Gifford Day: Celebrating Over 60 Years of Cryomech Cryocooler Development
Gifford Day is a celebration of the legacy left by William E. “Bill” Gifford and Peter Gifford, the founding figures of Cryomech, now Bluefors Syracuse. The day recognizes the 60+ years of Cryomech expertise in cryocooling and celebrates the dedicated employees who contribute to making the company an exceptional workplace.
Honoring the Past. Building the Future.
Rich Dausman, President of Bluefors Syracuse, joined Cryomech in 1976 when he was just 18 years old. We interviewed him about Gifford Day to get an eyewitness account of the history of Cryomech – as he has been there for almost all of it.
Gifford Day started as Founder’s Day in the 1990s, originally as Peter Gifford’s idea. Peter decided a celebration in Bill’s honor would be an excellent way to commemorate his father, Cryomech’s founder. So, every year on the third week of June (around Bill’s birthday) the company would spend an afternoon celebrating its history. Last year, Founder’s Day was renamed Gifford Day to acknowledge both Bill and Peter, and their combined impact on the company.
For Bluefors Syracuse, Gifford Day is most importantly a way to reflect on how far the company has come, and a great way to look forward to the future. “It’s a way of keeping the memories of Bill and Peter alive and honoring the past. And, of course, cherishing the culture we have here and embracing the positive impact that our technology has on the world,” Rich adds.
Rich highlights the key traditions of Gifford Day, which was celebrated on Thursday, June 20 this year: “On Gifford Day, we take the afternoon off to spend time together, enjoy a Dinosaur Bar-B-Que lunch, which was one of Peter’s favorites, and share stories about Bill and Peter.” Additionally, the annual cornhole tournament has quickly become a popular tradition of Gifford Day.
How It All Began
Cryomech was founded in 1963 by William E. “Bill” Gifford, who worked as a full-time professor in Syracuse University from 1961 to 1978.
The company emerged from Gifford’s vision of developing and building advanced cryogenic systems. One major milestone was the 5th Cryogenic Engineering Conference (CEC) in 1959, where Bill introduced the Gifford-McMahon cryocooler. This invention made research at very low temperatures much more accessible to the scientific community.
Prior to this invention, it was often the case that a lab would use liquid cryogens or create their own units to work at cryogenic temperatures. The new GM Cryocooler was affordable, easier to work with, and much more reliable than the ‘homegrown’ inventions. In 1963, when requests for GM cryocoolers from fellow scientists began pouring in, Gifford founded Cryomech, Inc. – and the era of cryocooler innovation began. “It wasn’t a grand plan of Bill’s to build this business. What he really loved was the technology. Once word of it got out, people started wanting to buy these things,” Rich remarks.
After Bill passed in 1980, his son, Peter Gifford, assumed leadership of the company. “For Peter, it was really continuing the legacy of his dad’s business, which was important to him. To continue what we had. We were all interested in the science and the applications and the community that we were working in,” Rich highlights.
From Small Operator to Market Leader
According to Rich, where Bill was technology-focused, Peter was more business-minded. “Having grown up with his dad around, Peter had a good combination of scientific background knowledge, but then he also had that salesman side of him as well,” Rich continues. Peter’s desire to expand the business was a turning point in the history of Cryomech. Under his leadership, the company evolved from a niche operator into a world leader in cryocooling technology.
“Peter expanded how we envisioned filling market needs. Initially, we were just focusing on the research market, but Peter thought: Who else could use cryocoolers and where might that be?” Rich explains. This new perspective led to the development of what Rich calls ‘after cryocooler’ products, including Liquid Nitrogen Plants, Liquid Helium Plants, Helium Reliquefiers, Cryostats, and more. By building a product family around the cryocooler, the team created new ways of selling their core products.
One surprising story about the application of Cryomech’s expertise comes from Panama. In 1992, the company delivered its first Liquid Nitrogen Plant to a cattle rancher there for use in agricultural artificial insemination. Previously, the rancher had to drive six hours each way to Panama City every time he needed liquid nitrogen. With the help of Cryomech, he could now have his own supply, as well as provide it to other farmers in the area.
For Cryomech, this marked a major milestone. “I think it was a big shift, opening new thoughts about how we could expand our business,” Rich explains. “We became the go-to company for people with unique needs or ideas that other companies didn’t offer. If you had a crazy idea, you could come to Cryomech, and we’d build something that actually worked for you.”
The next milestone highlighted by Rich was in 1998 when Chao Wang joined the company as Director of Research and Development, bringing nearly 10 years of invaluable cryogenic experience to Cryomech. Chao introduced modern pulse tube technology to Cryomech, enabling the company to launch the world’s first commercially available 2-stage 4K pulse tube cryocooler in 1999. Interestingly, this brought the technology full circle, as Bill Gifford, along with R. C. Longsworth, had invented basic pulse tube refrigeration in the 1960s.
The addition of Pulse Tube Cryocoolers to the Cryomech lineup took the company to the next level. “We started to grow faster,” Rich recalls. To this day, the company continually improves the GM Cryocooler and the Pulse Tube Cryocooler as its key product lines.
The emergence of the quantum technology industry was another significant catalyst for growth at Cryomech. In 2008, the company began collaborating with Bluefors, keeping pace with the growing demands of Bluefors as well as other Cryomech customers. “We saw lots of opportunities out there, and that’s really how we’ve always planned our growth,” Rich explains.
In 2014, Cryomech transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). “That was us thinking about longevity and having a plan for the future,” Rich explains. “We wanted to keep the company here in Syracuse, ensuring that people continue to have jobs and that the company outlives all of us.”
In a 2021 interview with Physics World, Cryomech’s former Business Development Manager Tabitha Sebastino highlighted the significance of the ESOP for the company. “Employee ownership really was Peter’s parting gift,” Tabitha says. “He knew he was leaving his company and his technology in very good hands. By selling the company to the employees, he passed the baton to us to take what he created and move it forward into the future.”
Peter Gifford passed away in 2017.
Legacy of the Giffords
“Bill was a person who truly cared. He was a man of science, an evangelist for cryogenics in his time. He traveled the world, attending conferences, and presenting papers. Although he didn’t pursue a PhD after his master’s, Bill was very well respected in the field,” says Rich.
Peter Gifford, in contrast, was first and foremost a people person, and a ‘life of the party kind of guy’, Rich recalls. “He was very outgoing, and always thinking about building the business. While Bill’s gift was the technology, Peter’s gift was taking what Bill had and expanding on it.”
The influence of the Giffords is still evident in the company today. Rich emphasizes the company’s commitment to its employees as a core value of both Bill and Peter: “We value everyone here. Our people’s knowledge and skills are the heart and soul of the company. Being profitable is important, but without the people, we don’t have a business.”
The Giffords’ legacy is also visible in the company’s pursuit of improvement and innovation. “Bill and Peter were always looking for the next breakthrough, always interested in the technology and the community. They were striving for continuous improvement, but also always keeping an ear open for new opportunities – not discounting anyone or any idea,” Rich emphasizes. “We always looked for new ways to say yes to customer suggestions, and always did everything we could to meet the customers’ need. And that’s what we’ve tried to preserve.”
Rich took over as president of the company in 2020. “Having been a part of this family business for so long, I felt an honor and a responsibility to keep it going and memorialize both Bill and Peter and the visions that they and we have.”
A New Era of Cryogenic Excellence
Cryomech was acquired by Bluefors in 2023, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the company. Before that acquisition, Bluefors and Cryomech had a long history of working together from the early days of Bluefors.
“I think the cultures of Bluefors and Cryomech are very close to being identical twins. That was a huge, important piece for us. We both have our strengths, but if we leverage our strengths and share our expertise, then we’ll both benefit from that. We can do better together than we can do individually,” Rich says.
Today, Bluefors is a global company with over 600 employees and now with an added 60+ years of history and expertise in cryogenics from Cryomech. Bluefors has a significant presence in the US, with over a third of its employees based in New York State. Bluefors Syracuse continues to grow, with the next milestone being the opening of a new facility expansion in September.
By joining forces with Cryomech, Bluefors now has a comprehensive combined portfolio of cryogenic products in both Bluefors and Cryomech product brands, taking customers from room temperature to the coldest temperatures on the planet. This strengthened position ensures that we continue to exceed our customers’ expectations while advancing the boundaries of cryogenic technology.
For more information on the wide range of solutions offered by the Cryomech product brand, visit our Cryomech Products page.