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Connect | New York // DCD>Debate: Cooling conundrum - Is AI pushing data centers into treacherous territory?

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  • Data Center Cooling
  • Open Session

Speakers

Imran Latif

Chief Operations Officer - Scientific Data & Computing Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)

Imran_Latif

Imran Latif

Chief Operations Officer - Scientific Data & Computing Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)

Imran Latif is an engineering executive, presently, Chief Operations Officer at the US Dept of Energy Office of Science at Brookhaven National Lab where he leads the Infrastructure Operations of High Performance Computing Centers supporting the Global cutting-edge research collaborations on Physics, Life Sciences, Quantum, AI and HPC. Imran has over 20 years of leadership experience delivering large scale engineering, construction and sustainability projects.

Imran leads worldwide sustainability research with leading academia and tech companies. The research work is focused on solving the real-life energy issues in the mission critical facilities and developing the AI and ML based technologies to automate the sustainability processes. He is a subject matter expert in direct to chip and immersion cooling in data centers.

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Peter Worley

Development Manager, Hyperscale, CloudHQ

peter

Peter Worley

Development Manager, Hyperscale, CloudHQ

Peter Worley is a licensed Mechanical Engineer and Development Manager with more than 10 years of experience in the design, construction and operations of hyperscale data centers.

Peter has held roles on the consultant, developer and owner sides (eg lead engineer, design manager, owner's mechanical SME, construction program manager, and development manager).

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Allison Boen

President, Alcatex

Allison_Boen

Allison Boen

President, Alcatex

Allison Boen has worked for 29 years in Data Center Design and Construction and is the Co-Founder and President of Alcatex Data Center Services. Allison, a certified DCEP with the Department of Energy, has had the unique opportunity to witness the industry expand and evolve.

As an Evangelist for Liquid Immersion Cooling Technology and as Brand Ambassador for Shell Corporation’s Single Phase Immersion Cooling Fluid, Allison’s focus is to help advocate for a more Sustainable Data Center Infrastructure utilizing less energy and less water. Allison also has supported since 2018 the Open Compute Project (OCP) and the Immersion Cooling Community as part of the Steering Group Committee and as a Workstream Lead.  

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John Sasser

Chief Technology Officer, Sabey Data Centers

John Sasser Sabey

John Sasser

Chief Technology Officer, Sabey Data Centers

John brings 15 years of management experience to the operations of Sabey’s data center portfolio – with no incidence of facility downtime. In addition to all day-to-day operations, start-ups and transitions, John is responsible for developing the conceptual bases of design and operations for data centers, managing client relationships, overseeing construction projects, and planning for electrical utility capacity.

John and his team have routinely received recognition for continuous uptime from the Uptime Institute. Prior to joining Sabey, he worked for Capital One and for Walt Disney Company and spent seven years with the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. John is also President and founding member of the Western Washington State Chapter of AFCOM, a leading international data center operations industry group.

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AI’s explosive growth has shattered the status quo, forcing the industry to rethink how to cool increasingly powerful chips. While liquid cooling promises to meet the surging demands, the race to adopt untested technologies feels like a sprint into uncharted territory. Corrosion, leaks, and chemical incompatibility lurk as frightful hazards, all while the market is flooded with numerous dielectric fluids and evolving regulations.

With the clock ticking to keep up with AI’s relentless pace, are operators rushing towards a solution they don't fully understand? Or is hesitation a luxury they can't afford? This debate dives into the high-stakes gamble of embracing unproven cooling systems that can satisfy the gluttonous appetite of AI computing.

Held under Chatham House Rule, DCD>Debates are open discussions led by a panel of experts, on the biggest issues to face the industry.