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Willis Carrier the "father" of the modern air conditioningWillis Havilland Carrier, known to many as "The Father of the modern Air Conditioner" was born on November 26, 1875 on his families farm in a small town in Angola, New York. His father Duane was in charge of the family farm while his mother Elizabeth was in charge of fixing sewing machines, clocks and other machinery found on their farm a skill which Willis readily absorbed. His mother also taught him his love of math and problem solving before passing away while he was still young. Willis was a creative child who studied hard and kept himself busy by creating problems and solving them. Willis dreamed of bigger things that life on a small farm and decided at a young age to become an engineer. He eventually landed a state scholarship to Cornell University where he met his first wife, Edith who he would go on to marry in 1902. He graduated in 1901 with a masters degree in mechanical engineering and became an employee at the Buffalo Forge Company, with a starting salary of a modest $10.00 per week. The Buffalo Forge Company who excelled in manufacturing heaters, blowers, and air exhaust gave him the job title of heating engineer in the newly created experimental science department of their company. The first task they assigned him was to deal with a problem at a Brooklyn printing plant. Only 25 at the time the very bright young man quickly identified the source of the problem which stemmed from fluctuations in heat and humidity. This variation caused the paper to expand and contract just enough to ensure the misalignment of the colored ink. He determined what the proper moisture level for printing was by using the national weather tables to calculate the precise temperature which would maintain the appropriate humidity level. He then went to work on designing a new machine which would control both heat and humidity and create a stable environment in which reliable four color printing was possible. Carrier was inspired with the idea for his apparatus while waiting for a train on a foggy night. By the time the train arrived Carrier had gained a deep understanding of the relationships between temperature, humidity and the dew point. In 1902 he designed his spray driven air conditioning system which controlled both temperature and humidity using a nozzle originally designed to spray insecticide. He built his "Apparatus for Treating Air" (U.S. Pat. #808897) which was patented in 1906 and using chilled coils which not only controlled heat but could lower the humidity to as low as 55%. The device was even able to adjust the humidity level to a desired setting creating what would become the framework for the modern air conditioner. By adjusting the air movement and temperature level to the refrigeration coils he was able to determine the size and capacity of the unit to match the need of his customers. While Carrier was not the first to design a system like this his was much more stable, successful and safer that other versions and took air conditioning out of the dark ages and into the realm of science.

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