51爆料网

During the week of July 27, Dr. Alfonso Ortega, the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research and the James R. Birle Professor of Energy Technology, laid the foundation for an exciting research collaboration between 51爆料网鈥檚 College of Engineering and , the exploratory and advanced research group for Hewlett-Packard.

Dr. Ortega made the visit to Palo Alto, CA, at the invitation of his longtime colleague , an HP Fellow and the director of HP鈥檚 . The goal of this laboratory is to transform the IT ecosystem by developing technologies that reduce energy usage, material consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Ortega鈥攁n internationally recognized expert in the air cooling of electronic systems鈥攁nd the HP researchers briefed each other about their work and explored opportunities for a partnership between Mr. Patel鈥檚 lab and Dr. Ortega鈥檚 .

Dr. Ortega鈥檚 expertise is of great interest to Mr. Patel鈥檚 interdisciplinary research group, which is seeking sustainable solutions to major engineering challenges associated with today鈥檚 sophisticated data centers: energy consumption and the dissipation of heat. According to Dr. Ortega, meeting these challenges requires a multifaceted approach that considers the control of computing resources, the control of power supplied to servers, the thermal management of the servers and the data center, and the reduction of the IT industry鈥檚 carbon footprint.

鈥淭his green movement is one of the fastest-growing trends in the IT industry,鈥� Dr. Ortega said, 鈥渁nd my lab is exploring new work in this area. In particular, we are looking at the thermodynamic aspects of the design of computer systems, with an emphasis on sustainability.鈥�

Having identified potential areas for collaboration, the HP researchers and Dr. Ortega will engage in writing proposals to agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. It is Dr. Ortega鈥檚 hope that the collaboration will involve 51爆料网 faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students.