Jose Hernandez Rebollar

Have you ever wondered if your hands could speak the words you had just signed? The AcceleGlove, created by Jose Hernandez-Rebollar, can now speak for the deaf by saying the words they sign. He has also helped build an antenna control system that has become the largest telescope system in the world. Jose Hernandez- Rebollar’s life, invention of the AcceleGlove that can speak for the deaf, and work with bioelectrics has forever impacted the world for the better.

Life

Jose Hernandez-Rebollar was born in Puebla, Mexico, on July 14, 1969. Jose prefers to keep his personal life personal therefore there was not much information available on his earlier life or his family. Jose completed his Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 in the field of electronics at the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla in Puebla, Mexico. In 1997, he got his masters in Electronics Engineering where he attended the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics, and Electronics in Tonantzintla, Puebla. At the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics, and Electronics, Jose was involved in building the antenna control system that eventually became a part of the largest telescope in the world. In 1998, Dr. Rebollar received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship enabling him to pursue a Ph.D. at the George Washington University in Washington D.C. He received his Ph.D. in 2003 with a degree in science focusing on Electrical Engineering with a major in signals and systems and a minor in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems and Bioelectrics (“Jose L.”).

Dr. Rebollar recognized that ASL, American Sign Language, had no type of dictionary used to translate ASL into a spoken language, specifically English and Spanish. He believed there was a way to translate sign language into a spoken language with the use of electronics. “I want to produce something that deaf people can use in everyday life” (“Jose L.”). Jose had dreamed of a way to create something that allowed deaf people to translate sign language electronically into text and sound. Part of his dream was to make it easier for people to communicate. He achieved his goal through persistence and the power of engineering. “Jose made his reputation as a young inventor with big ideas” (“Jose”).

Jose was selected as the George Washington doctoral candidate for devoting three years of his life to fix the communication problem between ASL and other languages. Dr. Rebollar said, ”The idea is not to fix deafness, the idea is to provide an instrument that can translate American Sign Language into other languages” (“Jose”). Dr. Rebollar currently teaches at George Washington University as a visiting assistant professor for Electrical Engineering and is also a consultant for the institute’s disabilities research and training (“Lindsay”).

Invention

Early in the 1800’s with only a few thousand deaf people, there was not a standard or universal sign language procedure for the deaf. Each deaf community had developed its own sign language to communicate. Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, had claimed that people can only learn through hearing spoken language (Grayson, 11). Because of his claim, most people believed deaf people were unable to learn or to be taught. This led to the further belief that deaf people could not deal with the same responsibilities as hearing people. For years, deaf people could not own property and always had to be accompanied by a guardian. They were one of the first groups of people to face discrimination. Scholars began to dispute Aristotle’s claim during the Renaissance in Europe. For the first time, scholars worked hard to teach the deaf population and prove that Aristotle’s 2000 year-old premise was wrong. Bayton, an advocate for the return of ASL, found that although the debate over deaf education had shifted, educators still based decisions on many of the same metaphors and images that led to the misguided efforts to take away sign language. The debate over sign language caused such fundamental questions as what proved the difference between Americans and non-Americans (Baynton 9).

Deaf education was established in the United States by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a minister from Hartford, Connecticut. He began teaching the deaf how to use the American Sign Language in 1814. His neighbor’s nine year old daughter, Alice Cogswell, was deaf. Thomas realized Alice was very smart even though she could not speak or hear, and he made it his mission to teach Alice how to communicate. Because Gallaudet didn’t have any experience or research teaching deaf children, he didn’t have much success with Alice. Determined, Gallaudet knew that deaf education was being taught in Europe and had been taught there for some time, so he gained enough community support