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Jason Matteson is a cooling solutions specialist. He has worked in the data center industry for 28 years, currently acting as Global Director of Product Management at nVent in the Data Solutions Group.  

Prior to joining nVent, Jason worked at IBM, Lenovo, Vertiv and most recently Iceotope Technologies. At IBM, he was the principal cooling architect and design engineer for many mission-critical Intel based server programs. At Lenovo, Jason worked in the research and technology lab responsible for identifying and driving disruptive and differentiating technologies. At Vertiv, Jason worked with both the embedded applications and Liebert cooling teams, defining, and driving deeper levels of server integration and deployment offerings. Finally, at Iceotope, Jason was the VP of Solutions Architecture and Director of Product Strategy driving product offerings and customer engagements with new and innovative chassis level liquid cooling technologies.    

In addition to development roles, Jason has, and continues to contribute to several industry consortiums, including ASHRAE and OCP. His roles within ASHRAE TC9.9 include being a current voting member, IT subcommittee member, and previous chair. He is also a contributing and voting member of SPC-127. 

Jason has over 100 U.S. Patents, has authored or co-authored several intellectual-property publications, and has given several presentations about industry power and cooling trends at various technical symposiums and conferences. Jason received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1997. 

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Jacqueline Davis is a Research Analyst at Uptime Institute, where she covers the global trends and technologies that underpin critical digital infrastructure. Jacqueline’s background includes environmental monitoring and data interpretation in the environmental compliance and health and safety fields.

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Jerrod Buterbaugh serves as a Principal Engineer in AMD’s Datacenter and Embedded Solutions Group, where he specializes in data center power and cooling infrastructure, with a focus on high-density, liquid-cooled computing systems. Jerrod began his career in the United States Air Force as an Avionics and Electrical Technician before moving into the tech industry. He spent 15 years at IBM, developing expertise in server power systems design and data center power and cooling engineering. Following IBM, Jerrod spent 10 years at Lenovo and was instrumental in advancing cooling technologies and services, particularly in energy efficient facility design and deployment of direct liquid cooled servers. Jerrod joined AMD in 2024 and guides AMD’s data center power and cooling infrastructure strategy and supports industry initiatives around high density, liquid-cooled GPU platforms. Jerrod has 24 patents in power and cooling technology and is a member of Open Compute Project and ASHRAE TC9.9, contributing to industry standards. Jerrod holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida.

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Richard Hallahan is based out of Ashburn, Virginia, United States and works at CleanArc Data Centers as Head of Solutions Engineering.

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Dr. Peter de Bock currently serves as Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for the US Department of Energy.

At ARPA-E Peter leads and developed the ASCEND and PRE-TRAILS programs to realize a future of sustainable aviation. In addition, Peter developed the COOLERCHIPS program focused on making a transformational leap in efficiency of cooling of Data Centers and manages projects in the areas of ultra-high power density battery systems, hydrogen storage and propulsion, additive manufacturing and power electronics.

Prior to joining ARPA-E, Peter worked at GE Research as Principal Engineer ThermoSciences and platform lead Power-Thermal Mechanical Systems. Peter is the former chair of ASME K-16 committee on Heat Transfer in Electronics equipment, ASME Fellow, AIAA member and holds 50+ patents and publications.

Peter received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and holds MSc degrees from University of Twente in the Netherlands, and University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

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John Hilt is a highly-regarded executive with a distinguished career in data center operations, consulting engineering, and corporate real estate. With a specialized focus on digital infrastructure and critical facility management, he has successfully led large-scale data center construction, operation, and optimization projects. His expertise spans the full spectrum of design, construction management, and space planning, positioning him as a leading figure in the fast-paced, mission-critical world of data centers.

John is highly qualified in client relationship management, portfolio leadership, and performance enhancement, and excels in budgetary planning and team leadership. He has a proven track record of managing multi-million-dollar, fast-tracked programs and high-stakes data center projects that demand precision, scalability, and operational efficiency.

As an innovative problem solver, John is known for his ability to manage large, cross-functional teams, establish and control yearly budgets, and drive critical infrastructure projects to success. He communicates effectively with all stakeholders, including executive leadership, shareholders, clients, integrators, and vendors, ensuring seamless coordination and alignment

John’s relentless drive for excellence ensures a results-oriented, committed approach focused on operational resilience, future-proofing solutions, and sustained growth.

John is a Licensed Professional Engineer that holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Delaware. He is also the recipient of multiple global awards for innovation.

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Phill Lawson-Shanks has more than 25 years of experience identifying new opportunities for further growth of leading data center infrastructure, network architecture, and cloud solutions in the U.S. and abroad. As Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned, Phill is responsible for the management of revenue generation and profitability objectives, as well as championing key innovation, technology, and sustainability strategies aimed at maximizing new business development.

Prior to joining Aligned, Phill served as Chief Innovation Officer at EdgeConneX, where he was instrumental in driving strategies focused on creating the next generation of network edge-based data centers for the digital content ecosystem. Throughout his career, Phill has also served in numerous senior executive-level positions at Virtacore, Alcatel-Lucent, Savvis (now CenturyLink Technology Solutions), and MCI (now Verizon Digital Media Services). He currently holds eight active technology patents and serves on the Board of Directors for Netrality Data Centers as well as the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) Advisory Board.

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Peter Panfil is the Vice President of Global Power at Vertiv. He leads strategic customer development for the Power business and works to apply the latest power and control technology to proven and emerging topologies to provide the availability, scalability and efficiency levels customers demand. A thirty year data center veteran, he has held executive positions including VP Engineering and VP/GM AC Power prior to his current responsibilities. He is a frequent presenter and spokesperson for industry trade shows, conferences and media outlets serving the IT, facilities and engineering industry.

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Mr. Worn has been involved with industry-leading enterprises and clients around the world for over 25 years as an Industrial FMS and ICT Network and Facilities Engineer; with over eight years in Asia, across the Americas and again back on a pan-European level.

Mr. Worn was the Head of Technology Services for Dimension Data UK, where he was also their acting Practice Manager for Data Centres and Intelligent Buildings. Stephen has held senior management roles in Nortel Networks as their EMEA Senior Director of Datacentres, at Japan's Nippon Suisan International, China's National Center for Industry and Technology, as well as with the Center for Special Economic Zones.

Mr. Worn has supported DatacenterDynamics since its first conference as Chief Technical Advisor and Guest Conference Chairman. He is currently CEO of North America, Managing Director of AsiaPacific, as well as Global CTO for Data Center Dynamics. Mr. Worn holds two Masters Degrees. 

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Thomas is the Global Director of Data Center Power Generation at INNIO Jenbacher. He is globally responsible for all customer interactions in the data center industry. In this role he ensures that the data center industry is aware of the benefits of gaseous fueled power generation, which spans from emergency backup, bridging or continuous power solutions, to support the growth and decarbonization goals of the industry. He leads strategic customer developments and support customers from initial technical feasibility assessment of gaseous fueled power generation till final handover of the power generation equipment.

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Brian Gitt leads business development for Oklo, a start-up developing next-generation nuclear technologies to deliver reliable low-cost clean energy 24/7. He spent over two decades building companies in the clean energy industry—first as executive director of a green building trade association, then as CEO of a consulting firm specializing in clean energy. More recently Brian founded UtilityScore, a software start-up that estimated utility costs and savings for 100M+ homes, and he led business development at a hard tech company developing wireless power. He now writes and speaks about the need for energy that’s clean, reliable, and affordable.

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Bryan Decker is an experienced operations and reliability focused professional with a demonstrated history of working in critical industries. Bryan is skilled in Facility Operations, Incident Management, Maintenance Management, Reliability and Organizational Leadership.

Bryan Decker has a deep understanding of critical industries, including manufacturing, energy, and data centers. He is also skilled in a variety of operational disciplines, including facility operations, incident management, maintenance management, and organizational leadership.

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Mr. Worn has been involved with industry-leading enterprises and clients around the world for over 25 years as an Industrial FMS and ICT Network and Facilities Engineer; with over eight years in Asia, across the Americas and again back on a pan-European level.

Mr. Worn was the Head of Technology Services for Dimension Data UK, where he was also their acting Practice Manager for Data Centres and Intelligent Buildings. Stephen has held senior management roles in Nortel Networks as their EMEA Senior Director of Datacentres, at Japan's Nippon Suisan International, China's National Center for Industry and Technology, as well as with the Center for Special Economic Zones.

Mr. Worn has supported DatacenterDynamics since its first conference as Chief Technical Advisor and Guest Conference Chairman. He is currently CEO of North America, Managing Director of AsiaPacific, as well as Global CTO for Data Center Dynamics. Mr. Worn holds two Masters Degrees. 

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Sean Brigandi is an experienced engineering professional with in-depth technical experience, strong management skills, and a thoughtful leadership approach. A leader by example through integrity, accountability, and a risk management mindset.

Sean has thorough knowledge of construction, operations and critical systems best practices; including design, operations, and maintenance of critical mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure. He has advanced knowledge of business management principles, capital/operational expenditure plans, cost and energy saving initiatives, and strategic forecasting.

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Jeffrey Zygler is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Active Infrastructure. Mr. Zygler brings more than 15 years of institutional real estate experience, during which he has led the development and acquisition of projects in eleven states exceeding $3 billion in value, including over 13 million square feet of build-to-suit transactions for a leading multinational technology and e-commerce company. 

Prior to founding Active Infrastructure, Mr. Zygler was a Partner at Dermody Properties, a national real estate investment and management company, where he ran the company's National Accounts Group. During his tenure at Dermody, Mr. Zygler sourced and led the development of the largest build-to-suit and speculative development transactions in the company's 60-year  history.  Prior to joining Dermody, Mr. Zygler served as the Vice President of Development for KTR Capital Partners until its sale to Prologis in 2015.

Mr. Zygler is a board member of UJA-Federation Young Wall Street Division, has co-chaired several events for the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, and is a member of NAIOP Developing Leaders and NAIOP National Forums – eCommerce II. He holds a B.S. in finance and logistics, transportation and supply chain management from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

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John Hawkins is the IBM Global Data Center Strategy and Planning Lead. John brings over 20 years and $3B of leasing experience in the data center and commercial real estate fields. John is best known for his work at Telx, where he was the Director of Global Real Estate & Data Center Expansions. During his years at Telx, John expanded the data center portfolio over seven hundred percent and negotiated over $1B+ in leases, leading to the acquisition of Telx by Digital Realty for $1.9 billion. Prior to Telx, John was Vice President of Real Estate and Data Center Logistics at Exenet Technologies, where he was responsible for the complete ownership of a multi-country facility build-out.  Earlier in his career, John was Vice President of International Operations & Real Estate at The Matlen Silver Group, where he opened operations in India and Trinidad.  

John earned his Masters of Real Estate at New York University.

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Duncan Ng is Vice President Solutions Engineering at Vultr leading Global Technical Go To Market covering Presales, Technical Account Management and Partner Engineering.

His organization is responsible for the full customer journey from working with Partners-Alliances and the Direct sales team on the first discovery call, architecting a solution, rolling out a POC, scaling into production, ongoing technical account management and representing the voice of the customer in establishing the roadmap for new products and features.

Extensive experience working in, selling to and partnering with organizations with global footprints including Hyperscalers, Service Providers, OEMs, Telecoms, and AI market leaders.

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George started his first technology publication in 1998, focused on the 'plumbing' of the Internet and has been building and connecting digital infrastructure communities all over the world,

George is fascinated by the sheer scale of the digital infrastructure that is yet to be built, one that will support AI and a new world of accelerated computing; it is 'mission critical' to the future of every industry and every person on the planet and must be done sustainably.

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Alexander Gitlitz, Vice President, Goldman Sachs specializes in Engineering and Critical Systems Operations (ECSO).

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