Gregorio Y.

  Zara: The scientist who invented the

“videophone”
Video calling, or as we like to call it, "skyping," has become
so prevalent in society. When we interact with somebody who
is thousands of miles away on a computer or tablet screen, it
gives an illusion that the physical distance has vanished. It's
made much handier by the fact that you can do it in real-
time. But we had no idea that the concept for this widely
utilized software (with 31 million users as of January 2012)
was started by a Filipino. From the 1920s through the 1970s,
Gregorio Zara, best known for inventing the videophone, was
a famous Filipino scientist. He was born on March 8, 1902,
into a poor family in Lipa City, Batangas, but he rose above
his circumstances by excelling in school. He was granted the
opportunity to study overseas on a scholarship after graduating as batch
valedictorian for both grade school Zara then enrolled in the University of the
Philippines, but learned later that the honors student who had accepted his
scholarship had been ill and died amid the semester while studying overseas. Zara
was then offered a second opportunity to apply for the scholarship and study
overseas.

Gregorio Zara was a brilliant scientist who dabbled in robotics and energy studies.
He is most known for inventing the videophone in 1955. For his pioneering efforts in
solar energy, aeronautics, and television, he received the Presidential Diploma of
Merit and the Distinguished Service Medal in 1959. He received two prizes for
Science Research and Aero Engineering in addition to being a National Scientist.
The Zara effect, a physical rule of electrical kinetic resistance discovered by Zara in
1930, was one of his biggest scientific achievements. “All forms of contacts, rotating
or sliding, between metals, carbon and metals, metals and mercury, or conductors,
generate a resistance to the passage of electric current, which may be kinetic and/or
permanent electrical resistance,” according to the Zara effect. This is seen at
extremely low amperage currents. The resistance to the flow of electric current
when contacts are moving is known as kinetic electrical resistance. When
connections are at rest, permanent electrical resistance appears.” His other scientific
contributions include helping to create the Marex X-10, a robot capable of talking,
walking, and obeying orders. He also created a foldable microscope and improved
solar energy production technologies, including new designs for a solar water
heater, a solar stove, and a solar battery. He also created a propeller-cutting
machine and an alcohol-fueled airplane engine. The Gregorio Y. Zara Awards are
given by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology
to local scientists who have made valuable contributions to their respective fields of
study. It is named after National Scientist Zara, who was known for his advances in
aeronautics, and engineering.

Submitted by: Jorge Maxime D . Furton Submitted to: Ma’am Cleomae

B. Gimpao