Student Nathan DeMario named Co-inventor on Patent Application

Being involved in the development of a revolutionary new cooling system, and also in the formation of a startup company are pretty amazing feats, especially if you’re still a student in college.

What makes Nathan DeMario’s achievements even more impressive is the fact that as a result of his hard work, he has also been named the co-inventor on a patent application for the system, which is being developed at Alfred State. The patent was filed on behalf of Alfred State through the State University of New York Research Foundation, the largest comprehensive university-connected research foundation in the country.

DeMario, an Alfred State mechanical engineering technology student from South Wales, worked with Dr. Jon Owejan, an assistant professor in the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Technology Department, to develop an environmentally friendly cooling and dehumidification system that does not use chemical refrigerants and compressors to carry heat out of buildings. The goal of the project was to improve energy efficiency while eliminating the harmful impacts that hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants have on global warming.

DeMario, whose contribution to the cooling system was mainly design-based, said being involved in the project has been extremely exciting.

“It was a true honor that Dr. Owejan brought me in on the project in the first place and let me give my viewpoints and share some of the designs that I came up with,” he said. “And then having my contribution noted as being worthwhile to actually add my name to the patent application was really exciting.”

Owejan, who is also named a co-inventor on the patent application, said, “It says a lot about Nate that he took on this leadership role” with the cooling system. He also credited additional team members Ryan Amidon (Electrical Engineering Technology, Manlius), Joseph Carr (Mechanical Engineering Technology, Churchville), and Jeffrey Smith (Mechanical Engineering Technology, Livonia) for putting in plenty of hard work on the project, as well.

The U.S. Patent Office granted this patent and the inventors now head a commercial operation to convert their research into multi-million-dollar projects.