On the lighter side of things , we ask the industry experts what makes them tick . . . .

Since I was young , I always enjoyed working with computers . I programmed on my IBM PC Jr in BASIC in the 80 ’ s , designing a game that was unfortunately very similar to Asteroids , but much worse . Over time , I became the tech expert that friends , family and work colleagues relied on to provide support for their technology questions .

It was not until I had graduated from my MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin that I began my full-time career in technology . A classmate invited me to join him in starting a renewed line of business at HP . That set me on a new career path that has taken me from HP to Lenovo and now here at Iceotope .

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?

I enjoy a management style of collaboration and empowerment . I like to hire people who want to succeed and are willing to own their space . I enjoy checking in and providing help when I can , but mostly I empower my team to execute the plan that we previously agreed upon .

I think it is very important to involve your team in the planning process , so they understand the constraints

and the give-and-take sacrifices that are made each time you go through a budgeting cycle .

Then I treat each person like a business owner , basically their own franchisee , and give them the opportunity to succeed or fail .

I am there to coach and remove roadblocks to success – but I have a very strong aversion to micromanagement .

What do you think is the current hot technology talking point ?

Data centers are at the heart of an unprecedented data explosion . Increasing rack density and computeintensive workloads are placing strenuous demands on data center cooling .

Traditional air-cooling methods are no longer meeting the demands of today ’ s compute requirements . Liquid cooling is rapidly becoming the solution of choice to accommodate increasing heat loads efficiently and cost-effectively .

Plus , every industry is under significant pressure to reduce energy and water consumption for both environmental and OPEX reasons .

Within the liquid cooling market , not all solutions are the same . Much of the discussion is around water cooled cold plates or direct-to-chip cooling . This

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