Prometheus Hyperscale has appointed liquid cooling expert John Gross as CTO.

Gross has been working with the firm, which intends to build a 1GW data center campus in Wyoming, for the last four years as lead engineering consultant.

In his new role he will lead the Prometheus engineering team and “leverage his extensive experience in designing and commissioning infrastructure for High Performance Compute deployments,” the company said.

Trenton Thornock, founder and CEO of Prometheus Hyperscale, said: “John’s experience designing and constructing high compute infrastructure has been invaluable in the unique design of Prometheus Hyperscale’s data centers to date. I am honored to have him join the team in a dedicated, official capacity as we work to set new benchmarks for sustainable digital infrastructure.”

After beginning his career in data center commissioning at Compaq Computer, Gross has worked as a principal mechanical engineer with clients including ExxonMobil, HP, and Valero Energy.

He serves as secretary of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) TC9.9, chairs the Liquid Cooling Subcommitteefor ASHRAE SSPC 127, and is a former co-lead for the Open Compute Project’s Advanced Cooling Facilities subproject.

At Prometheus Hyperscale, he has already played a critical role in creating the company’s liquid cooling system, which the company claims can outperform traditional air-cooling methods and reduce energy consumption by up to 50 percent.

Gross said: “I feel privileged to join Trenton’s dynamic team of high-performing individuals from diverse backgrounds who bring fresh perspectives to an industry going through a paradigm shift in how we design, build, and operate data centers for next-generation compute.

“As we look at how to accommodate the rapidly changing technology with infrastructure designed to last 20+ years, outside-the-box thinking will be critical to success and Prometheus Hyperscale is built to lead the future of data centers.”

Formerly known as Wyoming Hyperscale, Prometheus Hyperscale is building a data center campus on 58 acres of land on Aspen Mountain, a remote site southeast of Evanston in Wyoming. The plan is the brainchild of Thornock, whose family owns the land, and, in September, the company brought Trevor Neilson on board as president and rebranded as Prometheus.

The company says the Aspen Mountain facility will be "the most advanced sustainable data center in the United States" once up and running, and has already pledged to utilize liquid cooling, with waste heat put to use on a nearby farm. In May, Prometheus agreed to a deal to buy 100MW of energy from small nuclear reactor startup Oklo.

The company also intends to roll out its model to other sites in the US, setting up joint ventures with energy infrastructure owners.

Other recent recruits include former BP CEO Bernard Looney, who joined as chairman in November, and another former BP man, Adam Mirick, who is acting as the firm’s energy advisor.