This week on Spectrum, KALX will be airing an encore presentation of the 2012 interview with Peter Gifford, President and Chief Technical Officer of Cryomech Inc., a manufacturer of cryogenic refrigerators for industry and research in Syracuse, New York.
During the 1950’s Peter’s father William E. Gifford along with his co-inventor Howard O. McMahon created a novel method of cooling known as the Gifford McMahon cycle, which is a unique method of reliably providing closed-cycle refrigeration at temperatures below 10 degrees Kelvin, which is minus 452 degrees Fahrenheit. The cycle was vital to the early US space program and the fabrication of semi-conductors. Peter talks about cryogenic applications and the challenges at the intersection of science, technology and manufacturing.