After cutting his teeth in Santa Clara’s Robotics Systems Lab, Paul Mahacek ’05, M.S. ’10, Eng. ’11 went on to exciting roles including spacecraft engineering at SpaceX, marine research fieldwork in Antarctica, and leading engineering at the vertical farming startup OnePointOne, founded by fellow Bronco Sam Bertram ’16, M.S. ’18.
Now he’s venturing out on his own, seeking to address some of the world’s biggest issues through engineering and innovation.
AtmoCooling is a large-scale evaporative cooling system that uses sea or waste water to reduce outdoor temperatures and create more hospitable microclimates across desert regions.
“We’re working to make 300 million hectares of global desert part of the climate solution,” Mahacek says. That’s about one-third of the land mass of the United States.
Based in Abu Dhabi for the past three years, Mahacek says the region presents a clear and urgent use case. Here, there are “extreme heat, water scarcity, and a growing demand for climate-resilient food and energy systems,” he says.
Mahacek recently went through the Bronco Venture Accelerator, where he learned how to more effectively communicate his company’s mission, shape the market plan, and build a company “around impact, not just invention.”
AtmoCooling has deployed systems in the United Arab Emirates and North Africa. They’re also working on developing additional pilot programs in the U.S., specifically in California and Arizona.