Jamaican inventions and discoveries are items, processes, ideas, techniques or discoveries which owe their existence either partially or entirely to a person born in Jamaica, or to a citizen of Jamaica or to a person born abroad of Jamaican heritage.
Mercedes Richards was the first to:
The Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) sector in Jamaica is guided by two primary institutions, the National Commission on Science and Technology (NCST) and the Scientific Research Council (SRC). Both are under the direction of the Ministry of Science, Energy, and Technology.
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention. In most countries, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder must sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce their rights.
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an idea is unique enough either as a stand-alone invention or as a significant improvement over the work of others, it can be patented. A patent, if granted, gives the inventor a proprietary interest in the patent over a specific period of time, which can be licensed for financial gain.
The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Each country is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing improved regional autonomy. The university was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London.
Mona is a neighbourhood in southeastern Saint Andrew Parish, approximately eight kilometres from Kingston, Jamaica. A former sugarcane plantation, it is the site of a reservoir serving the city of Kingston and the main campus of the University of the West Indies.
Bill Booth is an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur in the skydiving equipment manufacturing industry. His invention of the 3-ring release safety device has enhanced skydiving safety. He founded the companies United Parachute Technologies and Complete Parachute Solutions, which had 150 employees as of 2015.
Marie Van Brittan Brown was an American nurse and innovator. In 1966, she invented a video home security system along with her husband Albert Brown, an electronics technician. That same year they applied for a patent for their security system. It was granted three years later in 1969. Her innovation impacted the security system. Brown was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York She died there on February 2, 1999 at the age of seventy-six.
Carolyn Cooper CD is a Jamaican author, essayist and literary scholar. She is a former professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. From 1975 to 1980, she was an assistant professor at Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. In 1980, she was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where she continued to work until her retirement as a professor in 2017. Also a newspaper journalist, Cooper writes a weekly column for the Sunday Gleaner.
Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican communities since the 1950s and 60s. There are also communities of Jamaican Americans residing in Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, and California.
James Goodfellow OBE, KCHS, FIIE is a Scottish inventor. In 1966, he patented personal identification number (PIN) technology and an automated teller machine (ATM). He is generally considered the inventor of the modern ATM.
Sheyla Bonnick is a singer-songwriter, performer, co-producer, fashion designer, author, talent scout, reiki healer and games designer.
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner was an American inventor most noted for her development of the adjustable sanitary belt. Kenner received five patents, which includes a carrier attachment for invalid walker and bathroom tissue dispenser.
David Edmund Talbot Garman OBE was a British inventor and businessman who was based in mid-Wales.
Titchfield High School is a secondary high school in Port Antonio, Jamaica, in the northern part of Portland Parish. The school was established in January 1786, and is the fifth-oldest high school in the country, after Wolmer's Boys', one of the Wolmer's Schools (1729), Manning's School (1738), St. Jago High School (1744), and Rusea's High School (1777). In the 18th century, these schools originated from their benefactors’ concerns for the education of the country’s poor, usually the children of poor whites, as there was no system in place for the education of the children of slaves.
Elsa Ann Leo-Rhynie OJ is a retired Jamaican academic and university administrator who is a professor emerita of the University of West Indies (UWI). She is a former principal and pro-vice-chancellor of its Mona, Jamaica, campus.
Marian Rogers Croak is a Vice President of Engineering at Google. She was previously the Senior Vice President of Research and Development at AT&T. She holds more than 200 patents. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2022, Croak was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her patent regarding VoIP Technology. She is one of the first two Black women to receive that honor, along with Patricia Bath. Her invention allows users to make calls over the internet instead of a phone line. Today, the widespread use of VoIP technology is vital for remote work and conferencing.
Dr. Henry Isaac Clore Lowe OJ OD is a Jamaican scientist, philanthropist and businessperson. His career began in academia where he worked at College of Art, Science, and Technology (CAST) for 16 years, before entering public life by joining the Ministry of Energy. He now owns and manages a variety of businesses in the health industry.
Leith Lorraine Dunn is a Jamaican sociologist, writer and academic.
Robert Rashford is a Jamaican born American aerospace engineer.
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