Calvin Dodd MacCracken (November 25, 1919 – November 10, 1999) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

who made important contributions to

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...

technology and the construction of

ice rinks An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

Early life

MacCracken was born in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

, to

Henry Noble MacCracken Henry Noble MacCracken (November 19, 1880 – May 7, 1970) was an American academic administrator who was the fifth president of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, serving from 1915 to 1946 as the first secular president of the college. Ma ...

, a president of

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

, and Marjorie Dodd MacCracken. Cal MacCracken entered

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

at age 16 and graduated in 1940. After briefly working with one of

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

's sons he attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where he earned a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. From college, MacCracken went to work at

General Electric Corporation General Electric Company (GE) was an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the years, the company had multiple divisions, including aerospace, energy, ...

, where he designed the first

combustion chamber A combustion chamber is part of an internal combustion engine in which the air–fuel ratio, fuel/air mix is burned. For steam engines, the term has also been used for an extension of the Firebox (steam engine), firebox which is used to allow a mo ...

and throttled the first jet engine.

Later life

In 1947, MacCracken left General Electric to found Jet Heat Inc. (now known as CALMAC Corp.) in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

. In the following 50 years as CEO of CALMAC, he produced over 250 inventions and had 80 patents. MacCracken is best known for his work in energy storage and ice rinks. He developed the IceBank® energy storage system, a form of

thermal energy storage Thermal energy storage (TES) is the storage of thermal energy for later reuse. Employing widely different technologies, it allows surplus thermal energy to be stored for hours, days, or months. Scale both of storage and use vary from small t ...

used to cool buildings by making ice at night when electricity rates are less expensive. IceBank® energy storage functions like a battery for a building's air-conditioning system. IceBank® saves dramatically on the cost to cool buildings by reducing a building's on-peak use of electricity. The IceBank ice battery system uses standard cooling equipment plus an energy storage tank to shift all or a portion of a building's cooling needs to off-peak, nighttime hours. During off-peak hours, ice is made and stored inside IceBank energy storage tanks. The stored ice is then used to cool the building the next day. IceBank® offers a critical service to grid, since air-conditioning is the main culprit behind spikes in peak electrical demand. This on-peak reduction decreases the need to build new power plants or turn on expensive “peaker” power plants. Over 1GW of IceBank energy storage is used in over 4,000 installations in 60 countries for commercial buildings, schools, government buildings, hospitals, hotels and retail. MacCracken also invented the IceMat ice rink. This ice rink system was placed at over 2,000 ice rinks worldwide, including the one at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

in New York City. IceMat creates uniform ice with dramatic reduction in pumping power. IceMat rolls out like a carpet and connects to a refrigeration unit for quick installation at both temporary and permanent ice rinks. This flexible design has since become the industry standard for ice rinks. MacCracken also invented the SunMat roll-out solar collectors, comfort controls for

space suits A space suit (or spacesuit) is an environmental suit used for protection from the harsh environment of outer space, mainly from its vacuum as a highly specialized pressure suit, but also its temperature extremes, as well as radiation and ...

used by the

Apollo program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

, the JetHeet furnace, the AquaJet water powered

sump pump A sump pump is a pump used to remove water that has accumulated in a water-collecting sump basin, commonly found in the basements of homes and other buildings, and in other locations where water must be removed, such as construction sites. Th ...

, the KPad for

burn victims A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), solids, ...

, the HI-V high velocity furnace with flexible duct system for adding

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...

and air conditioning to homes and the Roll-A-Grill hot dog cooker. Another of MacCracken's inventions was the Alumazorb low-emissivity ceiling that dramatically reduces

radiant heat Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation emitted by the thermal motion of particles in matter. All matter with a temperature greater than absolute zero emits thermal radiation. The emission of energy arises from a combination of electro ...

loads from the warm ceiling to the cold ice below, reducing energy consumption for freezing ice by up to 30 percent. MacCracken was so far head of his time, that on a “futuristic” 1953 T.V show entitled 2000 A.D., he correctly predicted, in detail, the coming of the Solar Age. In 1955, MacCracken attended the first Solar Energy Convention in Arizona. On November 10, 1999, MacCracken died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at a retirement community in New Hampshire.

Achievements

MacCracken was an 11-time national

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

champion and local councilman. In the 1960s, he appeared in TV commercials for Ballantine Ale that were run by the

P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company P. Ballantine & Sons Brewing Company is a beer brand that was founded in 1845 in Newark, New Jersey. At its peak in the mid-20th century, it was the third-largest brewer in the United States, trailing only Anheuser-Busch and Schlitz. The brand ...

. Author of the book "A Handbook for Inventors", MacCracken was responsible for 80 patents. MacCracken was honored for his contributions to ice sports through posthumous receipt of the

Ice Skating Institute The Ice Skating Institute (formerly the Ice Skating Institute of America) is a trade association for ice rinks, and also an international governing body for recreational figure skating. It was founded in 1959 to proliferate the building of permanent ...

’s Frank J. Zamboni Award. He was an inaugural inductee into the

New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame The New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame was established in 1987 to honor individuals and corporations in New Jersey for their inventions. Award recipients are recognized at the annual Award Banquet Dinner. The New Jersey Inventors Hall of ...

and was inducted in the

ASHRAE The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) is an American professional association seeking to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems design and constructio ...

Hall of Fame in 2016, for his contributions to the growth of ASHRAE. (Interestingly, MacCracken's grandfather Henry M. MacCracken originally coined the term "Hall of Fame") Today his son, Mark M. MacCracken continues in his father's legacy as CEO of CALMAC. CALMAC Corp. boasts over 1GW of energy storage and 2000 ice rinks have been installed in 60 countries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCracken, Calvin D. 1919 births 1999 deaths People from Poughkeepsie, New York 20th-century American inventors Princeton University alumni General Electric people American male squash players Sportspeople from Poughkeepsie, New York American male tennis players 20th-century American sportsmen