Air conditioning
In 1902, the first modern electrical air conditioning unit was invented by Willis Carrier in Buffalo, New York. After graduating from Cornell University, Carrier found a job at the Buffalo Forge Company. There, he began experimenting with air conditioning as a way to solve an application problem for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York. The first air conditioner, designed and built in Buffalo by Carrier, began working on 17 July 1902.
Paul Elbridge Wright
Wright was responsible for the development of the first thermoelectric air conditioner with a coefficient of performance of greater than two. He was responsible for the first fossil-fuel, silicon germanium thermoelectric generator. Under Wright's direction, a magnesium-mercuric oxide battery was developed which exhibited an energy density of watt-hours per pound. During this time, Wright was also instrumental in developing technology for weather and other satellites. Some inventions at ATL were less successful, such as the video disc player and the bulls-eye UPC scanner.