Meet Ray Varona
Product Manager
Vacuum Insulation

You may think it’s an unusual progression from building bespoke guitars to helping create insulation solutions for customers. However, there are parallels, as Ray explains: “People buying a hand-made instrument tend to know the specific sound and handling ease they want but not the design changes that will achieve them. They’re most likely to say, ‘Here’s my problem – how can you fix it?’. Insulation questions are similar. Existing insulation may not be working because of space constraints, or a customer needs significant improvement in performance. These are solvable problems that we can fix using our technology.”

Critical role in Covid vaccine cold chain infrastructure

Ray joined Inokor’s predecessor in 2022. An expert in vacuum insulation technology, he is excited by the opportunities it offers – both alone and in combination with our other technologies. “When you look at the sorts of problems in thermal performance that people can’t solve, it’s often because they don’t know this range of technologies exist,” he says. “That’s changing and, for example, the profile of vacuum insulated panels (VIPs) is growing. The success of cold chain infrastructure put in place to distribute the Covid vaccine demonstrated the technology in action. VIPs are ideal when cryogenic temperatures are needed and are also becoming increasingly common in sensitive electronic applications.”

It was partly due to the Covid pandemic that Ray moved to Inokor. “It was frustrating for me to be alive at such a pivotal moment and not be able to contribute,” he explains. “When I joined Inokor, I knew I had made the right decision as, here in Ohio, teams had worked late into the night through the pandemic producing technologies and panels for scientific freezers. These played a critical role in providing the necessary cold chain infrastructure to distribute the vaccine effectively. I thought that is something I want to be a part of.”

Day to day, Ray works together with our sales, operations and research teams to create great insulation solutions for customers. Because these solutions are made to measure, he also helps improve engineering processes. He enjoys working with unique applications and having a holistic overview across every aspect.

Dreaming big on ambition and breakthroughs

Ray is a mechanical engineer and believes our technologies have considerable potential for solving energy efficiency and insulation challenges in many new markets. His ambition is to play a role in a defining technological advancement that relies on innovative insulation technologies to make it possible: “Let’s say if all that is stopping us from having flying cars is the extra insulation our technology provides, that would be great!”
In his research activities, Ray links with our Inokor team in Spain as well as Kingspan’s R&D center to share ideas. He believes there is a glaring need for a quantum leap in energy storage technology - an area where a combination of insulation technologies could play a role.

Among the breakthroughs he is hoping for is a viable VIP which uses an open-cell foam core. Currently foam-core VIPS are not widely used because their performance over time is is poor compared to fumed silica and glass fiber. “If we can develop a completely open foam with smaller cell sizes and use our proprietary barrier film to limit the rate of vacuum loss, we'd have a unique solution for the packaging market. It would capitalize on the benefits of price, weight, and carbon footprint compared to silica-based cores,” he explains. “It’s a breakthrough that could emerge from collaboration between our Superinsulation and Polymeric Foam R&D divisions.”

Ray’s ideas extend to space. Already he sees opportunities to use vacuum insulation panels in aeronautical and aerospace applications. What would his dream new customer be? You guessed it - a space station!