An outdoor air-conditioner impressed a crowd of students, government officials, employees, and businessmen during the 25th National Inventors Week organized by the Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative, the Department of Science and Technology and the Technology Application Institute on Nov. 20 to 23, 2018 at Teatro Ilocandia in Batac City, Ilocos Norte.
The exhibit, attended mainly by students of Mariano Marcos State University, aimed to trigger the interest of the youth in Filipino inventions. Bannered by the theme ”InventrePinoy for sustainable growth and prosperity,” the celebration showcased “unique and marketable Filipino inventions that can be competitive even in the world area,” said FISPC president Francisco ‘Popoy’ Pagayon.
Misty Kool, an outdoor air-conditioning unit developed by Filipino inventor and entrepreneur Edgardo ‘Gary’ Vazquez, a member of FISPC, received several orders from the guests who attended the exhibit.
“It was surprise on the last day of the exhibit when MMSU president Dr. Shirley Agrupis passed by the Misty Kool booth and noticed the difference in the cool temperature which was being created by the Misty Kool fan in the area,” Vazquez said.
Misty Kool is a misting system that sprays ultra-fine microns of water to cool off any area. It conserves energy while offering an air-cooling effect and repels flying insects, dust, smoke and pollen.
Vazquez said MMSU placed orders for several Misty Kool fans for the use of students in the campus. The DOST Region 1 and local government officials also became interested in the local innovation and placed their own orders.
“The mayor of the town of Batac, being a civil engineer, discussed with me the technology and he computed the energy consumption and said the Misty Kool fan consumes less electricity. He also said he would visit me in Manila to check the other products of Misty Kool,” said Vazquez.
“My staff in the Misty Kool booth reported to me that many government agencies were planning to order Misty Kool because they observed a big difference in temperature of about 5 to 10 degrees and the operation of the system was simple,” said Vazquez.
The 65-year-old inventor recently secured the ‘Misty Kool’ trademark for his mist-dispensing apparatus from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
The Misty Kool machine consists of a misting fan, high-pressure pumps, fine nozzles, switches, oil indicator, programmable timer, automatic shut-off mechanism, hose, a 41-liter water tank and heavy-duty wheels with locking mechanism.
Misty Kool produces mist, which evaporates into the air, and this is sometimes called “flash evaporation” because it happens “quickly as a flash” and gives a stronger cooling effect. Vazquez said the air is cooled evenly and feels more like a fog.
“In engineering, they call it the flash point. When you subject the water at a very high pressure, then extrude it through a very fine nozzle, it automatically becomes mist and floats in the air,” said Vazquez, who is also known as the inventor of the Vazbuilt modular housing technology in the Philippines.
FISPC now pushes its “InventrePinoy” program, an initiative to encourage Filipino inventors to develop their entrepreneurial skills and commercialize their inventions.
Agrupis said during the observation of the National Inventors Week that “investors struggle is real” and “the academe sector shares the same vision in transforming young people to be productive and proactive and to road track their capacity.”