Fort Myers Engineer Installed as ASHRAE Vice President

ATLANTA – Pat Graef, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, director, evaporative media core technology, research and development, Munters Corp., Fort Myers, Fla., was installed as a vice president of ASHRAE at its 2015 Annual Conference held June 27-July 1.

As a vice president, Graef is a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee and serves as vice chair of Technology Council. Her other service includes a member of Standard Project Committee 188P, Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems, and Technical Committees 3.6, Water Treatment, and 1.10, Cogeneration Systems.

She formerly served on the Board of Directors as a director-at-large from 2011-14.

Graef started her career in new product development over 40 years ago as an application engineer for Munters Corp. She helped transform the inventions of Carl Munters from his Swedish laboratory to the U.S. and other global markets.  These technologies include cooling towers, mist elimination, evaporative cooling, humidification and dehumidification.  Graef further contributed to these innovations with her own patents. 

Graef’s comprehensive design and operational portfolio covers manufacturing, testing and application of heat and mass transfer media, application of humidity control in commercial and industrial spaces, adiabatic cooling for agriculture, residential, commercial and industrial spaces. 

Significant projects in which Graef was involved include Mammoth Pacific Geothermal Facility, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.; Southern Co., Savannah Electric-McIntosh Plant, Rincon, Ga.; Union Carbide Company, Taft, La.; General Motors Validation Center, Pontiac, Mich.; Ford Assembly Plant, Norfolk Va.; and the University of Georgia, Davis Farm, Athens, Ga.

Graef has shared her knowledge with the HVAC industry by contributing to ASHRAE Handbooks, standards writing, monitoring of research projects and program presentations.

Graef is a recipient of a Distinguished Service Award.

Graef received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a global society advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. The Society and its more than 50,000 members worldwide focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability. Through research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today. More information can be found at www.ashrae.org/news.