NEW YORK (TIP): An Indian-American researcher has invented a dryer that could easily dry clothes even without heat. Viral Patel along with his team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have invented a dryer that could laundry your clothes much faster. Expected to be five times more energy efficient, ‘Ultrasonic dryer’ could dry a large load of clothes in about half the time.

Viral Patel came to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with the aim of conducting research that would provide benefits to the average consumer. Viral began his studies after moving from Zambia to the United States for college. As an undergraduate at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he started out in aerospace engineering. But after taking a course in thermal systems design, he decided to broaden his horizons and career opportunities with a dual major in mechanical engineering.

Viral jumped into three energy efficiency projects almost immediately after starting at the lab as a postdoctoral researcher in the Energy and Transportation Science Division in 2015, working on development of two clothes dryers (one ultrasonic and the other thermoelectric) and a new, more efficient rotating heat exchanger for refrigerator applications.

Outside the lab, Viral enjoys reading science fiction, loves to cook and travel, and spends time with friends and family. His family is spread across the globe now—on both US coasts, back in Zambia, and in Australia.