Date: Aug 31, 2010 Author: Lisa Eckelbecker Source: Worcester Telegraph (
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WORCESTER -- A small business at Clark University working on "green" air conditioning technology that uses gas rather than toxic chemicals to produce cool air has received a grant of $1 million in federal stimulus money from the Department of Energy.
Machflow Energy Inc., a privately held business housed in a small basement workspace yesterday explained its focus to Jeffrey A. Simon, director of the Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office, who was in Worcester to visit organizations receiving stimulus funds. The Machflow prototype was a collection of tubes, wires and components spread across a work table about 3 feet wide and 5 feet long.
"We've proven this works," said Machflow Chief Executive Charles C. Agosta, who is also a professor in the Clark physics department. "Now we have to get it packaged to something practical."
Machflow was formed in 2005 and funded in 2006, according to Mr. Agosta. Since its creation, the four-employee business has secured $750,000 from small investors known as "angels" and $1 million from the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The Phase II grant of $1 million from the federal government follows a $150,000 Phase I grant that was awarded to Machflow last year. So far, the company has filed eight patent applications regarding its technology, which involves cooling based on a principle of physics called the Bernoulli effect: force a gas through a narrow pipe or channel, and the pressure will go down as well as the temperature.
Machflow officials believe the company's technology might be useful in cooling lithium ion batteries in electric cars or other commercial applications.
Mr. Simon said federal stimulus money has been used in Massachusetts to put 40,830 people to work since the program began. In addition to Machflow, he was scheduled yesterday to visit stimulus-funded programs involving the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission and the Worcester Community Action Council.
The federal money has funded investments in everything from solar arrays to water pumps for communities, Mr. Simon said.
"You're watering and feeding a sprouting industry here," he told the Machflow workers.
The new federal money allows the company to continue its development work without giving away stock in the business, something Machflow would have to do if it raised money from private sources, Mr. Agosta said.
"Obviously it's exciting for us to think about the future now," he said. "The interesting question for us is how our technology will take shape."
