54
Smile
May2016
The
buzz
JoseL.Guardo,Jr.wants tochange thewaywe
travelwithhismaglev train
Ride into the future
PINOY INNOVATOR
I
fJoseL.Guardo,Jr.hadhisway, the
Philippineswouldbeat the forefrontof
transportation.
Hemaynotbe faroff.Thanks tohis
diligenceandhardwork, itcouldhappen
sooner thanwe think.Jose is theco-
founderandchiefarchitectofMaglev
VisionCorporation— thecompanybehind
patented inventionssuchas theHybrid
MaglevMonorailandmaglevcar, and
themulti-carcyclicmagneticelevator.
Josewonfirstrunner-up for the train,
andsecondrunner-up for themagnetic
elevator, at the2015Regional Invention
Contest&Exhibit(RICE) inDavaoCity
lastOctober.
“Maglev”stands formagnetic levitation.
Jose’s inventionuseselectromagnets
andneodymium ironboronpermanent
magnets— thestrongest in theworld
— to levitateandpropel thecoach.Unlike
Germany’sTransrapidElectromagnetic
SystemandJapan’sElectrodynamic
System,whichareboth100%non-contact,
Guardo’smaglev train isguidedbyrubber
rollers. Itcanreachamaximumspeedof
350km/h.
Hisdesign looks tobemoreaffordable,
too;Guardoadds thatan importedLRTor
MRTcoachcancostup toUS$5million,
whilehiswill likelybe less thanUS$1.8
million.The trainwillbe lightandenergy-
efficient, andcanrunatamid-speedof60 to
85km/hbetweenstations.
“At themomentweonlyaim for250
passengersperfive-coach train,becausewe
intend tohavemore intervals inevery loop—
sayoneevery10minutes,”saysJose.
Hisdreamswillhopefullybecome
arealityat thefirstPhilippineMaglev
Monorailprototypeproject.Namedafter the
rarePhilippineeaglePag-asa, and inspired
by the24-year-oldanimal thatresides in
Malagos, itwas launcheda fewmonthsago
inPanaboCity,DavaodelNorte.Thedoors
open like thewingofournationalbird,while
thestations look likeaneagle’snestora
strawbasket. “Theprototype isstill in the
drawingboard, as the team is translatingmy
sketches,”Josesays.
TEEN INVENTORANGELO
CASIMIROBUILDS
HISVERSIONOFTHE
FAMOUSDROID
DIYBB-8
GEEKALERT
WhybuyaBB-8droid
whenyoucanmake
one?AngeloCasimiro,
a17-year-oldphysics
majorwhocreates
innovativeprojects (he
made thenewswithhis
electricity-generating
shoesa fewyearsago),
will teachyouhow.
Usingaclevermixof
store-boughtmaterials
andhouseholdproducts
— think styrofoam, a
beachball, glue, an
Arduinoboard, even
Christmasballs—
Angelocreated the
smartphone-operated
character from
Star
Wars: TheForce
Awakens
in just a
fewdayswith lotsof
ingenuityandabit of
help fromhis family.
Visit
instructables.
com/member/ASCAS/
and
facebook.com/
TechBuilder toseehow
hedid it.
Learnmoreabout theMaglevVisionCorporation.Visit
prime3.org
and
maglevision.com
WORDSBY
CHARMAINEBAYLON;
PHOTOSCOURETESYOF
JOSEGUARDO;GETTY IMAGES
(BB-8)
