A Collaboration in Cooling

Partnership with NVIDIA aims to reduce energy use in data centers

The astronomical demand for computing services (think artificial intelligence, streaming and high-performance computing) has produced a crisis in cooling. Data centers have quickly approached a point where racks can no longer be cooled with traditional air-cooling approaches. Given that the cooling of IT equipment already accounts for 33% to 40% of the overall energy use in a data center, there is a pressing need to develop commercially viable alternative cooling systems for data centers using liquid cooling.

For nearly a decade, researchers at Villanova University, Binghamton University and the University of Texas at Arlington have collaborated with industry partners to advance the energy efficiency of data centers through the NSF Center for Energy Smart Electronic Systems (ES2). Supported by the National Science Foundation, ES2 is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center that explores and advances new approaches to the management of computational loads, power and cooling within the data center.

Alfonso Ortega, PhD, the James R. Birle Professor of Energy Technology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is the Villanova site director for ES2 and one of the world’s leading experts on liquid cooling systems. Recognizing the inherent limitations of air-cooled approaches, NVIDIA—a global leader in AI computing—joined ES2 in 2021 to explore more novel approaches to thermal management. “NVIDIA really challenged us to think big,” says Dr. Ortega. “They asked, ‘What will it take to make a giant leap forward in cooling technologies? How might you eliminate air in favor of liquid cooling?’”

Through ES2, NVIDIA collaborates with Villanova as a “proof-of-concept” lab for two-phase, refrigerant-based, direct-to-chip cooling technologies. “Using refrigerant in a two-phase flow configuration is an extremely efficient way to absorb large quantities of heat,” Dr. Ortega notes, but there are many fundamental and applied problems that must be overcome to make these approaches feasible and deployable. The close collaboration with industry experts allows the ES2 team to contribute to highly relevant, impactful research.

The partnership between ES2 member NVIDIA and the Villanova and Binghamton University team is particularly strong and well-poised for future opportunities. “This is an unbelievably talented team,” says Dr. Ortega. “There’s a great deal of trust and knowledge-sharing, and they love to mentor and hire our graduate student researchers.

“The importance of research in thermal management systems for electronics has never been more important and pressing,” he adds. “It’s truly a thrill ride—this is one of the most rewarding times that I’ve ever experienced as a researcher of more than 40 years.”