NCR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion #42 - National Hispanic Heritage Month
NCR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – September 2023
Cultural Observances, Awareness Information and Events
National Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Americans Inventions
Recognizing some Hispanic Americans whose inventions contributed to the nation’s social and economic well-being.
Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, born in Guadalajara, Mexico granted patent for a “Chronoscopic adapter for television equipment” an early color television system. His invention was used in NASA’s Voyager mission in 1979 to take pictures and video of Jupiter.
Guanglou Cheng, Carlos A. Ramierez, and Maria Aponte, born in Puerto Rico, were granted patent for “Degradable Polymides” for use in medical applications.
Hugo Teran Salguero, born in Bolivia, was granted a patent for “Rotary Engine.
Jesus Maria Sanchez-Perez, born in Spain, is a neurosurgeon that was granted patent for “Serial Roentgenography” circulatory system x-rays.
Ellen Ochoa, born in California, was granted patent for “Position, Rotation, and Intensity Invariant Recognizing Method” and two other optical related patents. She was the first Hispanic woman to go to aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993.
Fernando Torres, born in Nicaragua, has four patents, including “Automatic Selection of SIM Cards in Mobile Devices”.
Luis Alejandro Cavallo Caroca, born in Chile, was granted patents for the “Ornamental Design of a Corkscrew” and “Ornamental Design of Scissors.”
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Did You Know?
A person who identifies as Hispanic is from or has ancestors from a Spanish-speaking territory or country. The definition of Hispanic includes individuals from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela, plus Spain because Spanish is its official language.
The term Hispanic was first recognized by the U.S. government in the 1970s after the population data began to be collected, per the request of Mexican-American and Hispanic appears as an “ethnicity” in various forms for government, education and employment purposes.
Many use Latino(a) and Hispanic interchangeably but these two words mean different things. Latino(a) is someone who comes from Latin America, or is a descendant from Latin America, or is a descendant from any Latin American country.
A person can be both Hispanic and Latino(a) but not all Latinos are Hispanic. Brazilians, for example, are Latinos but their native language is not Spanish. Conversely, not all Hispanics are Latino(a). Spaniards are considered Hispanic, but not Latinos, since they are part of the European Union.
Lt Col Bonnie Braun
NCR Diversity Officer
