CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Senator Joseph Tedisco inducted the Schenectady man who invented the modern bowling ball into the New York State Hall of Fame. He was also awarded the Liberty Medal.

As the old slogan goes, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”, and 101-year-old Joseph Gentiluomo of Schenectady takes that to heart. While the Centenarian is a veteran who served in World War II and Korea, he’s also an inventor. Among 28 other patents, Joseph holds one for the modern bowling ball.

His patented ball design puts all the weight inside of the bowling ball, giving bowlers more power to knock down pins.

“I noticed that if I put all the way from the outside into the middle of the ball, it would create more power at the pins,” the inventor told a room full of media.

His now very-adult children recounted memories from childhood of the RPI graduate turned GE and IBM employee, who went as far as keeping a notebook at his bedside, in case an idea popped into his mind. They say he’s still going! 

“He’s always on the computer. He’s always thinking. He’s not sitting in being a couch potato,” said his daughter Diane.

“Anything broken he can come over, figure it out, and fix it. If it’s jewelry, if it’s a mechanical thing, he studies it it’s amazing. His brain is totally amazing!” said his daughter-in-law Linda.

He says the invention he takes the most pride in, however, is a mechanical hand used by NASA.

“So my invention is when you bend your wrist, it doesn’t move and you can move any finger independently whenever you wanna,” said Gentiluomo.

As for what keeps Joseph Gentilomo going?

“They all ask me, what it takes to be a hundred years old. What makes you live so long, I have no answer. The only thing I can say is the will to live long,” he said.