Bill Tierney, Chief Sales Officer for BluePrint Supply Chain, delves into the intricacies of data center construction supply chains. He discusses groundbreaking research revealing challenges in logistics and site access, driven by nearly 160 industry expert insights. The conversation also touches on the shift in focus from logistics to regulatory concerns and highlights innovative strategies to enhance project resilience. Additionally, Tierney emphasizes the importance of independent research in shaping future developments in construction management.

Tom Dakich, CEO of Quantum Corridor, shares insights on transforming the Midwest data center landscape. He discusses the evolution of his career from law to tech, highlighting the importance of collaboration in the industry. The conversation dives into Quantum Corridor's groundbreaking fiber-optic network, enabling lightning-fast data exchange and boosting innovations in quantum computing. Dakich also elaborates on sustainable practices, including innovative cooling methods and the site's history as a former power plant, blending technology with environmental responsibility.

The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report podcast series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist Foundation leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in various industry events. Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per its mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world." Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. Nomad Futurist's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad.  For episode two of the Nomads at the Frontier series, DCF Editor In Chief Matt Vincent moderated a tight yet pithy discussion with Nabeel Mahmood, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Nomad Futurist, and Rob Coyle, Director of Technical Program for the Open Compute Project Foundation, about the newly announced strategic alliance between the two organizations as reflected at the 2024 OCP Global Summit (Oct. 15-17), each taking a shared role in addressing workforce and education challenges in the data center industry. In the podcast, Mahmood and Coyle highlight how the significance of the new alliance between their organizations was reflected at OCP 2024, which was attended by an amazing 7,000 people, and discuss future initiatives to foster collaboration. The discussion covers how this year's event answered the need for standardization in liquid cooling solutions, and how presentation reflected the growing importance of automation and robotics in response to issues ranging from increasing rack density to labor shortages, especially in hyperscale and AI-oriented data centers. The talk also addresses the alliance's joint roadmap to formalize strategic directions for the partnership, with OCP-Nomad Futurists announcements planned over the next three to six months to possibly include events such as hackathons, designathons, and other disruptive initiatives and happenings to engage both industry insiders and newcomers.

Waleed Zafar, Mission Critical Director at XYZ Reality, shares his expertise in using augmented reality to revolutionize construction, particularly in data centers. He discusses innovative AR technologies that reduce errors and cut costs, showcasing successful large-scale projects. The conversation dives into a groundbreaking AR headset designed for construction, enhancing model accuracy and efficiency. Waleed also tackles challenges like labor shortages and communication delays, emphasizing the crucial role of real-time data for future project success.

Pat McGinn, COO of CoolIT Systems, shares insights on the booming liquid cooling market, which has evolved significantly in the past 12 years. He discusses how single-phase direct-to-chip cooling enhances data center efficiency and energy savings, especially with the escalating demands of AI. The conversation also touches on innovative cooling distribution units and the strategic partnership with NVIDIA to optimize technology. McGinn makes bold predictions for the future growth of liquid cooling as an essential solution for the industry's rising heat challenges.

In this episode, we delve into the complex interplay between performance and sustainability in data centers. As technology continues to advance, so too does the demand for powerful, efficient data centers. However, this growing demand also raises concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact.

For this installment of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, we bring you the first episode in a new series with our friends from the Nomad Futurist Foundation. Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per the group's mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world."  Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. The organization's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad.  The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is therefore to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in these events.  Yotta 2024 Impressions For the first installment of Nomads at the Frontier, Data Center Frontier's Editor in Chief Matt Vincent called into Las Vegas during the debut of Yotta, an event conceived and brought forth by Data Center Dynamics aimed at unifying leaders and stakeholders in digital infrastructure industry at large. For this interview, DCF spoke with Nomad Futurist Advisors Jodie Lin, Customer Advocate and CSR with data center infrastructure company Mirapath, Inc., and Illissa Miller, CEO of iMiller Public Relations, a firm focused on the digital infrastructure industry, for their reflections and impressions from the environs of Yotta 2024. To begin, we asked Lin and Miller for their top takeaways from the show regarding the confluence between the larger world of digital infrastructure and data centers. Next, given how attuned data centers are to the AI technology shift, we asked Nomads Lin and Miller for their perceptions of the level of preparation within rest of the digital infrastructure space, as heard from at Yotta, for facing up to AI's demands and opportunities. DCF also wondered whether, based on impressions received from Yotta, the data center industry’s obsessions with power, cooling, sustainability, and managing exponential growth in wake of AI seem to be shared equally by the larger world of digital infrastructure. Finally, owing to certain breakthroughs in the areas of regulation, funding, and planned deployment, this year has felt like a tipping point in terms of optimism for advanced nuclear energy, especially in the US data center industry. As such, we asked our Nomads to gauge whether this anticipation for "new nuclear" energy was as palpable in the larger world of digital infrastructure as encountered at Yotta?

Rehlko, formerly Kohler Energy, is setting a new standard in the data center industry by offering the first generator in the data center industry with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). The company recently released a brand new EPD in the form of a PEP ecopassport® that provides transparent, third-party verified insights into the KD Series™ generator’s environmental impact across its lifecycle. Here’s a link to the report that details how Rehlko is committed to transparently communicating its product's lifecycle footprint and how the process is accelerating data centers' efforts to measure Scope 3 emissions and work toward net-zero ambitions.

In this discussion, Chris Carreiro, CTO of Park Place Technologies, and Manfreid Chua, VP of Business Development at ZutaCore, delve into the future of liquid cooling in data centers. They explore how direct-to-chip cooling can drastically improve energy efficiency, offering up to 50% power savings. The duo emphasizes the role of these innovations in supporting sustainable AI computing and the move away from traditional air cooling. Discover how partnerships like theirs are revolutionizing the scalability and environmental impact of data center operations.

In this insightful discussion, Dave Hessong, Global Data Center Development Marketing Manager for Corning, dives into the evolution of data center connectivity shaped by AI. He highlights the pivotal shift from north-south to east-west traffic systems, emphasizing the critical need for high-speed 800G cabling to enhance performance. Hessong tackles the importance of reducing latency, the role of advanced fiber optic technologies, and how these innovations are vital for future-proofing data centers. This conversation reveals the transformative impact of AI on networking.