works of his that just really stand out and are still significant and in use up until today. He boasts more than a hundred scientific publications to his name. His specialties were focused on public health and parasitology and this is where he did a lot of work and introduced a lot of breakthroughs in. It is important to note that he made his discoveries and breakthroughs during a time when technology wasn't yet too advanced and yet he managed and excelled and made some of the most ground-breaking breakthroughs and innovations in his chosen field and specialty.

Dr. Cabrera was quite prolific and published more than a hundred studies that on medical parasitology and public health. Not only did he write and publish his findings but he also made some very important innovations that changed the way diseases from mosquitoes were treated. He also made headway into developing treatments for parasite-infested agricultural soil. Seeing as his native country relied heavily in agriculture, his findings and innovations brought a lot of benefits to his homeland and alleviate a lot of their problems with land and parasites.

11 years after he graduated with his Master’s Degree, he and a certain Lee M. Howard conducted the very first study that focused on simian malaria. The study was conducted in the Philippines where they found that 8.6% of the animals they tested had malaria. The study was admittedly somewhat limited but it did show significant findings and suggested that the cases of simian malaria weren’t really all that significant and didn’t pose a real threat to the Filipino population.

His works were all significant but one stood out above the rest and it was about the study he conducted on filariasis which is an infectious and parasitic tropical disease that is brought about by infestations of thread-like nematode worms that belong to the Filariodea family. Dr, Cabrera’s work on this tropical disease is what garnered him the Philippine Legion of Honor which was a Presidential Award back in the year 1996.

Famous Scientists: Benjamin Cabrera, PhD

Benjamin Almedah...

"Buy N Earn." More about the company logo, mission, vision and core beliefs here.

Almedah Food Machineries Corporation has its humble beginnings in 1954 when Mr. Benjamin G. Almeda, Sr., founded the Almeda Cottage Industry which manufactured then his basic food processing inventions like Rice Grinder, Meat Grinder and Coconut Grater. Aside from Mr. Almeda’s inherent talent for original designs and inventions, he has the social driving vision of putting up a business which puts other people in business. For all of these he earned the title of Father of the Filipino Inventors and other prestigious awards.

Almeda Cottage Industry products could be found in the entire stretch of our nation from north to south. In the public markets, restaurants, school canteens, food stalls and even in households further attesting to its social motto of “OUR BUSINESS PUTS PEOPLE IN BUSINESS”. This time, most visible are the Ice Crushers, Grinders, Shredders, Hamburger Grills, Hotdog Rollers, Waffle Cookers and Bibingka Ovens.\r\n\r\nWith the boom of Food Industry in the latter part of 80’s and the subsequent change in the eating habits of the Filipinos, it became imperative that new strategies and more efficient approach to processing and preparation of food derivatives be employed. This saw the influx of foreign based food companies bringing in the latest and technologically advance food machineries. As a natural consequence, the local entrepreneurs in food business sourced their equipments from these foreign companies notwithstanding the high cost of the equipments, the duties and taxes of importation and the problem of post sales service and availability of parts. This natural phenomenon happened not because of prejudice for equipments that are locally made but because there is just no manufacturing company in the Philippines that is technologically capable of the more demanding needs of these boom in Food Industry.

As a consequence, Carlos, the youngest son of Mr. Almeda, came in the forefront of the family business to meet the demands and challenges of the modern technologies, proving once more that a Filipino can compete in the global demands of Food Industry. In October 1986, Mr. Benjamin G. Almeda who was 76 years old by then, finally relinquished full control of Almeda Cottage Industry to Carlos, who was by then a young physician by profession. He was given preference over his older brothers who were all engineers by profession because he showed sincere concern for the family business and his natural and inborn technological talents and marketing savvy inspite of the demands of his profession as a physician. With his assumption, possessing an uncanny ability for designing equipment that would put professional engineers to shame and coupled with a passion for excellence and a natural feel for market forces, he embued in the company a spirit of dynamism and unflinching competitiveness. In order to attain accuracy and precision, he bought computerized machineries for design and manufacturing, the same kind that were used by his foreign based competitors. These bold and ambitious steps and undertakings propelled the company back on the road to regaining the lead in the manufacture of food processing equipments which ALMEDAH FOOD MACHINERIES CORP. is today. Without discarding any of its original products and equipments, he added not only new line of specialty equipments but also complete manufacturing system for food industry. What used to be a monopoly of foreign based companies found an unwavering local competition.

Almedah Food Machineries: Benjamin Almedah, inventor and founder

Federico Cantero Villamil...

Image Source

Federico Cantero Villamil (Madrid, 22 June 1874 - 1946) was a Spanish civil engineer known for the dams he constructed and planned along the river Duero and for his research on the aeronautical field, which is summarized in the Libélula española, a helicopter constructed by him.

His parents were the civil engineer Federico Cantero Seirullo and Isabel Villamil Olivares. He married Tránsito Cid, and they had two children. A few years later she died. Later, Cantero married Concepción García-Arenal Winter, a granddaughter of Concepción Arenal, and they had six children.

He became an engineer 30 September 1896, with the first mark. He did his working practice during 1897 in Zamora, and in 1900 he began to work at the "Jefatura de Obras Públicas de Zamora". In May 1900 he asked and obtained a leave in order to work in hydraulics. At that moment, the governments of Spain and Portugal were planning how to exploit the hydroelectric potential of the river Duero.

In 1899 founds the society "El porvenir de Zamora" (The Prospect of Zamora), with the aim of funding and exploiting the dam of San Roman, near Zamora. Its construction lasted until 1903. This dam took profit of a "hoz" (meander) of river Duero that was 11.2 km. long. He opened a tunnel 1.5 km. long and built up the turbines and engines at the other side. By means of this, the unevenness from the reservoir to the turbines measured 14 meters, while the height of the dam was only 5 meters.

Although Cantero's main work was that of the dams, since 1908 he was patenting other inventions in the field of aeronautics. His main interest was the problem of flight. It is in 1910 when he patented an ...idea to hold bodies in the air, and, if wanted, propulsion. Thirty-four patents followed the first one, being the last ones devoted to the helicopter he constructed: the Libélula española.

Wikipedia: Federico Cantero Villamil, inventor

Fernando "Frank" Caldeiro...

Astronaut Fernando (Frank) Caldeiro poses in front of the orbiter Discovery

FERNANDO (FRANK) CALDEIRO

NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)

PERSONAL DATA: Born June 12, 1958 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but considered New York City and Merritt Island, Florida, to be his hometowns. He died on October 3, 2009 following a 2-1/2 year battle with a brain tumor. He is survived by his wife, the former Donna Marie Emero of Huntington Beach, California, and two daughters.

EDUCATION: Graduated from W.C. Bryant High School, Long Island City, New York, in 1976; received an associate degree in applied science in Aerospace Technology from the State University of New York at Farmingdale in 1978, a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1984, and a master of science degree in engineering management from the University of Central Florida in 1995.

ORGANIZATIONS: Experimental Aircraft Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

AWARDS: Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Technical Leadership Certificate; Rockwell International Corp. Certificate of Commendation; Group Achievement Awards (9); KSC Center Director Round Table Award; KSC Superior Performance Awards (2); KSC Public Affairs Certificate of Appreciation for Service. University of Central Florida Distinguished Alummni, 2001 Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry Hispanic Scientist of the Year. Appointed in 2002 by President G. W. Bush to serve in the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans under the President’s “No Child Left Behind Act”.

EXPERIENCE: From 1985-1988, Caldeiro worked as a test director during the production and flight test of the Rockwell/USAF B-1B Bomber. In that capacity he was involved in the checkout and delivery of all 100 aircraft. In 1988, he was transferred by Rockwell International to the Kennedy Space Center as a space shuttle main propulsion system specialist. In this capacity he was the Rockwell International design center representative for the ground processing and launch of the Orbiter Discovery.

NASA: Fernando "Frank" Caldeiro, astronaut

George D. Zamka...

Astronaut Testimonials

GEORGE D. ZAMKA (COLONEL, USMC, RET.)

NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)

PERSONAL DATA: Born in 1962 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Raised in New York City; Irvington, New York; Medellin, Colombia; and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Married to the former Elisa P. Walker of Mississippi; they have two children. He enjoys weightlifting, running, bicycling, scuba diving and boating. His mother, Sofia Zamka, and brother, Conrad P. Zamka, both live in Florida. His father, Conrad Zamka, resides in Indiana.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Rochester Adams High School, Rochester Hills, Michigan, in 1980. Received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the United States Naval Academy in 1984; received a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1997.

ORGANIZATIONS: Association of Space Explorers, United States Naval Academy Alumni Association, Marine Corps Association and Marine Corps Aviation Association.

SPECIAL HONORS: NASA Space Flight Medal (two), NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Strike Air Medal (six), Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V and various other military service and campaign awards. Distinguished Graduate, United States Naval Academy. Commodore’s list and Academic Achievement Award, Training Air Wing Five. Awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

EXPERIENCE: Zamka was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in May 1984. After basic flight training, he was trained as an A-6E pilot at Whidbey Island, Washington, from 1987 to 1988. He then flew with Marine All Weather Attack Squadron VMA(AW)-242 in El Toro, California. He served in administration and flight safety roles and also as squadron weapons and tactics instructor. In 1990, he trained to be an F/A-18 pilot and was assigned to Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron VMFA(AW)-121, also in El Toro. He flew the F/A-18D Night Attack Hornet during overseas deployments to Japan, Korea, Singapore and Southwest Asia. Zamka flew 66 combat missions over occupied Kuwait and Iraq during Desert Storm. In 1993, he served with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in Camp Pendleton, California, and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in the Western Pacific. He was selected to attend the United States Air Force Test Pilot School class 94A and graduated in December 1994. Zamka was then assigned as an F/A-18 test pilot/project officer and the F/A-18 operations officer for the Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron (NSATS). While assigned to NSATS, Zamka flew a wide variety of tests in the F/A-18 Hornet, including high angle of attack, loads, flutter, crew equipment and weapon system programs. Zamka returned to VMFA(AW)-121 in 1998 and was serving as the aircraft maintenance officer deployed to Iwakuni, Japan, when he was selected for the astronaut program. Colonel Zamka retired from the Marine Corps in August 2010.

He has logged more than 5,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as a pilot by NASA in June 1998, Zamka reported for astronaut candidate training in August 1998. He has served in various technical and leadership roles in the Astronaut Office, including space rendezvous and proximity operations, landing and rollout instructor and lead for shuttle systems within the Shuttle Operations Branch. Zamka served as lead for the Shuttle Training and Procedures Division and as supervisor for the astronaut candidate class of 2004. In 2007, he completed his first spaceflight as pilot on STS-120. For his second spaceflight, Zamka commanded the crew of STS-130, which flew in February 2010. Colonel Zamka has logged more than 692 hours in space. In March 2013, Zamka retired from NASA. He is now serving as the Deputy Associate Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, for Commercial Space Transportation.

NASA: George D. Zamka, Colonel, USMC, astronaut, retired

Victor Ochoa...

Images Source: Smithsonian Education

The Ochoa Plane

Ochoa's machine is made of a framework of steel spring and steel tubing which he has contrived to put together in such a manner that it can be folded by working a lever. Over the framework is stretched a canvas covering. The plane is about twenty-six feet wide and the machine measures from front to back only six feet. The rear rudder is similar to a bird's tail.

The whole arrangement is mounted upon two bicycle frames whose wheels form the groundwork of the aeroplane. Between the bicycle frames, the inventor has mounted a six-horse power motor, below which he has placed a seat for the operator. The whole machine weighs about 250 pounds.

The inventor has been working upon this aeroplane more than twenty years, and during that time has succeeded in putting together several machines that operated successfully for short distances. The first fruit of his labors was a marvelously accurate reproduction of a bird with six wings. With this he believed he had solved the problem of aerial flight. His earliest models, propelled by clockwork, flew with remarkable stability.

He also invented an adjustable wrench, electric brake, pen and pencil clip, reversible motor and windmill. He apparently also was a revolutionary with a $50,000 dead-or-alive price on his head. Quite a guy!

Smithsonian Education: Victor Ochoa Mexican inventor

Guillermo González Camarena...

Source: Antonio Toriz's blog

Guillermo González Camarena invented an early color television system. He received US patent 2296019 on September 15, 1942 for his "chromscopic adapter for television equipment". [1]

He was born on February 17, 1917 in Guadalajara, Jalisco. At two years of age, his family moved to Mexico City. Ever since he was young, he liked building electric toys, for which he established a laboratory in the basement of his house.

In 1930 he enrolled in the School of Mechanical and Electric Engineers and two years later was given license as radio operator. While he experimented in his laboratory, he worked at the radio station of the Ministry of Education. In 1934 he built his own television camera, he was 17 years old.

With the goal of giving color to television, he developed and patented a Trichromatic Sequential Fields System from primary colors, which could be adapted to the black and white system. This last patent was granted to him when he was 23 years of age. [2]

1. Inventors.com: Top List of Mexican Inventors, Mary Bellis
2. Explore and do Mexico: Guillermo González Camarena...

Dr. Fe del Mundo...

Source: Amazing Women of History link below

Fe del Mundo (1911–2011) was a Filipino pediatrician who was the first woman to be admitted to Harvard Medical School in 1936 — over ten years before the school officially began admitting women. She was also the first woman to be named National Scientist of the Philippines in 1980, and founded the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines.

Born in Manila in the Philippines in 1911, Fe decided to become a doctor when her older sister died from appendicitis at the age of 11. She enrolled in the University of the Philippines in 1926. While earning her medical degree, she decided to pursue pediatrics. *

Fe del Mundo, OLD ONS OGH, (November 27, 1911 – August 6, 2011) was a Filipino pediatrician. The first woman admitted as a student of the Harvard Medical School,[1][2] she founded the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines.[3] Her pioneering work in pediatrics in the Philippines in an active medical practice that spanned 8 decades[2][4] won her international recognition, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1977. In 1980, she was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines while in 2010, she was conferred the Order of Lakandula.

Del Mundo was noted for her pioneering work on infectious diseases in Philippine communities. Undeterred by the lack of well-equipped laboratories in post-war Philippines, she would not hesitate to send specimens or blood samples for analysis abroad.[12] In the 1950s, she pursued studies on dengue fever, a common malady in the Philippines of which little was then yet known.[12] Her clinical observations on dengue, and the findings of research she later undertook on the disease are said to "have led to a fuller understanding of dengue fever as it afflicts the young".[5] She authored over a hundred articles, reviews and reports in medical journals[5] on such diseases as dengue, polio and measles.[16] She also authored "Textbook of Pediatrics", a fundamental medical text used in Philippine medical schools.[17]

Del Mundo was active in the field of public health, with special concerns towards rural communities. She organized rural extension teams to advise mothers on breastfeeding and child care.[11] and promoted the idea of linking hospitals to the community through the public immersion of physicians and other medical personnel to allow for greater coordination among health workers and the public for common health programs such as immunization and nutrition.[17] She called for the greater integration of midwives into the medical community, considering their more visible presence within rural communities. Notwithstanding her own devout Catholicism,[2][5][11] she is an advocate of family planning and population control.[11]

Del Mundo was also known for having devised an incubator made out of bamboo,[17] designed for use in rural communities without electrical power.[11] Wikipedia

* Amazing Women in History: Dr. Fe del Mundo

Christopher J. “Gus” Loria...

Baltimore Sun - Christopher J. "Gus" Loria

CHRISTOPHER J. GUS LORIA (COLONEL, USMC, RET.)

NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)

PERSONAL DATA: Born July 9, 1960 in Belmont, Massachusetts, he considers League City, Texas, his hometown. He is married to the former Jamie Ann Fraser, and he has three children. His mother, Joan Loria, resides in Belmont, Massachusetts. His father, Robert L. Loria, is deceased.

EDUCATION: Graduate of Belmont High School (1978), and the US Naval Academy Preparatory School (1979). Bachelor of Science degree in General Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy (1983). Master in Public Administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2004).

ORGANIZATIONS: Harvard Alumni Association, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, Marine Corps Aviation Association, National Rifle Association.

SPECIAL HONORS: NASA Fellow, NASA Acquisition Improvement Award, NASA Group Achievement Award, Naval Test Wing Atlantic Test Pilot of the Year 1995-1996. Personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, 3 Meritorious Service Medals, 2 Navy Commendation Medals (1 with V), 2 Air Medals (both with V), 4 Strike Flight Air Medals, Navy Achievement Medal.

EXPERIENCE: Loria received his commission from the Naval Academy in 1983, and was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1988. He transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet with Strike Fighter Squadron 125 (VFA-125) at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, during August 1988 through August 1989. His next assignments were with Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons 314 and 101 (VMFA-314 the Black Knights and VMFAT-101 the Sharpshooters) at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. While assigned to the Black Knights he deployed to Bahrain for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm where he flew 42 combat missions in support of allied operations. He graduated with Class 93A from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California in December of 1993. January 1994 to July 1996, he was assigned to VX-23, the Strike Aircraft Test Squadron, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, as an experimental test pilot. Loria distinguished himself in the areas of high angle of attack flight test, ordnance, flight controls and aircraft flying qualities testing for the F/A-18 Hornet, and aircraft departure and spin testing for the F/A-18A-D models and the NASA Dryden F/A-18 HARV thrust vectoring aircraft.

He has 3,079 hours of flight time and has flown 32 different aircraft.

NASA: Christopher J. "Gus" Loria, Colonel, USMC, Astronaut - retired