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by Jeane Manning
he Breakthrough Power book tour last month of a few towns—Oregon
and northern California—brought us in touch with university students and other
savvy people. On the last night of the tour
my coauthor Joel Garbon and I and
New Energy Congress president Sterling Allan, along with Raphial Morgado gave a
presentation to some students at San Jose State University. Morgado demonstrated
his MYT (Massive Yet Tiny) Engine running on compressed air.
The MYT™ Engine is not “free energy,” but its forty times higher
power-to-weight ratio and brilliant simplicity of design are paradigm-changing.
Airplanes, big ships, trucks, SUVs, passenger cars, pumps, and even home power
generators could have all the power or torque they need, coming out of a
dramatically smaller internal combustion engine with very little pollution and
significant savings. It’s a transition technology, needed to seriously wean
our society off of polluting fuels. And with only fifteen parts, it appears easy
to manufacture.
Morgado’s engine brought him first prize in a 2005 Emhart—NASA “Create
the Future” design contest. The competition attracted more than 1,000 entries
from 31 countries. His winning prototype exerts 850 cubic inches of
displacement—converting as much power as the engine for an 18-wheeler
truck—even though the MYT™ Engine is only 14 inches by 14 inches. Its secret
is frequent firing—16 times on one rotation— making the tiny engine
equivalent to a 32- cylinder, four-stroke engine.
When Morgado showed up in New York on the all-expenses-paid trip to the
awards dinner some months later, two associates accompanied him. The greeter at
the elegant Water Club asked, “Which group are you?” They told him, but the
greeter couldn’t believe it. “Where’s your team?” Morgado’s partner
Dr. Jin Kim gestured toward Raphial. “He’s the inventor.”
“But where’s your team?” The greeter still had doubts if these three
belonged at the awards banquet or if they were making fun of him. How could
anyone develop anything as complex as a totally new internal combustion engine
design—not just an improvement— without a huge auto company backing them? No
one individual could be an expert on crankshafts as well as expert on valves and
all the other engine aspects. He pointed to various tables in the room.
“There’s the Boeing team, forty of There’s the Lockheed team, fifty on
that project…”
Eventually the doubter realized that one multi-talented person had indeed
accomplished more than what corporations hire large groups of various
specialists, and spend millions of dollars, to do.
This week I interviewed the 57-year-old innovator. His life story and advice
for fellow inventors contain wisdom for the rest of us.
As a young man, Raphial Morgado wanted to become a rock star, race car
driver, or a boxer—but definitely not an inventor. He had watched his father
develop one invention after another but receive little more than a corporate pat
on the head from the company that employed him and profited from the inventions.
Raphial researched biographies of many inventors including Nikola Tesla and
decided that dying penniless was not his ambition.
He pursued his ambitions—became lead guitarist and singer in a rock band in
high school, was a boxer, and a race car driver. Somewhere along the way,
however, Raphial Morgado’s destiny caught up with him. Looking back at his
early years, he realized that many influences and experiences steered him toward
becoming a full-time inventor who has the ability to benefit humankind.
Raphial was born in Hilo, Hawaii. His parents had met during the Second World
War when his father was stationed in the Philippines. The family moved back
there when Raphial was seven, and he lived there until he was 19 years old.
Since his father was shop superintendent for a large bus company which built its
own buses, oldest son Raphial could hang around any part of the shop. He learned
how to overhaul a diesel, fix a fuel injection system, do metal work, and
operate a broad range of other equipment. Mechanically inclined and possessing
the ability to draw plans, he always had a project underway.
As with many gifted children, young Raphial’s quick mind often landed him
in trouble at school. Science teachers in the Catholic school he attended kicked
him out of the classroom and sent him off to be punished because he wouldn’t
stop asking questions that they couldn’t answer.
Too often such stories end sadly with the gifted child being mistreated,
quitting school, and becoming cynical and even embittered. Raphial, however, was
lucky. When a frustrated teacher would send him to the principal’s office, he
received soothing advice from the priest in charge. Father Gabriel said, “I
know you’re a special kid, just like your father has special wisdom. God gave
you gifts. But be more careful with your teacher; don’t ask all those
questions.” Instead of a whipping with a stick, the boy received
understanding, validation, and some chore to do in the principal’s office.
Later, a chaplain in the Armed Forces was the source of advice which Morgado
remembered when he got out of the service. “Get busy or go crazy.” For the
next two years Morgado was a sheet-metal worker and pursued his hobby of drag
racing in off-work time. Drag racing is hard on engines, and he tired of engine
after engine blowing up; so he worked on improving them in whatever spare time
was left.
One day he realized, “My garage is full of projects. How did this
happen?” His expertise with engines had led race car owners to ask for his
help; and eventually, the demand for his services caused him to quit the day job
and go into business as a mechanic. While servicing expensive cars, he made
house calls even at night, and met clients who became personal friends. Jim
Givens, for instance, was still in law school when he hired Morgado to work on
his Mercedes. Givens introduced Morgado to patent attorneys, gave him valuable
advice, and has been with Angel Labs from its beginnings to the present.
He had long ago decided that no matter how exciting the idea seemed, he
wouldn’t develop any invention unless there’s a market for it. The new
engine concept arose out of the need to redesign racing engines. In a flash of
insight and twenty-minutes time, one day he drew the toroidal (donut) shapes and
how the new piston arrangement would work. There would be no need for valves.
Perfecting the design for the timing mechanisms, however, took two years.
Morgado had been earning the level of income that later allowed him to
develop the prototype of a paradigm-changing invention independently. He bought
a five-acre ranch including buildings that he filled with expensive expensive
tools and equipment for a production line. After he spent his own money, funding
came from family and friends and then friends of friends.
 The new engine was not the first project he intended to develop when he took
the leap to full-time inventor, however. Ahead of it in Morgado’s mental
lineup was a project related to ammunition for the military. Again, the right
person came into his life. A South Korean investor, chairman of a steel company,
showed up at the ranch and saw the potential for Morgado’s inventions. He took
a special interest in Morgado and said, “I don’t want you to be associated
with guns for your first project.”
The chairman’s company happened to be working on high-vacuum pumps and
realized that the Massive Yet Tiny Engine happens to be an efficient air pump.
It exceeds existing pumps/compressors by providing massive pressure, volume, and
flow—in one unit. So the wealthy Korean invested in the engine, and the work
progressed.
The abstract of Ralph Gordon (Raphial) Morgado’s 2004 patent describes an
“Internal combustion engine and method in which pistons on different rotors
move relative to each other to form chambers of variable volume in a toroidal
cylinder….The shaft rotates continuously while the rotors and pistons move in
their stepwise fashion.”
On the website for Morgado’s company Angel Labs (angellabsllc.com) he
stands beside a five-foot 3,000 lb. engine for an 18- wheeler and points to his
14-inch diameter, 150-lb replacement. If every internal combustion vehicle and
jet airplane were retrofitted with his engine, would decision-makers admit that
oil wars are unnecessary? In 2006 he caught the public’s attention. Between
the time he won the Emhart-NASA prize and its awards banquet, he spent his last
$60,000 to show the engine for eleven days at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The big
auto companies displayed their wares upstairs, while Angel Labs was downstairs
along with booths for tires, chamois and other automotive accessories.
Their booth lacked flashy décor and had no show girls. Nevertheless, the
word spread that they were demonstrating something dramatic. Lineups in front of
MYT™ Engine demonstrations blocked the aisles. The show manager came
downstairs and said he was getting emails from around the world from people who
had heard about the new engine design. The show’s website as well as Angel
Labs’ website crashed. Chuckling at the irony, Morgado relates one visitor’s
comment to him, “You’ve got the ugliest booth at the show. But I’ve never
seen anything this exciting!”
At the auto show, representatives of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler
Corporations ignored Morgado’s team who invited them to come downstairs and
have a look—or even just take an Angel Labs brochure. Morgado took a break and
went upstairs to see for himself. He was told by an automobile corporation
representative, “We know who you are and we can’t take anything from you.”
No explanation.
So despite Morgado’s preference for having his invention rolled out in the
United States, he was faced with the fact that only Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai
representatives were willing to talk with him. He won’t allow the invention to
be shelved. “This engine belongs to the world.”
People assume that with all the publicity the engine received in 2006, Angel
Labs must have all the resources needed to go into manufacturing. However, as of
this writing, a large loan of about $10 million is needed to take the invention
to its next level toward the marketplace. Early this year on Sterling Allan’s
radio show, Morgado announced that the engine is ready to go into production and
he aimed to set up franchises for mechanics to replace existing engines with his
smaller engines.
Raphial Morgado has more than 100 other inventions potentially useful for
land, sea, or in the air. What brought him this far in the world, aside from
having multiple skills, being industrious and able to earn and handle money,
choosing a project with market potential, having self-confidence, planning
ahead, getting good advice about patenting, avoiding exaggeration, and knowing
when to keep one’s mouth shut? I think it’s a combination of all that and
attitudes. Early in life, he decided to do some good in the world when he saw
children in neighboring communities going hungry. He knows that his best ideas
come from a Higher Source, and he’s grateful. And he learned to heed the
wisdom of elders such as his parents and Father Gabriel. His mother, shrewd at
business, advised, “Listen to your gut feelings.” His uncle taught him to
accomplish something every day even if he skipped school or partied that day.
Raphial Morgado says he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life dwelling
on injustices such as car companies which ignore a breakthrough invention in
their field. He advises other inventors, “Keep moving forward, brave and
resolute. You cannot and I repeat can not be negative.”
For his part, Morgado expresses gratitude. “I’m blessed to be surrounded
by good people.” I think he attracted what he gives out to the world.
# # #
Jeane Manning’s new co-authored book, Breakthrough Power: How Quantum-leap
New Energy Inventions Can Transform Our World, is available at or through the
Atlantis Rising catalog. Her blog is at www.JeaneManning.com.
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