Connect | Virginia // Past speakers include

Rhea Williams is the Chief Commercial Officer of E3 Platforms, a new data center developer and operator in the US. She was most recently the Site Selection Principal for Oracle in EMEA focused on European markets. Rhea has worked for other providers such as Compass and NTT and started her career with Digital Realty on their Global Sales team. Prior to data centers Rhea was in commercial real estate sales and financial advisory.

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Taylor Hammond is Vice President, Head of Corporate Development and Capital Markets at eStruxture Data Centers. He is responsible for raising capital, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), real estate and power procurement.

Taylor is an experienced capital markets leader, previously serving as Director, Investment Banking at Scotiabank where he led the development of its Digital Infrastructure team. During his tenure, Taylor advised on multiple landmark M&A, equity and debt issuances with a focus on data centers and related infrastructure.

He holds a BESc, Mechanical Engineering with Distinction from Western University and an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and currently resides in Toronto. 

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Gregory Ratcliff is the Chief Innovation Officer at Vertiv and a 30+ year industry veteran. Among his career highlights at Vertiv, he led the global advanced analytics group for the services team, specializing in real-time data and connecting Vertiv’s nearly 1 billion operating products to the Vertiv cloud.

Gregory’s educational background includes ABD at Liberty University, focusing on Agile project management of IoT and Big Data projects; an MBA from the University of Phoenix; and undergraduate degrees in Applied Mathematics and Information Technology. Gregory was named 2020 Technology Executive of the Year in Comspark’s Central Ohio Tech Power Player Awards.

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With over $150MM commercial real estate experience as a principal investor, Matt Wanderer is an experienced founder, CEO, and member of multiple private equity and venture capital portfolio companies.​ Matt is a five-time “500 Fastest Growing Private Company Award” recipient. Matt is a proud Oregon Duck having earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon. He later earned his M.B.A. from NYU Stern School of Business, the London School of Economics, and HEC Paris.

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Dagi provides architecture/design, engineering and construction leadership / expertise to internal and external resources for the delivery of IT capacity for greenfield, brownfield, retrofit and lease delivery projects globally.

His deliverables include data center site selection, managing efforts of land technical due diligence, engineering/designing/constructing the building shell/core, power, cooling, telecom, and controls infrastructure, environmental and building permitting all to align with Salesforce’s IT capacity roadmap for critical infrastructure builds, M&A, migration, optimization, decommissioning and leases.

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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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Frank is Associate Director, Global Wireline Standards and Support at Verizon and focuses on forecasting, long term planning, and process management.

Previously, during his role as Principal Engineer for Network Engineering, Frank oversaw three to five year planning for the regional wireless network buildings in the Northeast for Verizon. His main focus had been on the infrastructure - commercial power, equipment power, cooling and space. This includes budget forecasting as well as building business cases for larger projects.  

Frank’s team lead the conversion of regional wireless offices from DC power to AC power; focusing on the reliability, flexibility and cost savings aspects to make it the new company standard. Frank was called upon to assist in the September 11 aftermath, restoring communications to downtown Manhattan. After earning a BS in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at NJIT he moved on to the National Network Operation team within Verizon Wireless as a Network and Construction Engineer.

For 12 years Frank worked on various projects of increasing responsibility throughout the NNO organization. He redesigned the telco pop rooms that feed the national data centers for better space and power efficiency, saving the need for expensive and intrusive expansions. Frank spent several years as the prime engineer for the nationwide microwave network, earning accolades for emergency restoration efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

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Michael Maniscalco is a recognized speaker and technology leader across numerous industries. Mr. Maniscalco is a serial entrepreneur with multiple startups and exits and previously served as an Entrepreneur In Residence with StanleyX. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Michael has been involved with software and network engineering for Fortune 1000 companies in the web3, IoT, financial, telecommunications, and healthcare industries for over 20 years.

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Arthur Valhuerdi is the Chief Technology Officer at Hudson Interxchange and has over 25 years of management experience in the telecommunications and data center fields. He served as Vice President of Engineering for Zayo Colocation, Vice President of Infrastructure for FiberNet Telecom Group, and Vice President of Operations at Datagryd Data Centers.

Mr. Valhuerdi holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College, an M.S. in Information Systems from Polytechnic Institute of New York University as well as a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University.

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Rick Galietta is Director, Office of the CTO - Enterprise Strategy and Platform Enablement. Rick's role includes accelerating collaboration, innovation, and growth for leading enterprises and service providers on the world’s largest data center platform.

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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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Daniel Pope, CEO and co-founder of Submer, started his adventure in the datacenter industry at the young age of 16 with a small, personal project deployed literally in his bedroom (and years later sold to Telefónica). After that he started a long career as a Solution Architect and as a Director Architecture and Integration EMEA at Ingram Micro Cloud.In 2015, together with Pol Valls, he created Submer, a deep-tech company with the ambition to transform traditional datacenters into sustainable, highly efficient, smart, lights-out, immersion-cooled “data warehouses'' driven by robotics.

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Kaitlin Savage supports market development for 24/7 carbon-free energy with Google’s energy and location strategy team.

Formerly Senior Vice President of Project Development at Hodson Energy, Kaitlin has overseen 3 GW of renewable energy project development in Virginia, Ohio, and other major US markets across PJM and MISO. Hodson Energy is a proud partner of Great Bay Renewables, backed by Altius Renewables with funds managed by affiliates of Apollo.

Kaitlin entered the solar industry as the first employee at one of Virginia’s leading utility-scale project developers, and has since built a depth of experience across private industry and public advocacy. As Director of Public Engagement with the Solar Research Institute, Kaitlin formed partnerships with key stakeholders to develop continuing education programming for elected officials and planning staff across the Commonwealth.

In 2017, Kaitlin served as a member of Governor-Elect Ralph Northam’s Transition Policy Council on Natural Resources. She also contributed to the landmark passage of the Virginia Grid Transformation and Security Act in March 2018, as a member of MDV-SEIA’s state policy leadership team.

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Vello is currently the president of Ehvert Mission Critical, a multi-disciplinary engineering, and construction management firm specializing in data centers. Ehvert uses a manufacturing approach for advanced engineering and is a global leader in advanced MEP Engineering, Project Management, and Construction simulation.

Vello's career started as a construction surveyor fin Toronto in 1975 at the age of 15. Vello also worked as a building maintenance engineer, manufacturing engineer at Daimler Benz in Germany, Controls System Programmer at Kone Elevators in Finland, Mechanical Engineer at HH Angus, Oil Well Test engineer at Schlumberger in Aberdeen, Paris, Abu, Dhabi, Dubai, and Pakistan, Electrical/Communications Engineer/Partner at Mulvey and Banani, President Velar Data Systems, founder of Ehvert Marine, Tallinn, Estonia. Vello purchased Rice Brydone Interior Designers/KIA architecture, founder of Ehvert Engineering/Construction/Technology Services in Canada, and founder of Virtuaal Tehnika in Estonia and Ukraine.

Vello Ehvert is a professional engineer registered in the US and Canada. He is a LEED Accredited Professional, Uptime Accredited Tier Designer, and a Broker of Record with Adelaide Realty Inc. He holds an RBQ certification for construction in the Province of Quebec.

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Kristin Fletcher is a PhD Chemist with more than 15 years’ professional experience developing people and products. She is the Senior Technology Deployment Technologist for BP.

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Anna Timme serves as the Head of Sustainability within Schneider Electric’s Data Center division and is at the forefront of transforming our industry's approach to environmental challenges. Through close collaboration with design teams, account managers, and customers, she is instrumental in bringing Schneider Electric’s mission of becoming the leading partner in sustainability and efficiency to fruition.

With a rich background of over 20 years in the global telecom and data center sectors, spanning Europe and the United States, Anna brings a profound wealth of expertise and an unwavering drive for environmental stewardship.

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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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Scott Rugen is the Senior Vice President, Data Centers, USA. Exyte is a global leader in the design, engineering, and delivery of facilities for high-tech industries. With a history of more than 100 years, the company has developed unique expertise in controlled and regulated environments.

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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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Data Center Professional with more than 12 years of Technical, Program and Project Management experience with successful record in Global Data Center Deployments, Data Center Site Selection, Global Teams Management, Management of Mission Critical projects, Management of Electrical Construction projects, and Data Center Operations.

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Doug is the Founder & President of EdgePresence. Doug is a renowned telecommunications industry veteran with over 25 years of proven experience successfully delivering multi-access edge data center and colocation services. Prior to founding EdgePresence in 2017, Doug founded Colo5 Data Centers LLC; later acquired by Cologix, Inc in 2014. Throughout his career, he has achieved several accolades, including Northeast Florida's Ultimate CEO Award by the Jacksonville Business Journal, and as owner of one of Florida's fastest-growing companies and one of the 500 fastest-growing companies nationwide, was listed in Jacksonville's Business Journals Top 40 under 40 for 2010. Doug is also a widely recognized thought leader, speaking at key industry events such as PTC and other national IT and business events. Doug's professionalism, passion and robust industry experience has positioned EdgePresence as a leading contender in the edge data center market.

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Joel Wynn, Vice President, Data Centers & Mission Critical Solutions, is a sustainability leader within Southwire’s commercial team.  He is passionate about communicating Southwire’s Environmental, Sustainability and Governance goals built around Growing Green, Living Well, Giving Back, Doing Right and Building Worth. Through these core tenets, Southwire is committed to providing the industry standard in environmental sound wire and cable systems and solutions for power systems from 600 volt to High Voltage products and services. Prior to his current role,  Joel has held roles in direct sales of Southwire products and services, as well as enterprise product management, along with strategic sales management responsibility over a 16-year career.

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Kris Lengieza, the Global Technology Evangelist at Procore Technologies, brings a wealth of experience and passion to the intersection of construction and technology. Previously serving as the VP of Global Partnerships & Alliances, Kris oversaw a diverse ecosystem spanning channel, ISV, public, and association partnerships. His recognition as one of the Top 40 Construction Professionals Under 40 by ENR and BD&C underscores his impact in the industry.

Kris’s journey began with 15 years in construction, where he embraced technology as an early adopter. His mission? To seamlessly integrate data across all construction solutions, driving progress within the field. As a futurist and construction tech evangelist, Kris now collaborates extensively with industry innovators, tech organizations, and construction companies. Together, they explore transformative

technologies that promise to revolutionize our work processes. Kris has played a pivotal role in Procore’s product strategy, delivering industry and technology insights to improve how Procore’s solutions serve the industry.

In the ever-evolving landscape of construction technology, Kris Lengieza stands at the forefront, bridging the gap between innovation and practical implementation. His vision? To empower the industry, one groundbreaking solution at a time.

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Rob Coyle joined the Open Compute Project in 2018 and today he co-leads the OCP ReadyTM data center facility recognition program to support operators and tenants who want to understand the fundamental facility requirements to deploy OCP gear into their IT space.

Coyle is also a Business Development Manager at Distech-Controls supporting global data center deployments and oversees the customer’s journey at Distech-Controls and works to remove friction from the client’s problem-solving process. 

Coyle’s experience includes selling advanced aircraft avionics systems, electrical switchgear and emergency backup power systems for the commercial construction and data center markets.

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In his role as a Solution Architect at Scheider Electric, Carsten is helping clients with their industrial IoT and sustainability initiatives in the commercial & industrial and data center markets that allow them to achieve greater resiliency and sustainability objectives and create economic benefits. Prior, he supported the consulting and engineering community by advising on resource-optimized energy management solutions in the data center market. He offers nearly three decades of experience in the data center, broadcast, telecommunications, AV and IT industry. His papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals and he frequently speaks on national and international venues.

Baumann joined Schneider Electric in early 2012. He is an active member of iMasons and the Green G working group (Next G). Until 2018, he served as Treasurer and President on the board of AFCOM Southern California and was chairman for The Global Society for Asset Management (G-SAM). Baumann recently completed a program at MIT in Smart Manufacturing and holds an electrical engineering degree from the Theodor-Litt-Schule in Giessen, Germany.

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Danielle Rossi is the Global Director, Data Centers at Trane Technologies. She has 19+ years in data center solution design and engineering for hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, edge, and government environments. In her current role, Danielle manages global mission critical cooling products and processes to provide a standardized deliverable for customers executing projects worldwide.

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Dylan J. Boday, Ph.D., is the VP of Product Management for IBM Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS), leading the brand strategy and product management portfolio. Dylan has held a number of business and technical executive roles spanning hardware/software, cloud, and AI. Dylan is an IBM Master Inventor with over 260 patents.

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Leyla Sadigh is the Associate | Electrical for Arup, a collective of designers, consultants and experts working on sustainable development.

Leyla joined Arup in 2014 as a Senior Electrical Engineer, and her specialties incorporate Project Management, Electric Power Substations, Electric Power Industrial, and Renewable Energy.

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Damien McCants is an Advanced Technology leader at DPR Construction. He provides strategic oversight supporting our clients’ mission critical and core business drivers serving as a strategic partner and advisor. Working with mechanical equipment manufacturers and contractors, as well as general contractors, Damien leads business development in the mission critical market.

He has spent 23 years specializing in MEP systems, the backbone of critical structures. Through his work he has developed strong client relationships in the mission critical, Federal, and healthcare markets. His technology management expertise ranges from project management to quality control, interfacing at each step with clients, consultants, engineers and service providers. He has led the design and construction of critical systems from award winning projects to secure facilities.

Damien holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration from Virginia Tech. He is also a LEED AP, a member of the Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board as well as the Policy Watch Committee for the 7x24 Exchange DC Chapter advocating for positive change for the industry and climate.

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Dr. Varun Sivaram is senior fellow for energy and climate at the Council on Foreign Relations and brings experience as a C-suite executive at two publicly listed companies, as a senior U.S. diplomat, and as a physicist with expertise in clean energy technologies. Dr. Sivaram served as chief strategy and innovation officer at Ørsted, a $25 billion Fortune Global 500 company that is the world’s largest producer of offshore wind energy. His teams executed several billion dollars in clean energy asset acquisitions, divestments, joint ventures, and structured financing products; developed the company’s strategic approach to build renewable energy across three continents; and launched Ørsted Ventures to invest in next-generation technologies. Earlier in his career, he served as chief technology Officer at ReNew Power, a publicly listed multibillion-dollar company that is India’s largest producer of renewable energy, and as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

Dr. Sivaram served for the first two years of President Joe Biden’s administration in the White House and State Department as the managing director for clean energy and senior advisor to Secretary John Kerry, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. He created and led the First Movers Coalition, which President Biden called the flagship U.S. public-private partnership on climate. Dr. Sivaram has also served in state and local government as senior advisor to the mayor of Los Angeles and to the governor of New York.

A widely published scientist and innovation scholar, Sivaram has served on the faculty of Columbia University and Georgetown University and was also previously fellow and director of the energy and climate program at the Council on Foreign Relations. His books include Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet, Energizing America: A Roadmap to Launch a National Energy Innovation Mission, and Digital Decarbonization: Promoting Digital Innovations to Advance Clean Energy Systems.

TIME Magazine named Sivaram to its TIME 100 Next list of the next hundred most influential people in the world, MIT Technology Review named him one of the top 35 innovators under 35, and the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader. His TED Talk on India's clean energy transition has been viewed more than one million times. Sivaram serves on the boards of the Atlantic Council, the Breakthrough Institute, and Aventurine Partners. A Rhodes and Truman Scholar, he holds a PhD in condensed matter physics from Oxford University, and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.

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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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Pedro Gomez is an Economist and Executive Director leading the development of Digital Infrastructure and Data Center business for Ferrovial, a world-known infrastructure developer and operator. Pedro has 20 years of experience in countries such as Spain, UK, Poland and Australia where he has undertaken roles from Operations Management and Business Development to M&A and Corporate Restructure.

His areas of expertise vary from Infrastructure Services and Energy Efficiency solutions for Infrastructure to Concessions for Public Administration. Along his professional experience, Pedro is an entrepreneur and start-up investor in the energy sector through a drone-based inspection system and a Professor at IE University in Madrid where he teaches at the University of Architecture.

The focus of his activity today is on the Data Centers sector, where Ferrovial is one of the European leaders, having among his clients Hyperscalers, Collocators and Private and Public clients.

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Roland Ruprecht joined Teknor Apex in 2004, where he has held a variety of roles in operations, laboratory, product development, and technology management. His expertise in flame retardant technologies, consumer products, and weatherable polymer blends has led to several patent publications. As the global technical director, he currently oversees vinyl technology, chemicals technology, support services, and the Asia technology group.

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Erick Soares, Senior Global Product Manager, Data Center and Renewables at C&D Technologies, has a master’s degree in marketing and has been a part of the battery industry since 2019. He came from a steel manufacturing background with experience in developing strategies and solutions for new markets as a marketing analyst and in reducing costs through supplier relationships and innovation as a category manager.

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As the Chairperson of the Millennial/GenZ Member Resource Group, Bill works with his co-Chairs to extend IMasons values, goals, and initiatives to schools, communities, and young people from all over the world. Collectively, they aim to bridge the digital divide and provide more opportunities for the future leaders of this digital world.

Bill has more than 15 years of experience in enterprise technology and recently vacated his role as Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions at Switch where he focused on using the latest innovations, such as AI, machine learning, data center design, DevOps, cloud, and advanced technologies. Bill is an active member in the technology industry, he was ranked #16 globally in the Onalytica study that reviewed the top 100 most influential individuals in the cloud landscape and #4 in another Onalytica study, which reviewed the industry’s top Data Security Experts.

He enjoys writing, blogging, and educating colleagues about everything related to technology. His work can be seen within thousands of articles, blogs, chapters in various books, white papers, journals, and more. His published and referenced work can be found on WindowsITPro, Data Center Frontier, Data Center Knowledge, InformationWeek, NetworkComputing, AFCOM, TechTarget, DarkReading, Forbes, CBS Interactive, Slashdot, and others. Mr. Kleyman is a regularly featured keynote presenter and speaker at major industry events including Oracle Cloud Day, Oracle OpenWorld, Interop, AFCOM Data Center World, DCD, Channel Partner Expo, ITProToday, Citrix Synergy/Summit, VMware VMworld, Cisco Live, Google Partner Days, and many others.

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Tony Rossabi is Founder and Managing Member of OCOLO, a unique and innovative marketplace for data centers. Tony is the former CEO and a Board Member of Recovery Point Systems (RPS), a provider of data center and recovery services. Tony is an Independent Director for Connectbase, PCTEL (PTCI, on the NYSE), Vantage Data Centers and 1623 Farnam, and an Advisory Board member for Qarbon Technology.

With more than 25 years of experience driving growth and innovation for technology and telecommunications enterprises, Tony has guided several companies to successful turnarounds and exits.

Prior to RPS, Tony worked for TierPoint as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, where he was responsible for overseeing revenue growth, managing the daily operations of TierPoint’s national sales organization, and devising the company’s strategic plan. He was part of the 3-person executive team that raised $325 million to drive the company’s growth.

Prior to TierPoint, Tony served as Managing Director for Digital Realty Trust’s colocation and connectivity business unit, and earlier was Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Strategy for Telx Group, Inc. (acquired by DRT).  In 2015, Tony was part of the executive team that sold the business to Digital Realty Trust for $1.98 billion, realizing a 43% IRR.

Tony supports several organizations as a member of non-profit Boards, including the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) and the Board of Surgeons Overseas.

Tony holds BA, MBA, and Juris Doctor (JD) degrees.

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Mike Mattera is the Global Director of Corporate Sustainability and ESG Officer at Akamai Technologies. Mike holds a BS in Project Management, an MS in Construction Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology. In addition, he holds eight graduate certificates from Harvard Business, UC Berkeley, Cornell, and NYU Stern. Mike has been in the tech sector for over 20 years, focused on network infrastructure, sustainability, renewable energy, program management, sustainable construction, and building management system design.

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Cosimo Pecchioli has been the IT Hardware & OEM Partnership Director at BO siince 2023. Previosuly, Cosimo was part of Alfa Laval since 2003, covering different roles in Europe and US.

Originally from Italy, Cosimo has been living in California for 15+ year. He holds a Master Degree in Science & Technology. A member of the OCP for 2 years, since Jan 2022, he has been co-chairing the heat reuse incubation group

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Stephanie serves as Vice President of Strategy at Flex Ltd, developing and implementing growth strategies for the Communications, Enterprise, and Cloud (CEC) business unit.

Previously, she spent 18 years at Intel Corporation, holding leadership roles such as General Manager of Strategy and Market Analytics in the Data Center and AI Group, where she focused on strategic planning for Xeon and Accelerator product lines, as well as Senior Director of Product Sustainability, Strategic Planning Director, and High-Performance Computing CFO.

Stephanie contributes to industry initiatives and speaks regularly at events on data center technology strategy, sustainability, and market trends. She holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Washington State University.

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Sherri Harrel is the SVP Platform Product Management at Flexential.

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Greg Thompson, JR., is the Chief Information Security Officer at Vantage Data Centers.

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As Vice President of Data Center Strategy for the Americas, Sean helps clients operate more than 900 data centers sustainably and efficiently.

Prior roles, include Director of Data Center Marketing at Kohler, Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Edge data center startup of Ubiquity Critical Environments, and data center manager for Microsoft’s 120MW Chicago facility.

Sean strives to embody sustainability; he hunts, grows, or harvests a majority of his food and burns deadfall to heat his home, earning him a county-leading Energy Star rating.

He holds a master’s degree in Information Technology from Northwestern University.

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Molly Igoe is the Director of Policy, Communications, and Advocacy at CO2EFFICIENT. She brings political communications and state legislative experience in climate, energy, and environmental policy.

Before joining CO2EFFICIENT, Molly served as a Legislative Director for two years at the Maryland House of Delegates for Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo (D-Montgomery County), while he was a member of the Environment and Transportation Committee and Chairman of the Motor Vehicle and Transportation Subcommittee. Molly managed the Delegate’s legislative portfolio, which included issues concerning electric vehicle adoption, clean transportation, and climate change mitigation. During her tenure, Molly helped shepherd an electric vehicle tax credit for Maryland residents and a statewide electric school bus pilot program into law. She was also involved in the passage of the Climate Solutions Now Act, one of the most ambitious climate laws adopted by any state in the U.S.

In this role, Molly worked with energy and environmental groups in and around Maryland, including BGE, Pepco, the Maryland Sierra Club, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Maryland League of Conservation Voters.

Molly received her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Washington College in Maryland and her Master of Arts in political communication from American University.

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Dr. Zuo is a full Professor in Architectural Engineering and the Associate Director for Research of Global Building Network at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Zuo also holds a joint appointment at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He is currently an Associate Editor of Journal of Solar Energy Engineering and a Fellow of International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA). He is a major contributor to multiple open-source building and community energy modeling tools. He has also published more than 160 peer-reviewed papers in building energy efficiency, data center cooling, community energy system, and related field. He is the recipient of IBPSA-USA Outstanding Researcher Award and Emerging Professional Award, ASHRAE Outstanding Service Award and Exceptional Service Award.

Professor Zuo recently completed a DOE sponsored research project to develop open source tools for energy efficient data center cooling, which demonstrated up to 70% energy saving. A part of the tool has been commercialized by Schneider Electric into the EcoStruxure IT Advisor CFD.

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As a leader in Sustainability Partnerships at Shell Energy, Shelley McCain is driving the energy transition by forging strategic alliances with some of the world’s largest energy consumers in the tech sector.

Her expertise in structuring complex energy agreements has led to the development of gigawatt-scale clean energy projects for many prominent hyperscalers and data center operators. She has helped these companies accelerate their journey to net-zero emissions by providing access to clean energy solutions like renewables, sustainable fuels, and electrification while also championing the use of artificial intelligence to drive innovation and optimize energy consumption, demand forecasting, and real-time energy management.

With more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry, Shelley has held a variety of commercial roles that have honed her expertise in business development, structuring, and deal-making, marketing, and strategy. Her proficiency in crafting bespoke commercial structures and agreements has enabled the development of gigawatt-scale energy projects, supporting global enterprises in their transition to lower carbon operations. She has spent the latter half of her career contributing her knowledge of energy markets and experience with energy buyers, governments, and NGOs to support the development of and investment in lower carbon solutions. Shelley graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and an MBA in Global Energy Management. Beyond her passion for clean, sustainable, and affordable energy, Shelley has also devoted time as a board member of several non-profit organizations in support of education and women's empowerment.

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Steve Conner serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Vantage Data Centers.

Conner has more than 25 years of experience in building and leading highly motivated sales and engineering teams. Prior to Vantage, Conner led the sales and engineering teams at Cloudistics, taking the start-up’s revenue from $0 to more than $5 million in its first year of selling. Before Cloudistics, Conner held multiple senior level positions at Nutanix where he successfully built a multi-million dollar business unit focused on managed service providers.

In addition, Conner has held positions as principal at Sequoia Worldwide, vice president of technology innovation at Arrow Electronics, vice president and CTO of InScope International (later acquired by Arrow Electronics), CTO for Absulon Technology Partners (later acquired by InScope International), and director of professional services at Exodus Communications. As part of his focus on technology and enterprise architecture, Conner has earned multiple certifications including CCNP/DP, CISSP and ISSAP.

Conner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Richmond, a Master of Science degree in computer science from George Mason University, and an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology.

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Lauren Barbir is a strategy leader, and industry professional with diverse experience in building and leading global teams, solving complex sustainability problems, and developing market growth strategies. Lauren has expertise in business development, strategic marketing, global supply chain management and process/program development. She is passionate about solving customer needs to address water scarcity and resource preservation. Lauren is also an ambassador for diversity, equity & inclusion.

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John Lee is an innovative technology executive focused on operational excellence through driving change. Combining a proven track record for providing outstanding results and building teams with diverse skills to deliver the highest-level of customer service. Core abilities regarding analysis and optimization. Passionate about continuous learning.

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As Senior Director Operations Business, Dan Moore is responsible for all of CyrusOne’s operations contracts and vendor relationships in the United States, including the company’s Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) relationship that encompasses all aspects of facility management. He has almost 15 years of mission-critical data center operations and facilities management experience.

Since joining CyrusOne in 2015 as Senior Operations Manager – Northeast Region, Dan was elevated to Operations Business Director prior to his current responsibility. Previously, Dan served as Facilities Manager at Cervalis, purchased by CyrusOne, and he held several positions of increasing responsibilities with IBM for almost 15 years.

Supporting the data center industry, Dan serves as president of 7x24 Exchange Empire State Chapter, a not-for-profit organization that provides an educational forum focusing on challenges faced by mission critical industry professionals.

Dan is a military veteran, having served his country in the United States Navy, after which he earned his Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees from Marist College – School of Management in New York.

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Guy is the VP of Engineering for EdgeCloudLink and joined the start-up, creating the world’s first fully-sustainable, hydrogen-powered, off-grid data center-as-a-service, in 2022.

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Andrew Lindsey is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flexnode, a digital infrastructure company delivering the next generation of distributed, high-performance data center solutions for ‘go-anywhere’ capacity. At Flexnode, Andrew is collaborating with industry leading colleagues and best-in-class strategic partners to design and operate modular, liquid-cooled, micro data centers to meet rapidly growing global data demand at the network core and edge.

In addition to his executive role at Flexnode, Andrew also serves as the Director of Applied Research and Development at Alpha Corporation, a multidisciplinary design and construction consulting firm headquartered in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. While working with Alpha, Andrew has supported the development and implementation of innovative solutions to critical building and infrastructure problems in domestic and international markets with an emphasis on sustainability and resilience in the built environment.

Throughout his career, Andrew has collaborated with a broad cross section of industry leaders in an effort to support long-term solutions to a range of challenges in media, healthcare, education and most recently the built environment. To support these efforts, Andrew has emphasized integrating solutions across markets by connecting communities and using technology as a conduit and translator.

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Michael Beatty has over 30 years of experience in industrial water treatment and the Data Center industry, including 14 years of consulting experience on data center cooling and power design. He has managed various data center design/build projects, including live upgrades. Michael holds a Top Secret clearance with the U.S. Department of Defense, and has conducted energy and tier reliability audits for both U.S. Government and private-sector industry. He also has expertise in forensic analysis of equipment failures.

Throughout his tenure with Nalco Water, Michael has advised and supported Data Center engineers and owner/operators regarding water-related issues. His scope includes site-selection assessments, cooling system design, water treatment and sustainable practices. In his current role, Michael leads a dedicated team focused on new construction projects for Data Centers and Microelectronics accounts.

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With over two decades of experience in private equity, corporate finance, and business development, Alessandro heads Elea Digital Data Centers, a leading data center company in Latin America. Elea Digital Data Centers invests and operates in data centers that enable the sustainable digitalization of the economy and society.

Alessandro is the founder and CEO of Piemonte Holding, a diversified investment holding company that partners with global financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs.

He has successfully executed multiple M&A transactions and raised capital for various businesses in the digital infrastructure, defense and technology sectors.

He holds a graduate degree in economics and business administration from Luiss Guido Carli University and studied history of philosophy and art in prestigious Italian universities.

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Adrienne Ratmansky is Sr. Consulting Manager at Accenture.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale.

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Mukul leads the efforts to collaborate with JCI's data center customers, focusing on their global growth & associated needs, and provides strategic guidance to reduce power consumption, water usage and total cost of ownership. Reliability, uptime and real time response are the over-arching themes.

He proactively understands the needs of the largest data center owners in terms of applied HVAC Equipment and lead the initiatives to launch specialized products for the vertical. He collaborates with the Fire Detection, Fire Suppression, Security, Building Automation & Controls and Rooftop Units, and assist in the installation & commissioning of infrastructure equipment.

Mukul leads several projects annually to establish best practices and drive voice of the customer through the organization. He participates in industry events and voice of the customer sessions to lead the business towards the current & future needs of JCI's customers

He establishes and maintains a global network of subject matter experts to form regional just in time teams to support the global expansion plans of JCI's largest customers at the velocity of growth being experienced in the Cloud and wholesale colocation segments.

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Obinna Isiadinso is an investor in private equity and private credit transactions in digital infrastructure companies globally.

He is the Global Sector Lead for Data Centers and Cloud investments and a Senior Investment Officer with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Global Telecom, Media & Technology team.

At IFC, Obinna leads investment teams on investment valuation and execution considerations, reviews private equity and credit transaction structures, and participates in transaction negotiations in the Data Center and Cloud sectors in emerging markets globally.

Prior to joining IFC Global TMT, Obinna was a Senior Investment Officer with the IFC Asset Management Company (“AMC”) and a member of the investment team for the $1 billion IFC African, Latin American and Caribbean Fund. At AMC, Obinna was responsible for originating, structuring, and executing private equity investments across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. While with AMC, Obinna was on the board of directors of Afrimax Technologies and Persianas Holdings.

Obinna joined AMC in 2015 from ARM Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth capital investments in West Africa. At ARM, Obinna was responsible for originating, structuring and executing private equity investments. At ARM, Obinna served on the board of directors of E-Motion Advertising.

Obinna was previously a Principal with Development Partners International (“DPI”) a pan-African private equity firm. At DPI, Obinna was responsible for originating, structuring and executing private equity investments across Africa. During his time at DPI, Obinna served on the board of directors of Eaton Towers, Libstar Holdings and GTA Assur Holdings.

Obinna holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA (Accounting) from Baruch College.

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Buddy Rizer serves as the Executive Director for economic development in Loudoun County, Virginia, which was named the 2021 Economic Development Organization of the Year by the International Economic Development Council. He leads the agency responsible for encouraging growth and developing relationships with Loudoun’s business community in both the commercial and agricultural-based business sectors. During his tenure, Rizer and his team have attracted more than $60 billion in new commercial investment and more than 50 thousand new jobs. During this time, the growth in the commercial based has help lower the tax rate in Loudoun by more than 41 cents on the dollar, saving residents thousands of dollars annually on their tax bill.

In 2007, Mr. Rizer joined Loudoun County and helped build “Data Center Alley” into the largest concentration of data centers in the world. He also has extensive international business development experience in China, France, Germany, Russia, Ireland, United Kingdom, Finland, Taiwan, Japan, India, Korea, Ghana, Uruguay, and the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Rizer has been named a Tech Titan 7 times by Washingtonian Magazine (2017 – 2023), has been named one of the 50 most influential Virginians 6 times by Virginia Business Magazine (2018 – 2023), a 4-time member of Virginia’s Power 500 (2020 – 2023) and was three times named to the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 as one of the most influential businesspeople in Washington, DC (2020, 2022, 2023).

Mr. Rizer serves as the Past-Chair of the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance (NOVA EDA), is a member of the Board of Trustees for Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), Past-Chair of the Northern Virginia Community College Foundation Board, Secretary of the Go Virginia Region 7 Council. He is on the Board of Directors for the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF). He is also the Chair of the Rivana at Innovation Station Community Development Authority.

Mr. Rizer is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a certified Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP) and a graduate of Virginia Tech's Local Government Management Graduate Certificate Program.

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Sanjeev Verma is the Executive Director of Black Box Limited and the President and CEO of Black Box Corporation, a 100% subsidiary acquired in 2019. As the architect of the company’s strategic vision, Sanjeev has elevated Black Box to a premier global IT solutions provider, known for its commitment to customer-centricity, innovation, and client success.

With over two decades of global experience in Information Communications Technology (ICT), Sanjeev has played a pivotal role in expanding Black Box's global footprint and enhancing its data center capabilities. Under his leadership, Black Box's Data Center Practice has seen significant growth, driven by a unified global approach that combines centralized solution development with local technical expertise. His focus on innovation and operational efficiency has established Black Box as a leader in hyperscale data center construction, technical support, and advanced IT integration.

Sanjeev's vision reflects a deep understanding of the complex demands of modern data centers. He has spearheaded the development of comprehensive infrastructure services, including structured cabling, advanced networking, and Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM). His commitment to excellence is embodied in Black Box's modular global program, ensuring consistent quality and flexible, localized execution.

Throughout his tenure, Sanjeev has held key roles, including CEO (Americas) and Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Business Operations, leading worldwide business operations and driving international expansion. Before joining Black Box, he held key management positions at Wipro, 3D Networks, and Global Tele Systems, gaining valuable experience in global markets. His visionary leadership continues to propel Black Box's success, reinforcing its position as a global leader in IT solutions.

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As a globally-recognized and professional speaker on education, skilled trades, workforce development, supply chain impacts, Edge computing, facility resiliency, redundancy and operational stability, as well as fluid power expertise regarding liquid cooling applications, this well-rounded knowledge ensures a vast array of topics can be covered by discussing solutions and not dwelling on problems. Throughout his 20-year career spanning Automation, Process Control, and Value-Added Consultation, Mark Gusakov's goal has been to work with clients to take their facilities and interests to world class performance standards. Gusakov continues to pursue advocacy for clients in their overall performance and stresses the importance of data-driven accuracy for management and operational success.

With his transition to promote the educational foundation for emerging talent in the digital infrastructure industry as an Advisory Board Member, the Nomad Futurist organization is working diligently on building the structured curriculum for the next generation of talent. Gusakov holds an ATS Accreditation from Uptime Institute, LSS Yellow Belt, Parker PTAC Specialist, Festo Product Specialist and Eaton Product Specialist Certifications.

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David McCall is the VP of Innovation for QTS Data Centers. He is responsible for building teams, setting strategic goals, and serving as an evangelist for one of largest and fastest growing data center service providers in the United States. He has more than 14 years of solutions engineering experience in the data center, telecommunications, and internet technology industries.

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Julie Callagee is a forward-thinking CFO with over 20 years of experience providing finance, accounting and executive leadership, excelling in challenging environments. Julie has extensive experience in international business, global operations, and inclusive remote team management.

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Dave Sterlace is an account director on Hitachi Energy’s global data center team. Hitachi Energy brings data center clients products, systems and services for a sustainable energy future. Hitachi Energy uses pioneering digital technologies, to enable a stronger, smarter and greener grid. Previously Dave held a global leadership role for data centers at ABB. Dave brings over 25 years of data center and critical power experience.  Dave lives in the Philadelphia area with his family.

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Jon Pettitt is a highly experienced, successful and well-regarded business leader within the data center Industry. Jon has over 15 years of extensive knowledge of HVAC projects for data centers and critical facilities. His background includes 11 years as Vice President of data center for EMEA & APAC for Munters and 14 years at York International and Johnson Controls.

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Ashley Sturm serves as the Vice President of Marketing at Nautilus Data Technologies, where she orchestrates an array of global marketing endeavors aimed at fortifying brand loyalty, optimizing client experiences, and driving market penetration. With more than 15 years of multifaceted experience in marketing and strategic planning, Ashley is an adept architect of corporate strategy, brand identity, and PR/communications.

Previously, Ashley held the position of Senior Director of Marketing Brand and Content at NTT Global Data Centers Americas. In this capacity, she spearheaded the successful launch of two out of six state-of-the-art data center campuses. Before NTT, Ashley was instrumental in laying the groundwork for Vertiv's Global Data Center Solutions business unit. As the lead of global marketing initiatives, she formulated the unit’s core messaging strategy while assembling high-performance marketing teams on both global and regional scales.

Before venturing into the data center sector, Ashley honed her expertise collaborating with the US Navy via the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness and boasts a robust background in broadcast journalism, marked by significant on-air tenure. She holds a degree in Journalism and Converged Media from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

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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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Moises Levy, PhD, is a seasoned engineer, data center subject matter expert, trusted advisor and entrepreneur. With more than 25 years of professional experience in the industry, and more than 15 years dedicated mainly to data center physical infrastructure projects, Dr. Levy has a diverse background in planning, design, management, risk assessment, and strategic consulting of engineering projects.  He has founded and managed engineering firms, leading numerous engineering projects across different verticals. As industry analyst, he has led a data center power, cooling and sustainability research practice. His current company DCMETRIX, where he is CEO and founder, provides advisory services for data center projects and new technologies like liquid cooling. Researcher, contributor to standards, author of numerous publications, and regular speaker at conferences. He holds a PhD, MS and BS in Electrical Engineering.

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Craig Compiano is an expert business manager and entrepreneur with extensive executive management experience and a track record for developing successful businesses. He brings to the company and the industry, 30 years experience in business and systems development, operations, and finance. His prior accomplishments in software development for large commercial and public sector clients during his tenure at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) led to his current concentration on operational systems development and performance analytics for data centers, and the founding of Modius. Previously as Co-founder and Vice President of Paymap, Inc., Mr. Compiano prototyped, developed, and deployed an Electronic Payment System, that has been widely adopted by the banking industry. He was awarded a patent for this technology. Mr. Compiano has a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California, and an MBA Finance from UC Berkeley.

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Experienced Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in electronic manufacturing, aerospace, semiconductor, IT, renewables and environment industries. Skilled in Sales, Market Analysis, Continuous Improvement, Manufacturing Engineering, and IT. Strong sales professional with a Bachelor of Applied Science focused on Management and Information Systems from George Fox University

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Greg Pierce is a Senior Business Development Manager of Data Center Hardware with Sumitomo Electric Lightwave. 

Over his 35+ year career, Greg has held positions of increasing responsibility in Quality, Purchasing, Product Development and Product Management, providing some of the best known brands and products in the communications and data center industries.  Greg has a BS in Mathematics from North Carolina State University.   

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Angela is a 20-year technology veteran and expert in power protection and technology. She is currently responsible for managing direct market resale interactions assisting in the design and implementation of critical power as it relates to Single Phase (1P) and Three Phase (P3) CyberPower UPS systems. She is responsible to support overall channel growth, maximizing revenue, profitability, and market share as it pertains to critical power and distribution.

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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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Liam has worked in technical sales management roles for Grundfos for over thirty years, gaining experience and expertise in technical pumping solutions coupled with a thorough understanding of customers’ needs and pain points. He supports Grundfos’s data center customers in developing sustainable pumping solutions, matching Grundfos innovation and technical solutions with their customers' needs.

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Fengrong Li is a managing director at FTI Consulting’s Power, Renewables & Energy Transition (“PRET”) practice. She brings over 20 years of experience in energy and infrastructure, specializing in sustainability, market entry, strategy, resource planning and investment analysis across the energy value chain. Ms. Li’s work addresses grid challenges, deep decarbonization, increasing supply and demand variability, and the need to enhance reliability and resiliency. She advises clients on strategies and concrete portfolio positions to achieve 247 clean power, carbon-neutral, or carbon negative goals. She has provided expert analysis for restructuring and bankruptcy, before arbitrators, regulators, commissions, boards, councils, investment committee and stakeholders. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Ms. Li had a 13-year career at Siemens Industry, Inc., where she specialized in utility strategy and infrastructure. Prior to Siemens, she was chief of the Merchandise Division at Mitsui Co., Ltd., where she successfully developed international businesses in Asia, Europe and America.

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Stansberry is responsible for all commercial and service delivery activities in the North American region. He previously served as Senior Director of Content & Publications for Uptime Institute with extensive industry expertise writing for the Journal and other publications, and is a regular speaker at industry events around the globe. Stansberry also conducts the annual data center survey.

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Supervisor Caleb A. Kershner was elected to represent the Catoctin District on the Board of Supervisors in November 2019 and reelected in 2023.

He serves on the Board of Supervisors’ Transportation and Land Use Committee and represents the Board on the Loudoun County Agricultural District Advisory Committee. He represents Loudoun on the Coalition of Loudoun Towns and the Annexation Area Development Policy Committee. 

Supervisor Kershner, an attorney, is a partner in the law firm of Simms Showers, LLP in Leesburg.

A native of Frederick, Maryland, where he grew up on a farm, he moved to Loudoun in 1995 and worked for the Home School Legal Defense Association in Purcellville as director of federal relations. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance with honors from George Mason University in 2001 and a doctorate in law from George Mason University in 2005. Supervisor Kershner began his legal career as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Loudoun County, prosecuting criminal cases between 2005 and 2009.

Supervisor Kershner has been an active community volunteer, currently serving as an officer on the board of directors for the Loudoun County Fair and Associates, a nonprofit organization which hosts the Loudoun County Fair. He has also been a member of the Lovettsville-Waterford Ruritans.

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Elisha Olivestone is a senior sales & business development professional with over 15 years of experience, managing sales and business development opportunities. Elisha has been with Waterfall Security since 2018.

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Yuval Bachar is the Founder and CEO of EdgeCloudLink, (ECL). ECL defines a new data center category by democratizing the high-end data center technologies to everyone. ECL is creating a true zero-emission, off-grid colocation and edge solution for the industry. Yuval is also active as a Open19 Fellow with the Linux Foundation.

Before that, Yuval was a principal hardware architect at the Azure Platform; in that capacity, his work focused on data center self-healing leveraging Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, predictive maintenance, and hardware quality consistency control at scale.

Prior to his role at Microsoft, Yuval was a principal engineer in the global infrastructure and strategy team for Linkedin, responsible for the company strategy for data center architecture and the mega-scale company data centers. He drove and supported the new technology development, architecture, and collaboration for the 10x compute & storage growth and 25x network connectivity growth in that capacity. Yuval was one of the founders and innovators of the Open19 project and president of the Open19 Foundation. As part of this work, he was responsible for developing this new community and Open19 technology to support the Open19 Community.

Prior to Linkedin, Yuval was the leader and architect for Facebook data center networking hardware, responsible for developing the Wedge and 6-Pack first top of Rack (ToR) and modular open networking gear.

Earlier, Yuval served as Senior Director of Engineering in the CTO office in the Data Center Group at Cisco, responsible for its data center product portfolio and next-generation innovation.

Before this stint at Cisco, Yuval served as VP/CTO of the High-End Systems Business Unit at Juniper Networks. He drove Juniper’s high-end systems architecture, market, and technology positioning in this capacity, including product, technology, and system-level innovation and alignment across the company.

Yuval was recognized as a top influencer in the data center industry: Top 50 of data centers in the Americas and Edge data centers globally: 10 Innovators South of the Rack, Top 50 America’s data center influencer – 2018, Top 50 Edge influencers 2019, Data Economy ‘Power 200’ Leaders, iMasons IM100, 2020. He has been a contributor to the PCI standard and several IEEE standards. He holds eight approved US patents in the data center, networking, system design areas, and three Cisco pioneer awards.

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Ellen Yang, Vice President of Regional Construction at Prime Data Centers, has 15+ years of global design construction leadership experience in US, Canada, Australia, managing large-scale greenfield development, design construction projects, and portfolios across Data Center, High Tech, Nuclear, Mission-Critical Infrastructure, and Energy Resources.

Ellen is a strong advocate for DEI and for women in Data centers and global construction. She is actively involved in iMWomen, making positive impact and influence, with IM100 award recognition for her contribution to the digital infrastructure industry.

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Susanna Kass ranked 1st in the Top 10 Women in Data Centers in the U.S. and 4th in the Top 10 Women in Data Centers worldwide and is one of the Top 10 Data Center Influencers on LinkedIn. Susanna led over 3.8 gigawatts of clean energy data center projects across 18 countries for over 30 years as a global data center operation executive, a clean energy researcher, and an AI scientist. Susanna is an inventor holding patents and is featured in publications on Amazon Press as a Best-Selling Author and in WSJ, Forbes, Inc. CIO, TEDx, and Data Center magazines. She led new ventures to billions from the ground up in her role as COO at eBay International, General Manager of HP Asia Pacific Data Center Operation, VP of Global Data Center Business Operations at Sun Microsystems/Oracle, Head of Innovation and Development at NextEra Energy, EVP Sustainability and Development at Baselayer I/O with Fortune 500 clients: Goldman Sachs, Citi, BofA, Walmart, GE, hyperscale cloud content providers AWS, Google, Meta-Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Akamai, with numerous electric utilities.

Susanna is a Data Center Advisor to UNSDG-EP, an Energy Fellow at Stanford University, and a Board Member of Stanford University Graduate School of Business Women’s Circle, leading Impact Analysis Communication. Susanna is currently an Operating Partner at Digital Gravity Infra on sustainability infrastructure investments and a co-founder and Board Chair at InfraPrime℠, a Net Zero Switzerland startup funded by The European Union for Clean Energy Transition; her Net Zero designs and data center builds deliver net-positive results towards the transition to a carbon-free future, by using AI optimized digital infrastructure, green grids to scale the growth of accelerated computing to protect human safety, alleviate poverty, promote prosperity, and advance sustainability for head of states.

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David Bell has extensive experience in a leadership role helping the utility and general industry meet their key business objectives by improving reliability and productivity.

Prior to VoltaGrid, David led the team that developed the Utility Sector for Aggreko and was involved in 100’s of MW ‘s of temporary power installations on the North American utility grid.

David's team was pivotal in the first temporary grid-scale natural gas install in Aggreko’s history using virtual pipeline gas, after a natural disaster.

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Trenton is a Founder of Wyoming Hyperscale White Box, the developers of the Aspen Mountain Hyperscale Data Center Project [Phase I: 30MW; Phase II: 90MW, total 120MW] which encompasses four operating large-scale wind projects and one large-scale solar power project that together produce more than 500 megawatts of renewable energy.

Trenton carries on the family tradition of building and conserving precious capital by expanding to international markets and ensuring robust operation of strategic planning processes, capital investment programs and internal controls. Trenton hit two "home runs" as private equity portfolio company CFO with the sale of US Zinc in 2008 and Duratherm in 2011.

He completed dozens of acquisitions over the past two decades, including "mom & pop" size retail operations, an industrial fabricator, and a magnetic ranging navigation technology suite for drilling.

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As a seasoned Sales Executive in the dynamic realm of Immersion Cooling, George Gehringer brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of driving success in the ever-evolving landscape of data center and high-performance computing solutions.  His current role is with Submer out of Leesburg, VA as VP of Sales for North America and LATAM with the focus on developing Immersion Cooling Solutions tailored to Hyperscalers and Data Center Colocation.  In this position at Submer, George continues to assist in redefining industry standards, forge strategic alliances, and lead the charge toward a future where efficiency and sustainability converge seamlessly.  His dedication to client success cements Submer’s status as a trusted advisor and innovator in the immersive cooling landscape.

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Reid Senescu is VP of Product at Doxel. His team talks with folks in construction and communicates their needs to software developers who use AI to help the industry build better, faster, with lower costs. His career began as a structural engineer, founded a construction tech startup out of his PhD research at Stanford and then led Product for Rhumbix followed by Enlighted (acquired by Siemens).

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Mario is a Vice President and the Global Technology Market Sector Leader at AECOM, where he drives strategic initiatives for our global technology clients.  With over $300 million in annual technology sector revenues, Mario's leadership has positioned AECOM as a global leader in data center consulting, serving 56 countries in the past eight years. 

Mario is dedicated to advancing technological innovation in the data center industry, with a strong emphasis on design automation and energy infrastructure to enhance sustainability and scalability. His commitment to integrity and environmental stewardship reflects his belief that sustainable solutions are crucial for both the health of our planet and long-term economic prosperity. 

Before joining AECOM in 2017, Mario played a pivotal role in high-profile infrastructure and urban development projects across the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, including Lusail City and Saadiyat Island. His extensive experience underscores his expertise in managing complex, large-scale programs. 

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Jamie has over 20 years’ experience leading high-performance teams including P&L leadership and large complex global sales organizations in power generation and industrial companies. He assumed the role of President and Chief Operating Officer for RPower in June of 2022.

RPower is a power generation company spanning prime, merchant, and backup power generation solutions. RPower specializes in providing backup generation to companies with mission critical loads; with a focus on serving energy intensive businesses, including the Data Center and Oil & Gas segments. The RPower team of analysts and engineers has a proven track record in the electric power industry serving large industrial customers and utilities with power generation project development, asset operations, asset optimization, project financing, and retail energy. RPower is well capitalized and backed by I Squared Capital based in Miami, FL.

Prior to RPower, Jamie was Global Vice President of Business Development for Generac’s Commercial and Industrial business unit. In this capacity Jamie built and scaled a global commercial organization to focus on the rapidly growing distributed generation market opportunity. This includes channel development, new product commercialization and transforming a legacy business model to meet the demands of new market dynamics being created by microgrid and other distributed generation solutions.

Jamie started his career in power generation at General Electric after serving 10 years as an officer in the United States Coast Guard. During his tenure in the Coast Guard, Jamie held several leadership roles, including Commanding Officer of a US Coast Guard Cutter and Associate Director of the Admiral James M. Loy Institute for Leadership at the US Coast Guard Academy.

Jamie received his Bachelor of Science in Operations Research from the United States Coast Guard Academy, a Master of Science in Engineering from Stanford and his MBA from Emory University.

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Will Patrick, PMP, is the Sr. Director of Data Center Solutions at Black Box. With over 18 years of experience in construction, focusing on Structured Cabling and Integrated Technology Systems, Will oversees all aspects of construction and operational activities within Black Box's Data Center project and service delivery program. He leads a team of project management professionals, ensuring operational excellence, safety, and on-time, on-budget project delivery. Will also plays a crucial role in strategic planning, resource management, and talent development, fostering strong partnerships with suppliers and vendors.

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Benjamin has been in the physical security industry for over 20 years. In his current role with DH Pace, he is laser focused on creating an easy button for the owner/operators, general contractors, and architectural design firms.  He and the teams at DH Pace coordinate the process to add value and reduce complexity for the entire supply chain.  His scope of physical security products includes the industry brand leaders for:  doors/frames/hardware, dock equipment, speed gates, access control, and many other categories.  He has been a speaker at a variety of live events, online events, and podcasts.

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Edward Socia is the Insight Director for datacenterHawk, and has 13 years of industry experience.

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My passion is enabling sustainable construction and energy solutions through hyperscale designs that drive industry-wide decarbonization. My role as an Advisory Board Member for Fidelis New Energy leverages my expertise sustainable design enabling multi-gigawatt, zero carbon power projects in Europe and the US. This aligns with my commitment to sustainability and ethical practices on a global scale.

Previously, as a Senior Engineering Lead at Meta, I spearheaded initiatives to enhance capital efficiency in data center design and construction, linking sustainability directly to delivery. Our team's collaborative efforts in the iMasons Climate Accord and the development of AI strategies contributed significantly to reducing carbon in concrete by 40%. Underscoring proficiency in manufacturing process improvement and project planning, and dedication to safe, efficient, and respectful environments.

At Microsoft, I led design, procurement and construction delivery for MS's Global Cloud DC infrastructure. Scaling delivery capacity from 100's of MWs/year to 1GW+ MWs/year. Redesigning the DC design and delivery approach, reducing cost and schedule by 50% while improving safety in the field by 75%

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Currently serving as the Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Trangistics, McGrew specializes in providing innovative freight and procurement solutions for complex construction projects. His expertise in this arena extends particularly into high-specification builds such as data centers, semiconductor fabrication plants, and other controlled environment facilities, where he oversees logistics for top producers, general contractors, trades, and suppliers.

With a career built on entrepreneurial spirit and a solutions-oriented mindset, McGrew thrives on overcoming challenges and finding creative solutions. Embracing the philosophy that "there are never problems, only challenges" and driven by a competitive edge that "hates losing more than he likes winning," he leads a high-integrity, global logistics operation that excels in transportation, warehousing, and inventory management.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Linfield University and is a licensed real estate broker.

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Patty Solberg is a Sr. Advisor for Solutions Innovation in ENGIE’s Energy Solutions Americas team. She focuses on developing customer offerings consistent with ENGIE’s global ambitions aligned for North American market. Patty is responsible for market research, solution definition and development, and strategic partnerships to enable new offerings.

Patty brings more than 20 years’ experience in product management and business development, first in telecommunications equipment, and then energy management. She began working in energy management at a startup focused on Industrial Demand Management, including AutoDR. Patty has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Loyola Marymount University.

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Digital Power Optimization helps utilities, IPPs, and renewable energy projects deploy flexible data centers as highly-profitable offtake mechanisms for stranded or undervalued power or generation assets.

Andrew's previous positions include time as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and both equity and credit investing roles at Surveyor Capital (Citadel) and Fortress Investment Group, among other industry-leading NYC-based hedge funds. He is also a former U.S. Marine.

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Margarita Groisman is the Founder of CentralAxis and is passionate about impact-focused solutions, and making data-driven decisions. She has previous experience with Impact Labs and more recently, Microsoft.

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Peter is currently Senior Vice President of Sales at RPower, a power generation project developer, owner and operator bringing prime, bridge power and resiliency solutions to large energy users throughout the US.  Peter joined RPower in May of 2022 and brings 15 years of experience commercializing advanced power generation products and technologies, which includes two startups in the renewable energy technology space; Boulder Wind Power and Core Innovation, and 7 years with Generac Power Systems, most recently as Director of Sales for their commercial and industrial generator business.

Peter holds a BS in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from RPI’s Lally School of Management.

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Darren is Managing Director of DCD’s education business - DCD Academy, a leading global provider of mission critical learning and development services to the data center industry . 

Darren was previously leader of Learning and Development at SoftwareONE, Capita, Bureau Veritas and SGS and has in-depth experience of the full learning and talent development lifecycle and understands how L&D is integral to impact the wider strategic objectives of organisations.

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Ed Struzik, CPIM, is a seasoned supply chain expert with over 25 years of experience in suitable practices. As a partner and North American supply chain leader at ERM, he collaborates with Fortune 100 companies across various industries worldwide, providing strategic insights and practical tactics to help them achieve their sustainability and climate goals.

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Julius Neudorfer is the CTO and founder of North American Access Technologies, Inc. (NAAT). Based in Westchester NY, NAAT’s clients include Fortune 500 firms and government agencies. NAAT has been consulting on data center infrastructure and related technology projects for over 30 years.

Julius is a member of ASHRAE, IEEE, iMasons and The Green Grid. Currently, he chairs TGG’s Data Center Energy Efficiency Technologies work-group, which created the Data Center Resource Effectiveness (DCRE) metric. He is also an instructor for the US Department of Energy “Data Center Energy Practitioner” (DCEP) program.

Julius has written numerous articles and whitepapers for various IT and data center publications and has presented seminars and webinars on data center power, cooling and energy efficiency.

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Joe Melia is an experienced, collaborative, and innovative professional who brings knowledge, excitement and creative problem solving to Construction Management. Joe possesses a wide range of knowledge covering project delivery life-cycles from conceptual design/budgeting through detailed design/estimating, project management, commissioning and project turnover. He has over 16 years of international construction industry experience managing a wide range of complex projects including high-end commercial interiors, mission critical, life sciences & biotech, electric transmission & distribution.

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Thomas Flanagan is responsible for identifying, structuring, and executing wholesale renewable energy power transactions across the United States. Tom is specifically focused on developing and growing Constellation’s integration of offsite renewable power purchase agreements into retail supply contracts.

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Santiago Suinaga, Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure Masons, is a senior multi-cultural executive in the digital infrastructure industry, with 20 years of international business experience in more than 10 countries across data center design, critical operations, M&A, sales, finance and cost management in high growth markets. He most recently served as CEO of KIO Networks Data Centers.

Santiago joined iMasons as a member in 2020, has served as an Advisory Council member, and is a founding member of the iMasons Climate Accord. He previously was Mexico’s local chapter leader and a member of the LatinX Member Resource Group.

Santiago holds a dual MBA degree from the IPADE Business School and the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. Santiago has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Iberoamerican University.

Santiago’s Industry Certifications include Uptime Institute Accredited Tier Designer (ATD) and Accredited Tier Specialist (ATS), C-Net Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP) and Certified Data Centre Management Professional (CDCMP).

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Haynes’ experience stretches over ten years in the data center sector, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Strader continues developing trusted relationships with Skybox Datacenters clients and capital partners across the industry. Previously, Haynes has represented tenants, buyers and sellers on more than 200 data center transactions totaling more than $2.5B in total value and has become renowned for his mission critical market expertise.  Haynes previously served as Vice President in the CBRE Data Center Solutions platform

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Sandhya Mutreja is a visionary global HR leader with over a decade of transformational experience, including 3+ years in the data center industry. She has lived, worked, and led diverse teams across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, bringing a unique global perspective to every aspect of her work. With a proven track record spanning both Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups, Sandhya excels at aligning human capital strategies with business imperatives to drive workforce optimization, operational scalability, and the creation of high-performing, resilient teams in rapidly evolving environments.

Her expertise spans across the full HR spectrum, including strategic talent acquisition, talent and performance management, learning and development, executive compensation design, Total Rewards and Operations. Sandhya is a key architect of digital HR transformations, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and data analytics to enhance operational efficiency and employee experience. She has played a pivotal role in ensuring the strategic readiness of go-to-market teams—spanning sales, implementation, and customer support—ensuring seamless execution of business strategies that deliver measurable outcomes.

Throughout her career, Sandhya has successfully navigated organizations through complex, high-stakes transitions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and IPO readiness, positioning businesses for sustained growth and success.

Sandhya’s consistently provides actionable insights and strategic recommendations to boards and executive teams, helping shape long-term business objectives. Her analytical acumen, combined with a profound understanding of workforce dynamics, drives informed decision-making helps propels organizational growth and performance.

A passionate advocate for fostering inclusive, psychologically safe workplaces, Sandhya champions a culture of belonging and holistic well-being. She is dedicated to mental health and wellness initiatives, serving on the Board of Vaughan Social Action Council in Toronto, a non-profit organization committed to driving mental health awareness and securing funding for community programs through federal and provincial partnerships.

In the data center industry, Sandhya’s key priority is in addressing the war for talent, with a primary focus on building a future-ready workforce to meet the growing demands of the sector. Her goal is to be a thought leader in developing robust talent pipelines for the future within the data center industry and partner with peers and industry leaders in addressing the challenge.

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Michael Evans is the Senior Vice President of Sales - Americas at Salute Mission Critical.

Michael is seasoned and self-directed, with an extensive background spanning diverse industries but with a special focus on the data center industry. With a proactive and results-driven approach, Michael consistently demonstrates his ability to lead professional sales teams, cultivate strategic relationships, and deliver value to clients.

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Chris Thompson is Vice President, Global Microgrids for Vertiv. In this role Chris develops platform solutions for improving grid participation of datacenters. Chris has over 30 years of diversified global experience in the power electronics and power systems markets. Prior to Vertiv, Chris was VP Product and Technical Marketing at SolarEdge. In this role Chris managed the Grid Services, Technical Marketing and Regulatory functions for solar and storage solutions in North America. Prior to SolarEdge Chris held diverse global roles with Schneider Electric, Eaton and First Solar. In addition, Chris spent 4 years as a venture investor leading investments in solar, battery technology, fuel cells, and autonomous devices.

Chris holds Bachelor’s Degrees with highest honors in both Mechanical and Electrical engineering from Tufts University, an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Chicago, and a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Singapore where he served as a Fulbright Scholar.

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Evan McAvoy is presently Director, Business Development for Solar Turbines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar, Inc. He has global responsibility for sales, market development, and applications engineering for the Power Generation business.

His prior experience includes Regional Manager based in Brussels, Belgium with leadership responsibility for aftermarket sales & operations in Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, and prior to that, Global Manager of Applications Engineering based in San Diego, California.

Additional experience includes 3 years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as Area Sales Manager - Oil & Gas, with sales responsibility for Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Philippines & Cambodia, and 6 years in Tokyo as the Country Manager for Japan, also with Management responsibility for Power Generation Sales in China.

Evan began his career with Solar Turbines at the headquarters in California, in both technical & commercial roles ranging from Applications Engineering to Marketing, Business Development, and Structured Finance.

Evan holds a B.A. from Washington & Lee University, M.A. from University of California, San Diego, and has completed an executive leadership program at Peking University's BiMBA. He is fully proficient in Japanese, with technical expertise in mathematical economics, econometrics, finance, energy systems and the energy industry, both electric power and oil & gas.

Evan currently lives in San Diego, California and is married, with one daughter and one son.

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Bruce Myatt, PE is a critical facilities engineering consultant, an account executive, and a data center project director. He is currently Director, Data Center Engineering & Design at Enercon, and has been Founder of Silicon Valley’s Critical Facilities Round Table, Executive Editor and Technical Adviser at Mission Critical Magazine, Infrastructure Mason Master 1st Degree, and frequent speaker at Data Center Dynamics, DataCloud and other conferences.

Bruce is a registered Mechanical Engineer with over 30 years of technical, business development and business management experience working with critical facilities such as nuclear power plants, semiconductor fabs, DOE’s national laboratories facilities, and data centers. He is currently helping his data center clients get “fast-track” electrical power to their datacenters with the delivery of onsite generators and substations, and is planning for both hydrogen and nuclear projects in the not-so-distant future. He helps achieve climate accord objectives through designs that future-proof facilities with modularization, decarbonization, and sustainable green building features.

Early in his career, Bruce performed accident analysis and design of nuclear power plant facilities including General Atomic HTGR reactor internals, General Electric Mark-1 BWR emergency core cooling systems, Westinghouse BWR balance of plant MEP systems, and DOE Hanford’s N-Reactor. He has also developed Hydrogen hub conceptual designs for ARCHES and two other regional hydrogen hub conglomerates.

Bruce helped lead an engineering team in the design of a 100MW hyperscale network of data centers. He has led other teams that were recognized as Finalist in the 2013 Data Center Dynamics NorAm annual Awards competition for the TDC Self-powered Data Center and 7x24x365 Power Plant, and others as Finalists in eBay’s national design competitions for their Mercury and Quicksilver projects. Previously, he helped develop programs for DOE, LBNL and PG&E related to data center energy efficiency including new construction & retrofit design assistance, retro-commissioning, and micro-grid design.

Bruce pioneered & evangelized server cooling solutions with aisles enclosures that prevent the mixing of chilled and hot air streams in data center environments. He was selected as a technical advisor to DOE, EPA, CEC, LBNL, and PG&E Committees focused on Data Center Energy Efficiency, and has presented solutions at Data Center Dynamics in SF & NYC, National 7x24 Exchange, Uptime Symposium, Critical Facilities Summit, Next Generation Data Centers, at several PG&E Customer Energy Efficiency conferences, & many other event.

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Emily Sullivan is board certified Physical Security Professional, who helps people within organizations solve the security issues keeping them awake at night. Emily helps bridge the relationship between security and operations, succeeding through successful procedural and technological implementations.

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