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State of The Northern Virginia Market:

How Are The Dynamics Changing In The World’s Largest Data Center Market And What Are The Ripple Effects Across Tier 2 and 3 Markets?

Nelson Fonseca

Nelson Fonseca

President & CEO

Cyxtera Technologies

Rob Rockwood

Rob Rockwood

President

Sabey Data Centers

Chris Downie

Chris Downie

Managing Partner

Welles Infrastructure Advisors

Dean Nelson

Dean Nelson

CEO

Cato Digital

Sami Badri

Sami Badri

VP, Investor Relations & Strategic Finance

Cisco

Arman Khalili

Arman Khalili

Partner

Blackstart Infrastructure Partners

James Grice
Moderator

James Grice

Chair, Data Centers & Digital Infrastructure Practice

Akerman

Nelson Fonseca

President & CEO

Cyxtera Technologies

Nelson Fonseca has more than 20 years of experience as an IT executive with expertise in IT infrastructure operations, sales, business development, telecommunications, and government contracting.

Fonseca served in positions of increasing seniority at Terremark from 2001 through 2012, most recently as President. In that role he was responsible for managing Terremark's cloud, internet data center, and managed security business that included 3,500 employees, over $1.5 billion in revenue, and operations in 19 countries.

Since October 2012, Fonseca has served as a Partner of Medina Capital, where, among his other responsibilities, he has focused on providing strategic advice and counsel to Medina Capital portfolio companies in the areas of operations, strategy, business development, mergers and acquisitions, international business, and government contracting. He started his professional career as an engineer in the wireless network division at Nortel Networks and held various business development positions at Telcordia Technologies, formerly Bellcore. Fonseca received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Barry University and his master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami.

Rob Rockwood

President

Sabey Data Centers

Rob Rockwood serves as President of Sabey Data Centers and has been with the company for four years. Prior to joining Sabey, he served at CoreSite from 2001-2014 finishing as a Senior Vice President and General Manager.

After graduating from West Point and serving in the US Army, Rob earned master’s degrees in construction management and public administration from the University of Illinois and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, respectively. Rob draws on his training and experience as a soldier and business leader to build teams that create the very best opportunities for customers and employees to grow and prosper.

He lives with his wife Meg in Northern Virginia.

Dean Nelson

CEO

Cato Digital

Dean Nelson is a seasoned technology executive with 32 years of experience deploying $10B of digital infrastructure projects across 3 continents.

Dean is currently the CEO of Cato, a software platform that unlocks stranded power in datacenters, the Founder and Chairman of Infrastructure Masons, a professional association of industry executives and technology professionals uniting the builders of the digital age, and the Founder and CEO of Dean Nelson Inc, a strategic advisory and consulting company serving startups, fortune 500 companies and investment firms.

Previously, Dean led Uber’s Metal as a Service function supporting Uber’s ridesharing business delivering over 100 million trips a week in more than 600 cities spanning 6 continents, as well as UberEats, UberFreight, UberHealth, UberForBusiness, and Autonomous vehicle and UberAir development.

Prior to Uber, Dean worked at eBay Inc for 7 years as the Vice President of Global Foundation Services, which served over 300 million active users enabling over $250B of enabled commerce volume annually. At the end of his tenure, his team successfully integrated, then split eBay and PayPal infrastructures into two independent internet companies. Prior to eBay, Dean worked at Sun Microsystems for 17 years in various technical, management and executive leadership roles. His final project was the consolidation of Sun’s multi-billion dollar global technical infrastructure portfolio of over 1,000 facilities. Dean holds four US patents.

Arman Khalili

Partner

Blackstart Infrastructure Partners

Arman Khalili is the Founder and CEO of Foundation Data Center and is a Board Member of Evocative and brings with him over 25 years of experience in Internet Infrastructure industry.

Prior to joining the company, Arman served as a Principal at Industry Capital a real assets based private equity firm in San Francisco. He was the founder and CEO of CentralColo also known as Element Critical. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Black Lotus, a leader in DDoS mitigation company, which was acquired by Level 3, and was the Founder/CEO of UnitedLayer, the largest privately held colocation provider in San Francisco. He was the founder of Sirius – one of the first ISPs in Silicon Valley, as well as the Co-founder and CTO of MusicBank, the first music subscription company. He has held numerous senior consulting positions at Level3, AT&T and Apple Computers.

James Grice

Moderator

Akerman

James Grice, co-leader of the global Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Team, works with clients in high-growth potential industries, advising on transactions and projects around the world. Beyond his deep experience in general commercial real estate, Jim has distinguished himself in the data center and renewable energy sectors. No matter where his clients need him - or what they need - Jim skillfully pairs his intimate understanding of project finance with his exceptional experience with tax incentives to help clients structure deals to their best advantage.

Public companies, REITs, private equity firms and real estate companies of all sizes rely on Jim to help them efficiently and effectively work through the many facets of their complex projects. Whether it be addressing state and local tax issues or working through the maze of entitlements, permitting and environmental approvals, Jim adeptly guides clients to great results.

Engineering Done Right:

How to Keep Costs Down, Meet Client Demand and Remain Adaptable to New Technologies

Craig Pennington

Craig Pennington

CTO

Montera Infrastructure

John Brockwell

John Brockwell

Principal & Mission Critical Sector Leader

Bala Consulting Engineers

Kurt Lindorfer

Kurt Lindorfer

Founding Principal

PARADIGM Structural Engineers

Danielle Rossi

Danielle Rossi

Global Director – Mission Critical Cooling

Trane Commercial

Cary Frame
Moderator

Cary Frame

Chairman

Polargy

Craig Pennington

CTO

Montera Infrastructure

Craig Pennington is CTO of Montera Infrastructure.

Previously he was Oracle’s Vice President of Data Center Engineering for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). In his role, he was responsible for the specifications and designs for datacenter infrastructure supporting OCI’s services in over 150 locations worldwide. His teams drove innovation, lead the rapid deployment of new regions, advance OCI’s sustainability stance.

Prior to joining Oracle, Craig was Vice President of Design for Equinix, where he delivered improved quality and cost improvement for the company’s global portfolio of datacenters. He was also the engineering lead for support of Equinix’s sustainability goals and accelerated innovation in datacenter design, construction and management.

Craig joined Equinix from NTT where he worked for 10 years in the European Managed Services business, eventually as VP of Operations overseeing the design, implementation and support of a wide range of customers and accreditation programs.

John Brockwell

Principal & Mission Critical Sector Leader

Bala Consulting Engineers

As Bala’s leader for Mission Critical and Commissioning, John brings over 35 years of experience for

mission critical and data center projects. He has worked with clients to understand and advise on their

facility goals and objectives. John provides project leadership and oversees a variety of mission critical

design and commissioning projects, including data centers, technology facilities, emergency operations,

call centers and command and control centers. He understands the critical nature of these projects and

works with clients, real estate professionals, design firms, and the construction teams to provide expertise

in engineering systems, commissioning, project scope, schedule, and budgeting. John’s experience

allows him to provide tailored solutions that prioritize reliability, scalability, and costs. He has presented

on data center topics for the 7x24 Exchange and the Northern Virginia Technology Council.

Kurt Lindorfer

Founding Principal

PARADIGM Structural Engineers

Kurt’s professional engineering career spans over 40 years. His expertise includes structural engineering design for Mission Critical Facilities such as Data Centers, Health Care Facilities such as Hospitals and Clinics and Life Sciences Facilities such as Biopharmaceutical Pilot Plants and Production Facilities around the United States and the World. His area of expertise is in designing buildings to be occupable after natural disasters including Tornados, Hurricanes and Earthquakes. He has been the structural engineer of record for conventional “fixed Base Buildings” ranging from 1-23 stories, “Base Isolated Buildings” ranging from 1-5 stories, and the retrofit and new construction of buildings incorporating Fluid Viscous Dampers ranging from 1-22 stories. He has published numerous papers on passive energy dissipation and presented the findings at various conventions in Boston, San Francisco and Milan.

For over 23 years as the Founding Principal at PARADIGM Structural Engineers, Kurt spends most of his time developing new leaders at PARADIGM and mentoring staff in Chicago and San Francisco.

Danielle Rossi

Global Director – Mission Critical Cooling

Trane Commercial

Danielle has over 16 years of experience in data center solution design and engineering for hyper-scale, colocation, enterprise, edge, and government environments. In her current role, Danielle manages global mission-critical cooling products and processes to provide a standardized deliverable for customers executing projects domestically and internationally.

Cary Frame

Moderator

Polargy

Cary runs Polargy, sometimes into the ground, but most times to good success. He shows up for work mostly because he likes inventing things, with that he is trying to change the way data centers are built. He is particularly keen on figuring new ways to bring speed to the construction equation. For example, after two years of development Polargy launched its structural ceiling system with speed as must have. Today, builders are installing 75,000 square feet in a quick 8 days. On the personal side, Cary is easily distracted by shiny objects. However, when you’re talking to him you will have his full attention; he won’t be checking his text messages.

Optimizing Design and Construction:

The Best Strategies Behind Project Design to Delivery For Today’s Demands and Technologies

Brad Gover

Brad Gover

Director, Construction, PacNW

T5

Karen Petersburg

Karen Petersburg

VP, Data Center Development & Construction

PowerHouse Data Centers

Shane Saltzgiver

Shane Saltzgiver

Founder & CEO

VEC

Kyle Steinberg

Kyle Steinberg

Mid-Atlantic Mission Critical Leader

Whiting-Turner

Christy Swearingen

Christy Swearingen

Consultant

Ex-Microsoft & Ex-Oracle

Jamie Sweigart

Jamie Sweigart

Director

High Concrete Group

Sean Horan
Moderator

Sean Horan

Senior Project Manager

Verity Commercial

Karen Petersburg

VP, Data Center Development & Construction

PowerHouse Data Centers

As Vice President of Data Center Development and Construction, Karen Petersburg brings 17

years of significant experience to PowerHouse, having successfully managed complex

sustainable data center design and engineering projects, including campus developments,

hyperscale built-to-suits, and major infrastructure renovations. Most recently, Petersburg has

served as director of design for Digital Realty Trust, where she was responsible for the quality of

the organization’s designs and processes. Alongside Luke Kipfer, Petersburg oversees the

planning and execution of all PowerHouse data center projects.

Karen Petersburg actively contributes to the data center industry as the president of the local

7x24 DC Chapter, with board and committee positions for the Data Center Coalition and the

Nomad Futurist Foundation. She also supports local non-profits aiming to increase STEM

participation among local youth.

Beyond her professional life, Karen is dedicated to exploring the philosophical and

socio-economic dimensions of data, contemplating how it impacts our daily lives and shapes our

globalized society's future.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government as well as a Masters of

Arts in Philosophy from Virginia Tech, along with several industry certifications from CNet

Training/Uptime Institute and Data Center Dynamics.

Shane Saltzgiver

Founder & CEO

VEC

On a mission to shape the future of design and construction by applying technology and innovative processes to attack waste and optimize project delivery, Shane Saltzgiver draws on his 15 years of real-world construction experience and familiarity with the challenges inherent to the industry to lead VEC. VEC provides VDC/BIM services to AECO firms and has grown to 140+ team members within a few years while supporting 225+ projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and across the US. Shane has directly managed or overseen a wide spectrum of project types including mission critical, aviation, commercial, healthcare, life science, and public works. Prior to founding VEC, Shane served as a project manager in electrical & low-voltage construction. He has received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management with a Minor Degree in Real Property Development.

Kyle Steinberg

Mid-Atlantic Mission Critical Leader

Whiting-Turner

Kyle Steinberg has spent the past 17 years with Whiting-Turner constructing approximately 10 data centers East of the Mississippi. In addition, Kyle serves as Whiting-Turner’s Mid-Atlantic Mission Critical Leader. Not only is he an integral role in the construction process, but he focuses even more on collaboration during design with project partners to assist in encouraging a FastTrack design to promote speed to market for construction. While Kyle has built a variety of ground up projects, he also specializes in the retrofitting existing/end of life data centers. Kyle is also an active member of 7x24 and AFCOM in the Potomac region. When Kyle isn’t working with his Whiting-Turner family and customers, he can be found on the golf course or hockey rink.

Jamie Sweigart

Director

High Concrete Group

Jamie started his career in precast concrete at High Concrete Group over 23 years ago. He earned an Associates' Degree from York Technical Institute and furthered his education by earning a BS in Business from Albright College. He enjoys working with precast concrete because it is the most versatile product in the world. Precast concrete has the ability to turn your design dreams into a reality.

When Jamie is not working, he can be found on the golf course or spending time with his son.

Sean Horan

Moderator

Verity Commercial

Sean Horan has nearly 15 years of experience managing preconstruction and construction efforts on data center, mission critical, healthcare, aviation, office, parking garage and institutional projects throughout the U.S.

During his career, he has been involved with the successful management of construction in the field and preconstruction projects totaling over $2B. Sean’s experience includes the preconstruction and construction of complex mission critical and data center projects in Northern VA, Texas, Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, and Chicago.

Sean attended University of Florida where he earned a BS in Building Construction with a Minor in Business Administration.

From Hyperscale to On Premise to Colocation Data Centers:

Near-Term Strategies To Drive Efficiency And De-carbonization

Mukul Anand

Mukul Anand

Senior Director, Application Engineering

Nortek Data Center Cooling

Clifford Gasior

Clifford Gasior

Technical Program Manager

Google

Stuart Lawrence

Stuart Lawrence

VP, Product Innovation & Sustainability

Stream Data Centers

Jim McDonald

Jim McDonald

Founder & Director, ENP Consultants, A Miratech Group

MIRATECH Corporation

Dave Meadows

Dave Meadows

Director, Technology

STULZ Air Technology Systems

Jon Gould
Moderator

Jon Gould

Director

Schneider Electric

Clifford Gasior

Technical Program Manager

Google

Experienced VP of Engineering and Operations with a demonstrated history of working in the mission critical industry. Skilled in Construction Engineering, Thermal Analysis, Plant Operations, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP), and Fluid Mechanics. Strong engineering professional (PE) with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focused in Management Information Systems, General from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Stuart Lawrence

VP, Product Innovation & Sustainability

Stream Data Centers

Stuart leads the support of client technical needs and assists the Stream design, engineering and construction team with overall site layout and design. With 20+ years of mission-critical mechanical systems experience, Lawrence is instrumental in ensuring Stream’s customers can enjoy the highest standard of service excellence and data center solutions. Lawrence collaborates closely with Stream’s customers, developing the next generation of highly effective, sustainable colocation data centers and helping customers secure the flexibility and agility they need to remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving environment.

Stuart is a sales and engineering expert that has spent decades working across various forms of mission-critical infrastructure. Prior to joining Stream, he served as an executive at Schneider Electric and a sales director at Aligned Energy. Having lived and worked in London, New York City, and most recently Austin, TX, he has participated in projects in several locations around the world, including the United States, UK, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, and Brazil. This global mindset and wealth of knowledge allows him to collaboratively problem-solve and help both Stream and its customers overcome complex IT challenges.

Stuart holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

Jim McDonald

Founder & Director, ENP Consultants, A Miratech Group

MIRATECH Corporation

As a Co-founder in 1992, and currently the Director of Environmental Impact at MIRATECH Corporation, Jim provides leadership, strategy and product design expertise for their Power Generation division. Jim rejoined Miratech Corporation in 2019 heading up the ENP Concepts consulting arm after management positions at Rypos Corporation and leading the environmental department at PowerSecure’s microgrid group. In charge of tracking all Federal, State and Local emissions regulations as they pertain to backup generators located at Datacenters in North America and Europe, he ensures MIRATECH’s products and services offer ongoing compliance. Mr. McDonald has testified before the Federal EPA numerous times and is considered a valuable stakeholder on several rulemaking teams at the State Level. For 15 years he has been an instructor for the Advanced School of the Electrical Generating Systems Association on the subject of Emissions from Diesel engines and has authored the textbook chapter on the same. He has a Patent Pending on the use of wire mesh DPF substrates in the pre-heating of SCR catalyst blocks. As the originator of the ‘GVU’ measurement parameter, Jim performs analyses to show the relative comparison on Ultraclean diesel generators versus grid supplied power. As such he advocates for the environmentally justifiable use of stationary generators until emerging renewable technologies are proven and cost effective. Jim holds a B.S in mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Dave Meadows

Director, Technology

STULZ Air Technology Systems

David C. Meadows II has worked in data center cooling since 1999.  He is currently the Director of Technology with STULZ USA, a manufacturer of precision air conditioning, humidification, and dehumidification products specifically designed for the data center.  Previously David has served as both the Design Engineering Manager and the Applications Engineering Manager at Stulz.  David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  David is also a graduate of the United States Navy Nuclear Power School.

Jon Gould

Moderator

Schneider Electric

Jonathan Gould is the Director of Business Development, Software for Schneider Electric with a focus on growing digital solutions across the broad spectrum of Schneider Electric portfolio. Jonathan has over 20 years of experience in software and joined Schneider Electric in 2006 via the acquisition of Netbotz. He brings an entrepreneurial approach to Sales Leadership, a proven track record of leading-edge solutions, and was a founding member of the Schneider Electric DCIM team. Jonathan lives in Austin, Texas enjoys running, golf, and Texas Longhorn football.

Ameristar Lunch n Learn:

Putting Security First: How to Avoid A (Multi-) Million Dollar Mistake

Joseph Neumann

Joseph Neumann

Security Expert (ex- Digital Realty CISO)

Edward Ankers

Edward Ankers

VP, Corporate Security

NTT Global Data Centers Americas

Tyler Treat

Tyler Treat

Director, Security Architecture

DataBank

Amy Dunton

Amy Dunton

Business Development for Tier II, III and Edge

Ameristar Perimeter Security USA

Tyler Treat

Director, Security Architecture

DataBank

Tyler Treat is an accomplished cybersecurity leader serving as DataBank's Director of Security Architecture and Physical Security. With over 20 years of experience in information technology, networking, and security, Tyler joined DataBank via Edge Hosting in April 2016, bringing his extensive expertise to guide the organization through the complex converging technical challenges of securing DataBank's corporate systems, physical infrastructure, and facilities.

With direct cross-functional engagement throughout the organization, Tyler leads DataBank’s Security Architecture and Physical Security teams in the planning, design, implementation, and oversight of security systems and controls in support of compliance regulations, business needs, and customer requirements. Leveraging his broad knowledge and experience in the field, Tyler works to ensure that DataBank's security posture remains robust and resilient against evolving threats. His intentional approach to security leadership brings the necessary insights and expertise to protect DataBank's critical assets and operations.

Tyler holds the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), System Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP), CySA+, Security +, Network +, A+, and Project+ certifications. Tyler is qualified for DoD IAT Level II, IAM Level I, and CND Infrastructure Support positions and responsibilities. Tyler is also an active member of ISC2, CompTIA, and InfraGard.

In his spare time, Tyler adores and spends as much time as possible with his loving family.

Amy Dunton

Business Development for Tier II, III and Edge

Ameristar Perimeter Security USA

Amy Dunton is a business development professional with a focus on developing business

relationships and strategies with her customers, partners and industry peers. Serving as

the foundation of her consultative wholistic approach, Amy’s over 25 years of experience

in physical and network security, structured cabling, power/cooling, connectivity,

network, storage, and compute brings a well-rounded and unique perspective to the

critical infrastructure industry.  Her roles have included working for distribution,

manufacturing, manufacturing representatives, and a leading Enterprise IT Solutions

provider.  Her expansive network and understanding of IT infrastructure, Facilities and

Data Centers has fuelled a passion for creating an environment with more collaboration

as IT Infrastructure and technology trends can greatly impact how we design, build and

secure our data centers and critical infrastructure.

Amy currently serves on the board of the AFCOM Greater MN Chapter and the 7x24

Exchange MN Chapter. She is serving as the Co-Chair for the SIA Perimeter Security

The Great PR Problem:

How To Engage With Local Stakeholders and Bring On The Next-Gen Workforce

Tucker Gladhill

Tucker Gladhill

Vice President, Technology Services

JK Technology Services Group

Sarah Godbehere

Sarah Godbehere

Co-Founder & DMV Chapter Lead

Data Center Young Professionals

Mayank Kapur

Mayank Kapur

Director, Business Development - IT & Cybersecurity

Prince Georges County Economic Development

Sara Wengrowski

Sara Wengrowski

Co-Founder & DMV Chapter Lead

Data Center Young Professionals

Nabeel Mahmood

Nabeel Mahmood

Co-Founder

Nomad Futurist Foundation

Marshall Sorenson
Moderator

Marshall Sorenson

VP

Metromont

Tucker Gladhill

Vice President, Technology Services

JK Technology Services Group

Tucker has over 12 years of experience in the logistics industry, where he has developed expertise in Data Centers and Mission Critical Environments in both domestic and international markets. He is most recently employed by the largest independently owned relocation services provider in the U.S., JK Moving Services, as Director of Technology Services. Tucker is leading JK’s Technology Services platform delivering true end to end logistics solutions from infrastructure design/plan, to smart hands in the data center, all the way to secure proximity warehousing with final mile. As a data center infrastructure specialist and author/contributor for industry leading data center infrastructure standards, Tucker is driven to improve processes around lifecycle management, business continuity, risk mitigation planning, and innovation for AI utilization in data center infrastructure operations. Prior to logistics, Tucker ran sales, marketing, and operations for a publicly traded health and wellness company, as well as assisted in the scale up of a prominent D.C. based medical practice that was later purchased by Goldman Sachs for $2.7B.

Sarah Godbehere

Co-Founder & DMV Chapter Lead

Data Center Young Professionals

Sarah Godbehere manages construction of a data center campus in the Northern Virginia region, leads a team of owner's representatives, project controls, and safety personnel and assists in program level initiatives to improve processes.

She worked as a Project Engineer and Assistant PM at Rosendin Electric and The Whiting-Turner Construction Company before joining Google and holds a Bachelors of Engineering from Gonzaga University.

Mayank Kapur

Director, Business Development - IT & Cybersecurity

Prince Georges County Economic Development

Over 17 year of extraordinary record of success in Business Development, operations and strategic alliances in the IT services industry, driving continuous high value revenue growth, through disciplined and structured efforts. Expertise in the areas of sales and marketing, teaming and business development, with experience in managing federal government clients and the commercial sector. As Director of Economic Development as a strategic thinker, a team player and an effective collaborator, that is proactive and operates as an Owner/Operator and CEO of their accounts. Worked in a fast-paced Economic Development professional position. Under the direction of the Executive Vice President, the CEO of Economic Development directs and manages the retention and expansion efforts of existing businesses, and leads the charge on business attraction, retention and expansion.

Active and proud member :

Pepco Community Advisory Group Community Advisory Group “CAG”

Baltimore Gas and Electric BGE Economic Development Advisory Council.

Steering Committee member Potomac Quantum Innovation Center

Steering Committee member of Prince George's County Chapter Tech Council

Member of The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAMI)

Member of the Maryland Business Space Roundtable MSBR

Part of the task force with Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS)

Member of the Maryland Economic Development Association MEDA

Nabeel Mahmood

Co-Founder

Nomad Futurist Foundation

Nabeel Mahmood is a Technologist, Futurist and a Keynote Speaker. His career is driven by one question – what’s next? He is passionate about the power of technology to deliver competitive and transformational change and the need to develop digital leadership that will create the enterprise of the future. He believes strongly in simplification, with a purpose. Nabeel brings 18 plus years of experience leading large-scale global technology organizations through seasons of explosive growth via M&A, global expansion, implementing new business models and technology innovation. His expertise includes leading organizations through transformation changes, connecting IT to the needs of the business, technology innovation, Big Data, Cloud, ERP, IoT, Mobility and Data Centers. He brings a unique blend of experiences spanning the entire breadth of technology from Grid to Chip. At, heart he’s a true technologist and futurist, he is a proven strategist, winsome communicator and leader with extraordinary vision and operational expertise within very large, complex organizations. Nabeel is a strategic CIO identifying opportunities that are being underpinned by emerging technologies. He serves on multiple boards and is an advisor to CIOs and CEO across a number of industries.

Marshall Sorenson

Moderator

Metromont

Develops strategies for applications of precast/prestressed concrete building systems in the data center space. Leads the effort to engage technical staff in the design-assist effort of very fast-track projects, at the earliest stages of development. Works with end-users and their agents to create unique designs and unusual applications of precast concrete building systems.

Drives Metromont’s practice of acting as a specialty precast subcontractor in the data center -- and not just the manufacturer of various precast parts and pieces. Metromont can self-perform 100% of the precast concrete work, beginning from structured design-assist engagement, through field erection of "all-precast" buildings.

Leads the activities of Metromont’s VA Sales staff in pursuit of projects primarily in Virginia’s Data Center Alley, but across the U.S. Metromont has the capability of extending its reach beyond this area, on certain projects, where organizational strengths, financial capacity, and past experience -- particularly with regard to mission-critical projects -- are required.

35 years experience in the precast/prestressed concrete industry, including responsibilities for nearly every aspect of the ", get work" and "do work" functions. Directly involved in preconstruction through contract, in 20M SF of all precast data centers.

Marshall is a 7x24 Exchange DC Chapter Board of Directors member and a member of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA).

Investing In The Digital Infrastructure Industry:

How Has The Narrative Changed?

John Sheputis

John Sheputis

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Primary Digital Infrastructure

Ashley Tonnesen

Ashley Tonnesen

COO

Legacy Investing

Julie Brewer

Julie Brewer

Senior VP, Finance

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Daniel English

Daniel English

Managing Partner

Legacy Investing

Peter Hopper

Peter Hopper

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Primary Digital Infrastructure

Emily Naughton
Moderator

Emily Naughton

Partner

Mayer Brown

John Sheputis

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Primary Digital Infrastructure

John Sheputis is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Primary Digital Infrastructure, an independent data center investment platform. From 2019 through 2023, John was a Managing Director at GI Partners where he led the technology real estate acquisitions and headed the Essential Tech + Science Real Estate Fund. Prior to GI Partners, Mr. Sheputis was President of Infomart Data Centers. In 2018, the Dallas Infomart was acquired by Equinix and the remaining Infomart assets and operations were acquired by IPI Partners to be the initial properties for STACK Infrastructure. Prior to Infomart, Mr. Sheputis was Co-Founder and CEO of Fortune Data Centers. Mr. Sheputis received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA and an MS Engineering from Northwestern.

Ashley Tonnesen

COO

Legacy Investing

Ashely Tonnesen serves as COO of Legacy and is responsible for day-to-day operations and financial management.

Ashley previously served as a Director of Finance at Mill Creek Residential Trust, a leading multifamily developer. Ashley began her career in public accounting, and most recently was an Assurance manager at PwC.

Julie Brewer

Senior VP, Finance

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Julie leads fundraising efforts in equity and debt capital markets, and is responsible for the underwriting of business plans, as well as building financial reporting for senior management and investors.

Julie brings extensive finance and general management experience specific to the data center industry. Prior to joining EdgeCore, Julie managed CoreSite’s Denver and Los Angeles markets as the Vice President of General Management. There, Julie gained experience in investment underwriting, strategic planning, P&L management, lease negotiations, and the development and entitlement processes. She has also held positions in management development and finance, working on M&A due diligence, data center financial modeling, and investor reporting.

Julie holds a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Daniel English

Managing Partner

Legacy Investing

Daniel English is the President and Co-Founder of Legacy Investing, an investment firm focused on technology impacted real estate. Legacy has completed >$3B in transactions across 19M SF in data centers, e-commerce industrial assets, and life science buildings. Prior to co-founding Legacy Investing, Daniel was a tech start-up executive with leadership roles across M&A, corporate development, strategy, and product management. Daniel studied engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and Economics and Finance at Emory University.

Peter Hopper

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Primary Digital Infrastructure

Peter Hopper is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Primary Digital Infrastructure, an independent data center investment platform. In prior roles, Mr. Hopper was a Managing Director at DigitalBridge Investment Management. Mr. Hopper was responsible for the identification, evaluation, and implementation of growth opportunities for DigitalBridge’s investment management franchise. Prior to joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Hopper was Co-Founder and CEO of DH Capital, a firm specializing in assisting growing businesses in the Internet Infrastructure, Telecom and SaaS industries. Prior to founding DH Capital, Mr. Hopper founded and served as President and CEO of DURO Communications, one of the largest privately held ISP/CLECs in the U.S. Mr. Hopper received a Bachelor of Science from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

Emily Naughton

Moderator

Mayer Brown

Emily Naughton focuses her practice on transactions in the telecommunications, media and technology space, with an emphasis on cloud computing.  Emily has represented clients in connection with real estate acquisitions, development projects and leases, mergers and acquisitions involving cloud service providers, and telecommunications network infrastructure deals.  Emily has represented some of the world’s largest content providers globally in connection with network procurement and colocation and data center leases involving providers ranging from multinational companies to single facility operators. Emily has experience representing property owners in the acquisition, financing and development of real estate; landlords and tenants in a variety of short- and long-term leases and subleases; and developers on complex land use and permitting matters. Emily has also represented contractors and subcontractors in the negotiation of construction contracts and disputes. In addition to assisting clients on transactional matters, Emily has also regularly advised clients on general governance and operational issues from entity inception to dissolution.

It’s Not a Data Center, But a Network of Data:

How The Global Digital Infrastructure Sector Is Evolving Given Today’s Technology Needs

Derek Garnier

Derek Garnier

President & COO

VPLS

Dagi Berhane

Dagi Berhane

Founder & CEO

Tlarity

Jezzibell Gilmore

Jezzibell Gilmore

CCO | Co-Founder & Advisor

Connectbase | PacketFabric

Vinay Nagpal

Vinay Nagpal

CEO | Executive Director & Founding Member

IG Group | IEIC

Patrick Coughlin

Patrick Coughlin

Chief Development Officer

FirstLight Fiber

Chris Romano

Chris Romano

Global Chief Technology Strategist

Dell Technologies

Scott Noteboom

Scott Noteboom

CTO

Quantum Loophole

Catherine Smith

Catherine Smith

Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer

Evoque Data Center Solutions

Kemal Hawa
Moderator

Kemal Hawa

Partner

Kirkland & Ellis

Derek Garnier

President & COO

VPLS

Derek Garnier is a 30-year industry veteran in digital infrastructure, specializing in corporate strategy, and has successfully built, operated, and sold companies.

He was most recently co-founder of Arcadian Infracom, a long-haul fiber optic company operating in the Southwest. Prior to Arcadian, Derek served as President and COO of Evocative Datacenters, the predecessor to VPLS, which he again joins as President and COO.

Derek also served as the CEO of Layer42 Networks, a national network services and colocation provider, which he successfully exited in 2015 through a sale to Wave Broadband. Post-acquisition, Derek continued as Wave’s SVP of Datacenter services. Before his tenure at Layer42 Networks, Derek held management positions at QTS Datacenters and AboveNet Communications through the acquisition of Sitesmith, a global managed services provider of which he was an early employee. Derek began his career as an engineer, serving in the rolefor network and data center provider ISI, later renamed Global Crossing via multiple acquisitions, as well as at network companies MFS Datanet and Cabletron Systems.

Dagi Berhane

Founder & CEO

Tlarity

Dagi is a visionary technology executive, serial entrepreneur, and the Founder and CEO of Tlarity. With decades of deep expertise in enterprise technology, Dagi is dedicated to driving innovative solutions and shaping the future of the industry through the groundbreaking work being done at Tlarity. Dagi’s entrepreneurial drive is backed by a highly distinguished corporate career in scalable infrastructure. In addition to leading Tlarity, he is the Founder and CEO of Data Center Guru. His expansive executive leadership experience includes serving as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at RedFox Solutions Group and as the SVP of AI Infrastructure at Tensorwave, where he guided advanced artificial intelligence strategies. Prior to these roles, his foundational expertise was built over an impressive 15-year tenure at Salesforce, where he drove global initiatives as the Executive Sponsor of Data Center Architecture and Engineering.

Jezzibell Gilmore

CCO | Co-Founder & Advisor

Connectbase | PacketFabric

Prior to joining Connectbase, Gilmore co-founded Network-as-a-Service provider PacketFabric more than eight years ago, and served as the company's CCO. She has also held a variety of leadership roles with organizations such as GTT, IX Reach (now part of PCCW Console Connect) and NANOG, and has become a sought-after speaker in the industry.

Vinay Nagpal

CEO | Executive Director & Founding Member

IG Group | IEIC

26+ years of global experience in Data Center & Connectivity industry specializing in Product & Business Management Vinay Nagpal is an industry leader and visionary with global experience developing products and solutions in wholesale and retail colocation data centers with a strong focus on connectivity, subsea and terrestrial fiber. Currently, he is the President of InterGlobix LLC, a global consulting and advisory firm focused on the convergence of data centers, subsea and terrestrial fiber. Vinay is also the Co-Founder and Member of QTS Richmond NAP, which is a global Internet Interconnection hub in Virginia offering the lowest-latency, highest-capacity subsea connectivity. He is the Founding Member & Executive Director of Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee (IEIC), an independent global committee that promotes Internet diversity and forming of Internet nexus points. Vinay also serves on the Leadership Board of NVTC Data Center & Cloud Committee, and actively leads Northern Virginia’s data center and connectivity initiatives. Vinay has been involved in the subsea developments in Virginia. He also serves on the Submarine Networks EMEA Customer Advisory Board, LINX NoVA Customer Advisory Board, and NVTC’s Executive Circle. As an active participant in industry forums, Vinay is a member of the PTC Membership Committee, Marketing & Communications Committee and SubOptic Diversity & Inclusion Working Group. Vinay’s past endeavors include being part of the Open-IX Association board to build open standards for data centers and IXPs. As the Vice President of Product Management at Digital Realty / DuPont Fabros (DFT), he led product management of DFT’s Data Center, Connectivity and Managed Services. During his tenure, he developed company’s carrier-neutral data center connectivity and peering services, designed and implemented dark fiber networks and supported customers’ network requirements. His senior-level network-centric positions at Tata Communications, Verizon, MCI, Digex and UUNET allowed his to productize data center and connectivity services across US, Canada, London, Singapore, Australia and India. Vinay holds an MBA in Information Systems, a B.S. in Computer Science, an ITIL certification and a Higher Diploma in Software Engineering. He has authored white papers, blogs, and industry publications on datacenter and connectivity services. He has been invited a speaker to several renowned conferences across the world.

Patrick Coughlin

Chief Development Officer

FirstLight Fiber

Mr. Coughlin joined FirstLight in February, 2013 and currently serves as its Chief Development Officer, where is he is responsible for leading all aspects of corporate development, including M&A, business development, market expansion, corporate strategy and innovation as well as marketing and product management on behalf of the organization. He also serves on FirstLight’s Board of Directors as well as the Vermont Technology Alliance (vtTA) board. Previously, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Fibertower. From 2005-2009, he served as Vice President of Sales at RCN Metro (formerly NEON Communications and Globix Corporation), where he was responsible for sales and marketing for the entire U.S. and oversaw a sales team comprised of 55 people. Prior to that position, he served as Senior Director of Sales at NEON from October 2001 until December 2005. Mr. Coughlin also served as a Senior Account Executive with NEON and other telecommunications companies, including AT&T and USTelecenters, during which time he was recognized for being a leading sales contributor for major accounts.

Mr. Coughlin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Chris Romano

Global Chief Technology Strategist

Dell Technologies

Chris is currently a Global Architect and Chief Technologist at Dell Technologies. He serves as a trusted adviser to some of Dell’s largest Global Alliance Partners. Responsible for architecting a global strategic vision, road map, and offerings with my partners. This global vision is focused on Digital, IT, Operational, & Application transformations. He leads them in the creation of new transformational offerings that deliver value the partner, Dell Technologies ultimately on to our customers. Chris brings 33 years of experience in the technology sector to include corporate IT experience of 6+ years at the NASD\NASDAQ During the Nasdaq’s most dynamic period of growth and change. Most recently he spent 16 years at VMware where he was a Principal Systems Engineer, CTO Ambassador, member of the Field CTO Office. Chris was the first field Systems engineer outside VMware’s HQ and employee 87. His territory was initially Chicago to Europe. He has held roles working with our largest enterprise customers GE, Citi, Merck, etc. as well as supporting VMware’s largest alliance partners EMC & Cisco. Prior to joining OVH US through the acquisition of vCloud Air. Chris worked with Public Sector and Enterprise customers architecting and deployment their enterprise in vCloud Air. Chris was also an Infantry paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne through most of 1980s stemming the tide of communist insurgency throughout the world. He has presented, co-presented, instructed, & Led at all manner of industry events.

Scott Noteboom

CTO

Quantum Loophole

Scott believes that the only place for a rebel is a revolution. At Quantum Loophole, Scott serves on the front lines of the Decarbonization Revolution. His mission is to help enable next-generation data centers that autonomously orchestrate supply and demand between clean energy and cloud computing resources. His intention: Better, faster, cleaner and cheaper– pick four. A former mercenary in the Cloud Revolution, Scott served as VP of Operations at Yahoo! and Head of Global Infrastructure at Apple. He led deployment and operation of two of the world’s largest clouds, driving innovation in the data center and distributed compute space. In backing the Clean Energy Revolution, data centers are breaking away from their dirty energy-hog past. Scott served as CEO and Founder of Litbit, and earlier grew a small underground bulletin board (bbs) into a sizable Internet Service Provider (ISP.) Scott likes to brag about creating one of the world’s first Voice over IP (VOIP) companies, learning that being first isn’t always worth bragging about. A wise person once said that “rebels die.” Scott’s been working to prove that wrong ever since.

Technology rebel. Challenging the status quo. Green and clean advocate. Transformation revolutionary. CTO of Quantum Loophole.

Catherine Smith

Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer

Evoque Data Center Solutions

Catherine Smith has joined Evoque Data Center Solutions as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, where she is responsible for a wide range of corporate-critical functions, such as legal, human resources and strategy.

Reporting to Andy Stewart, Evoque’s CEO, Catherine was previously Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Brightstar Corporation, the world’s leading mobile services, working with carrier, retail, and enterprise customers across 70 countries. In that role, Catherine led a number of initiatives, designed to increase Brightstar’s global leadership positioning, including efforts to make compliance and corporate conduct part of the company’s global culture. As a result, the Ethisphere Institute named Brightstar one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” two years in a row. Under her leadership, Forbes Magazine named Brightstar as one of “America's Best Midsize Employers.”

She has also led cross-functional teams and collaborated with corporate development professionals through structuring, negotiations, execution and integration of complex M&A transactions, majority and minority investments across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

A frequent public speaker and conference panelist, Catherine has been featured in Modern Counsel, Leaders Magazine and Profile Magazine. She is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Law Center and holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Virginia. She supports consistent diversity of and thought throughout all levels of an organization and has been honored with the 2018 Diversity "Challenge" Award from the National Association of Women in Law.

Kemal Hawa

Moderator

Kirkland & Ellis

Kemal Hawa is a corporate partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Kemal represents many of the world’s largest private equity firms, infrastructure funds, real estate investors and lenders across a broad range of transactions in the digital infrastructure sector domestically and internationally, including mergers and acquisitions, investments, financing arrangements, joint ventures and development projects.

Kemal counsels clients in complex transactions across the digital infrastructure and telecommunications, media and technology industries. This includes many of the world’s largest data center operators, telecommunications carriers, tower companies, cloud providers, fiber providers, media companies, submarine cable operators, fintech companies, wireless and international carriers, internet service providers, satellite companies, equipment manufacturers and electric utilities.

In addition to M&A and financing transactions, Kemal represents companies in connection with the full spectrum of digital infrastructure transactions globally, including the negotiation of data center leases and colocation agreements, telecommunications master service agreements, licensing deals and other commercial transactions.

Kemal is a frequent author and speaker on digital infrastructure topics and has consistently been recognized as an industry leading attorney in the sector. In 2023, Kemal was named as one of Capacity Media’s “Power 100” – a list of the 100 most influential people in the digital infrastructure sector globally, and was voted “TMT M&A Lawyer of the Year” by an independent panel of judges organized by TMT Finance.

The Transition to Web 3.0:

What Does It Look Like And What Do We Need To Do Now?

Dipto Chakravarty

Dipto Chakravarty

Senior Leader, Local Data Engineering

Amazon

Melvin Greer

Melvin Greer

SVP, Chief Data Scientist

TeleElevate Innovation Lab

Mark Houpt

Mark Houpt

CISO

DataBank

Nathan McCourtney

Nathan McCourtney

Principal Distributed Systems Engineer

Nvidia

Greg Stover
Moderator

Greg Stover

Global Director, Hi-Tech Development

Vertiv

Mark Houpt

CISO

DataBank

Mark serves as DataBank’s Chief Information Security Officer and is responsible for developing and maintaining the company’s security program road map and data center compliance programs. He brings over 30 years of extensive information security and information technology experience in a wide range of industries and institutions. Mr. Houpt holds an MS-ISA (Masters Information Security and Assurance), numerous security and technical certifications (CISSP, CEH, CHFI, Security +, Network+) and qualified for DoD IAT Level III, IAM Level III, IASAE Level II, CND Analyst, CND Infrastructure Support, CND Incident Responder, and CND Auditor positions and responsibilities.

Mark is an expert in understanding and the interpretation of FedRAMP, HIPAA and PCI-DSS compliance requirements. He is an active member of ISC2, ASIS International, COMPTIA, IAPP, and ISACA, among other leading national and international security organizations. Mark drives DataBank’s information security and compliance initiatives to ensure that the company’s solutions continuously meet rigorous and changing compliance and cyber-security standards.

Nathan McCourtney

Principal Distributed Systems Engineer

Nvidia

Nathan received a degree in Philosophy from the University of Maryland and began working on distributed systems before the turn of the century. He has served in operations and developer roles, as well as executive leadership for a number of companies over the last 25 years. He was a senior engineer for Amazon and currently works on large-scale distributed systems for nVidia. His personal passions are the Rust programming language and NOSTR, a new decentralized social media protocol.

Greg Stover

Moderator

Vertiv

With over 30 years of IT and data center, infrastructure and IT efficiency and optimization expertise, Greg has a proven track record of pushing the technology innovation envelope with the leading Thermal, Power, Monitoring and DCIM Solutions with Cloud Providers, Colocation Operators, End-Users and the Channel.

As an evangelist for new technology, rapid change and continuous improvement, Greg has demonstrated a unique ability to coordinate disparate teams and bridge IT, Facilities and partner/vendor gaps while they work to solve the daily questions of Cloud, Colo, On-Prem, DR, EDG/IoT and whatever is next? All while ensuring reliability, resiliency, availability, optimal service and value to the business.

Greg is Director of National Accounts and resides in Laguna Hills with his family!

Keep IT Cool:

What Does Cooling Look Like In An AI World?

Jacqueline Davis

Jacqueline Davis

Research Analyst

Uptime Institute

Tom Daenzer

Tom Daenzer

Digital Business Development Manager

BELIMO Americas

Jack Elsea

Jack Elsea

Director, Design Integration

Evans General Contractors

David Klein

David Klein

Founder & CEO

ChilliRack

Jon Pettitt

Jon Pettitt

CCO

Excool

Jim Marsh
Moderator

Jim Marsh

Key Accounts Manager, Data Center Technologies

Munters Corporation

Jacqueline Davis

Research Analyst

Uptime Institute

Jacqueline Davis is a Research Analyst at Uptime Institute. She covers the global trends and technologies that underpin critical digital infrastructure. Her research is focused on resiliency, cooling, and efficiency, as well as data analysis and modeling. Jacqueline’s background includes environmental monitoring and data interpretation, in the environmental compliance and health and safety fields.

Tom Daenzer

Digital Business Development Manager

BELIMO Americas

Tom is the Manager of Digital Business Development for Belimo Americas, a global market leader in developing, producing, and selling HVAC field devices. He leads a team responsible for supporting the growth of valves, actuators and sensors that harness smart and/or connected capabilities. His primary focus is guiding development of the services and APIs that compliment these connected products through relationships with industry peers and technology partners. As an SME for control applications, Tom uses the extensive application knowledge gained through his 17 years on the construction side of the building automation industry. He is passionate about leveraging technology to improve occupant comfort while reducing a building’s energy footprint. Tom is an active member of the CABA board of directors and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.

David Klein

Founder & CEO

ChilliRack

David Klein is the CEO and founder of DHK Storage, Inc, designer and manufacturer of the ChilliRack® and ChilliAire™ data center cooling systems. David currently has 32 patents awarded for the ChilliRack® system in 17 countries. Over the past 27 years working on networks and data centers, he has achieved numerous Cisco, Juniper, and VMware certifications.

Jon Pettitt

CCO

Excool

Jon Pettitt is a highly experienced, successful and well-regarded business leader within the data center Industry. Since 2011 Jon held the position of Vice President of data center for EMEA & APAC, specialising in data center cooling solutions and energy efficient systems for the Munters data center business area, Jon has over 15 years of extensive knowledge of HVAC projects for data centres and critical facilities. His background has included employment at York International and Johnson Controls.

Identifying The Right Energy Strategy and Alternatives:

What Is The Most Feasible Path Forward?

Kevin Dalton

Kevin Dalton

Chief Data Center Officer

Cumulus Data

Jeff Hanson

Jeff Hanson

Sr. Director, Energy Supply-Chain & Commission Member

Digital Realty Trust

Bobby Hollis

Bobby Hollis

CCO

Rowan Digital Infrastructure

Brian Jabeck

Brian Jabeck

VP, Data Center Sector

Enchanted Rock

David Lewis

David Lewis

Vice President, Business Development

Washington Gas

Andre Patrick

Andre Patrick

VP, Data Center Practice

Introba

Michael Hafner
Moderator

Michael Hafner

Engineering Solutions - Critical Power & Data Center

Rehlko

Elaine Wilks

Elaine Wilks

COO

Advanced Energy Experts

Kevin Dalton

Chief Data Center Officer

Cumulus Data

Kevin Dalton serves as Chief Data Center Officer for Cumulus Data, a division of Talen Energy Corporation. In this role, he leads the design and construction of data centers and supports technical customer sales efforts. He has over 30 years of experience developing 1,000 MW of data center capacity ($10B CapEx) across over 75 data centers globally.

Mr. Dalton is an expert in leveraging supply chain optimization and modular prefabricated construction techniques to drive rapid growth, improved quality, and speed to market. Throughout his career, he has set the standard for next-generation data center designs and led multiple successful sustainability initiatives.

Prior to joining Cumulus Data, Mr. Dalton served as Senior Vice President of Design & Construction for NTT Global Data Centers, responsible for leading the team that designs and delivers world-class data centers. Before his tenure with NTT Global Data Centers, he spent 12 years at Digital Realty in technical and senior management roles, including seven years as Vice President of Engineering, leading teams of engineers to deliver data center solutions for customers around the world. Mr. Dalton previously spent 10 years at MGE UPS Systems, a world leader in uninterrupted power supply systems, and nine years at McClier Corporation, a design-build firm.

Mr. Dalton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

Brian Jabeck

VP, Data Center Sector

Enchanted Rock

Brian Jabeck joined the Enchanted Rock team in 2021 and is responsible for global sales and customer support to the data center industry. Brian brings over 15 years of sales and business development expertise in the energy and power generation markets. He has supported global data center customers on 3 continents to provide customer focused solutions to their on-site power generation challenges. Through this experience Brian worked extensively with data center design and operations teams as well as their contractor, design, and

David Lewis

Vice President, Business Development

Washington Gas

David Lewis is Vice President – Business Development for Washington Gas Light, the local gas company serving the Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC area.

Mr. Lewis has more than 30 years of experience across the conventional and renewable energy sector with both independent power companies and utilities. His background includes financing more than $7 billion of power plants and over 15,000 MWs of commercial transactions. His work has included leadership roles in finance, asset management, origination and energy trading, project acquisition, business development, energy policy and commercial strategy.

Andre Patrick

VP, Data Center Practice

Introba

Patrick with over 31 years of domestic and international Data Center experience. He has held key leadership positions orchestrating complex Information Technology solution builds. His passion is delivering application and infrastructure transformations yielding operational efficiencies and cost recuperation. Patrick has been accountable for program development and execution budgets of $17M - $1.45T. His leadership directed matrixed staff, consultants, architects, and multiple EPC contractors. These programs encompassed infrastructure and construction management delivery of $3.4B in data center green and brown field initiatives. Under his leadership high-performing multi-disciplined engineering teams delivered design build and mission critical transformations beyond 4.2GW+ in capacity across the U.S. and EU. These programs aligned engineering teams with strategic technology roadmaps to meet enterprise, colo and hyperscale market needs. Prior to Introba, Patrick has significant experience as business owner, consultant, and contractor delivering mission critical facilities. He has held Data Center leadership positions as Director of Engineering, VP Program Director, VP Director, Enterprise Principal Architect, VP Infrastructure Services, Senior Officer Operations. His experience and client delivery include Airlines, Automotive, Banking, Defense, Financial Services, Enterprise Technology Sector, Education, Energy/Utilities, Health Care, Insurance, Manufacturing, Social media and Retail.

Michael Hafner

Moderator

Rehlko

Michael has spent 17+ years in the data center industry in various roles centering around data and power infrastructure. Michael has experience working with various entities within the data center industry, from design to project completion, both physically inside and outside the data center space. From the smallest piece of data infrastructure on the data center floor, to large diesel critical power generation, Michael has experience with a wide range of data center infrastructure solutions. Growing up and living in the Chicago southwest suburbs, Michael has been with Rehlko (formerly Kohler Power) since 2021 working on Large Diesel Generator solutions in the mission critical space. With any free time, Michael coaches two little league baseball teams, spends time with family, and pretends to know how to golf.

Elaine Wilks

COO

Advanced Energy Experts

Ms. Elaine Wilks is COO of Advanced Energy Experts, Inc., an energy advisory company, and Principal of GreenSky Development Group, LLC, a renewable development firm.

Ms. Wilks has deep experience in the energy markets to help clients minimize cost, reduce market risk, enhance reliability and resiliency and reduce carbon emissions. Ms. Wilks has over 10 years of experience in project development, financing and valuation, supply planning, contract negotiation, renewable PPAs, etc. Ms. Wilks has spent her career navigating the dynamic energy landscape, solving challenging energy supply considerations, and meeting sustainability objectives of clients. Ms.

Wilks has worked over the years in the financial, commercial, industrial and power generation markets to establish and meet important business objectives using creative energy strategies and technologies. Ms. Wilks

works with regional and governmental officials across the Nation to advance the adoption of alternative fuels and coordinates with regional utilities to solve distribution challenges.

Edge Computing:

The Current State Of The Edge In Today’s Digital Infrastructure Needs

Amber Caramella

Amber Caramella

CRO

Netrality Data Centers

Frank McCann

Frank McCann

Fmr. Associate Director, Engineering and Construction

Verizon

Jeffrey Moerdler

Jeffrey Moerdler

Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

Haynes and Boone

Deidre Smith

Deidre Smith

VP, Client Services & Transformation

NTT Global Data Centers Americas

Rika Nakazawa

Rika Nakazawa

Group VP, Connected Industry & Head of Sustainability

NTT Ltd.

Wil Tirado

Wil Tirado

VP, Global Carrier Engagement & Strategy

EdgeConneX

Javi Martin
Moderator

Javi Martin

Strategic Account Executive

Schneider Electric

Amber Caramella

CRO

Netrality Data Centers

Responsible for Netrality’s revenue generation strategy and execution, including overseeing sales, marketing, strategic alliances and channel partnerships. Prior to joining Netrality, Amber served as Senior Vice President of Sales at Zayo, where she built the company’s global data center vertical team. She brings vast industry experience, previously holding a variety of sales and leadership roles at Level 3 Communications (now CenturyLink), XO Communications and Allegiance Telecom.

Frank McCann

Fmr. Associate Director, Engineering and Construction

Verizon

Frank McCann is a 30 year veteran of Verizon and Verizon Wireless, focusing on data center design, retrofits and greenfield builds. He has held several leadership roles within Verizon, most recently leading the Potomac Region’s Wireline Network Construction team. Frank also recently lead the Global Wireline Standards team, which encompassed all of Verizon Wireline’s network facilities worldwide.

Outside of his day job, Frank is on the Executive Board for Monmouth Council of Scouting America as well as Assistant Scoutmaster for his son’s troop. He lives at the beautiful Jersey Shore.

Jeffrey Moerdler

Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

Haynes and Boone

Jeff Moerdler is chair of the Haynes Boone Data Center and Digital Infrastructure Practice and a real estate partner in the New York office. He has more than 40 years’ experience in general commercial real estate law. Jeff’s real estate practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, and borrower’s side financing. Jeff also has a particular focus on real estate challenges facing communications, technology and energy companies, and represents property owners and telecom companies in telecom real estate matters, particularly in data center development, acquisitions, sales, leases, colocation agreements and service level agreements. His clients include both large national companies and smaller, local clients, and includes representation of landlords and tenants in all types of leases; counseling owners and developers in the acquisition, sale, joint venture, development, and renovation of property as well as sale-leaseback transactions; advising lenders and borrowers in commercial loans; and the representation of all parties in real estate litigation. He is actively involved in settling real estate, partnership, and inter-family disputes. He also represents many not-for-profit entities and is active in health care, senior living, and educational real estate.

During the past 35 years, Jeff has developed considerable experience in the intersection of real estate with communications, technology, and energy issues. He has extensive experience representing landlords, tenants, developers, and communications service providers in the leasing, purchase, sale, and financing of data centers, colocation facilities, radio and television broadcast antennas, distributed and in-building wireless systems, rooftop antennas, and fiber-optic transactions as well as the wiring of buildings for broadband communications access. Jeff has also negotiated thousands of data center leases, master services agreements, colocation agreements and service level agreements, rooftop and cellular antenna leases, inside wiring agreements, and antenna tower leases throughout the country – covering over 500 million square feet.

He has also devoted a considerable portion of his practice to power and energy issues related to real estate and other technology matters, including large solar and wind installations, battery storage facilities, and bulk power purchases.

Jeff is a frequent speaker on real estate, data center, and telecom topics around the country. He is Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and on the faculty of the Advanced Commercial Leasing Institute. He regularly speaks as a panelist at data center, digital infrastructure and real estate conference around the United States. In addition, he is regularly quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bisnow, Commercial Property News, Real Estate Weekly, and other publications. He co-authored the first treatise chapter on telecom real law for Powell on Real Property in 1999.

Jeff has previously served in numerous governmental positions, including as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a member of the New York State Banking Board, a member of the New York State Financial Control Board, a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division of the First Department of the New York State Supreme Court, Assistant to the First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York, and assistant to the Deputy Borough President of the Borough of Manhattan. From 1981 to 1982, Jeff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles L. Brieant, US District Judge, and later Chief Judge, for the Southern District of New York.

Jeff is also an emergency medical technician on his local volunteer ambulance and President of his local chapter, as well as having served for 8 years on the Board of Trustees of the umbrella organization which is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States.

Deidre Smith

VP, Client Services & Transformation

NTT Global Data Centers Americas

Deidre’ (Dee) Smith is the Vice-President of Technology Solutions for NTT Ltd, a global

technology company. Prior to this, she founded a consulting company in South Africa

advising and executing on technology and services strategies, M&A for clients across many

sectors, including the Data Center industry. She has worked across telecoms, property, Data

Center, financial services, and telecoms industries. Dee holds an executive MBA from

Henley Business School. She is a board director of a non-profit which brings sustainable

technology and Information Technology skills to underserved schools in Tanzania.

She is married to Lee Smith and have 3 daughters. They reside in Virginia.

Rika Nakazawa

Group VP, Connected Industry & Head of Sustainability

NTT Ltd.

CRN "Women Power 70" List. Global applied innovation and sustainability senior leader advancing business where digital transformation drives the greatest value – leveraging strategic perspectives, business insights, partnership acumen, and experience design fluency. Specializing in bridging investment and entrepreneurship across Japan and the US. Frequent conference speaker and chair. 15+ years business development, partnership management, innovation, design-thinking, and strategy deployment experience in Industry X.0, Fintech, Semiconductor, AR/VR/XR. Versed in both multinational and startup venture ecosystems, with fluency in Japanese and German. Advisory board for VR/AR, AI / Machine Learning, and IoT startups, and advancing initiatives for women in technology and leadership.

As a senior leader in the New Ventures & Innovations group, I am building NTT' Connected Industry team, advancing how part of Edge as a Service delivers business transformation outcomes. I'll be activating strategic, high-impact, multi-horizon joint innovations with our customers and partners that accelerate business and sustainability impact for industrial sector enterprises globally.

Wil Tirado

VP, Global Carrier Engagement & Strategy

EdgeConneX

Wil Tirado is the Global VP of Carrier Engagement & Strategy at EdgeConneX where he created and led several key departments including Program Management, Engineering and Service Delivery after joining in 2013 to build their first data center. He has held technical leadership positions in the telecom sector for over 30 years at Verizon, XO Communications, FiberTower and Apcela. His broad industry experience in hyper growth companies in emerging industry sectors enabled Wil to grow the business from concept to a global portfolio. In his previous role at low latency connectivity pioneer Apcela serving the financial industry he was a customer of most major data center operators in the US and Europe, giving him a customer-centric perspective when joining EdgeConneX, a data center design, build and operations company.

Wil holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and MBA from Babson College along with completing coursework in leadership at the University of Virginia and the Babson College Executive Conference Center.

Javi Martin

Moderator

Schneider Electric

Javier Martin is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of international operational and senior

management experience in commercial, technical, and service-based corporations. Currently,

Javier is focused on business development as a Strategic Account Executive for Neo-Cloud and

semiconductor mission-critical infrastructure at Schneider Electric, Inc., where he has been

contributing since October 2019.

Before joining Schneider Electric, Javier served as Chief Executive Officer of Xzact, leading the

company until its acquisition by Solutionz, Inc. Throughout his career, Javier has been

instrumental in designing, integrating, and managing complex, mission-critical technology

solutions for enterprise customers, the telecommunications sector, and the higher education

sector. His expertise spans the design and build of high-density data centers, including Liquid-to-

Liquid requirements, power distribution solutions, and infrastructure for AI factories and HPC.

The Next Big Thing You Need To Know About:

The Innovations And Technologies That Will Shape The Industry

Yuval Bachar

Yuval Bachar

CEO

EdgeCloudLink (ECL)

Michael Dongieux

Michael Dongieux

Founder and Chief Architect

MCIM by Fulcrum Collaborations

Peter Gross

Peter Gross

Managing Partner

PMG Associates

Ben Stewart

Ben Stewart

Senior VP, Operations

NTT Global Data Centers Americas

Craig Compiano
Moderator

Craig Compiano

CEO

Modius

Yuval Bachar

CEO

EdgeCloudLink (ECL)

Yuval Bachar is a leader in the data center industry and founder/CEO of ECL. He has held senior positions at Microsoft, Linkedin, Facebook, Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks and is recognized as a top influencer in data centers and Edge technology. Yuval is also one of the founders of the Open19 Project and president of the Open19 Foundation. His work focuses on sustainable, zero-emissions data centers with machine learning and artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance and hardware quality control. Yuval holds eight US patents related to data centers, networking, system design areas and three Cisco pioneer awards. He has a BSEE from Technion Institute in Haifa.

Peter Gross

Managing Partner

PMG Associates

Peter Gross is a technology and energy internationally recognized expert whose career spans over three decades. He is presently the Managing Partner of PMG Associates a consulting and advisory firm. In addition, he sits on several boards of directors and boards of advisors for public, private and not-for- profit companies. Until recently, he was the VP of Mission Critical Systems at Bloom Energy, the premier supplier of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell systems.

Before his Bloom stint, Peter Gross was Vice President and Managing Partner of HP Global Technology Consulting at Hewlett Packard. Prior to HP, he was the co-founder and CEO at EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc., a consulting company specialized in strategic technology planning, design and operations support for large-scale data centers. In this position, he has played a pivotal role in the rapid growth of EYP MCF’s business since its founding in 1997, leading to its acquisition by HP in 2008.

Peter is recognized as a thought leader in the mission-critical digital infrastructure domain, has published numerous technical papers in the field, authored several patents and is a frequent speaker at international events. His focus centers on mission-critical facilities, high-reliability design, power quality, energy, and sustainability.

Peter is the recipient of 2010 Data Center Dynamics "Outstanding Contribution to the Industry" award, is a Senior IEEE Member and was one of the contributors to IEEE Standard 3006.7-2013, “Recommended Practice for determining the reliability of 7x24 Power Systems in industrial and commercial facilities”. He also received the 2020 award for Outstanding Contribution to the Digital Infrastructure Community and was inducted in the Infrastructure Masons Hall of Fame.

Ben Stewart

Senior VP, Operations

NTT Global Data Centers Americas

Ben Stewart is Senior Vice President of Operations at NTT Global Data Centers Americas, responsible for leading critical facility operation, maintenance, security, and customer service delivery. Over his career, Ben has lead operations and engineering teams in both government and commercial markets crafting and implementing innovative efficiencies improving performance while reducing cost yielding optimized solutions enabling scalable growth. Prior to joining NTT, Ben was the Senior Vice President of Engineering for Cyxtera and held senior executive positions at Equinix, Verizon, and Terremark Worldwide. Ben retired from the U.S. Coast Guard after serving 25 years as a commissioned officer.Ben earned a BSEE from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, MSEE from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and MBA from Monmouth University, and a Ph.D. from Northcentral University. Ben is also a licensed Professional Engineer.

Craig Compiano

Moderator

Modius

Craig Compiano is the co-founder and President of Modius Inc. Craig is a successful executive and entrepreneur and has been our President since 2004.

Craig has a passion for operational systems development and performance analytics for data centers. He brings 30+ years of business and technology expertise to his role. Before Modius, Craig was at Andersen Consulting and the co-founder & VP of Paymap, Inc.

Craig holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from USC and an MBA in Finance from UC Berkeley. He also holds a patent for an Electronic Payment Technology that is widely deployed in the banking industry. Craig is also a US Navy Veteran.

The AI Opportunity:

What it Means for Cloud, Compute and Your Customer

Joseph Kava

Joseph Kava

Fmr VP, Data Centers

Google

Luyuan Fang

Luyuan Fang

Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder

AI in Healthcare Compliance and Certification Institute (AIHCCI)

Bill Kleyman

Bill Kleyman

CEO & Co-Founder

Apolo.us

Eddie Schutter

Eddie Schutter

Managing Partner

LuxML

Jim Gao
Moderator

Jim Gao

CEO

Phaidra

Joseph Kava

Fmr VP, Data Centers

Google

Joe Kava is the former vice president of Data Centers at Google. His current responsibilities include engineering, construction management and delivery, critical facility operations, environmental health and safety, and sustainability for Google’s global fleet of data centers. Joe joined Google in 2008 from RagingWire Data Centers, a privately held colocation provider in Sacramento, California. While at RagingWire, Joe served as the company’s chief operating officer, where his responsibilities included design, construction, facility operations, managed services, business planning, and development. Prior to joining the data center industry, Joe spent 17 years in the semiconductor industry, working at LSI Logic and Applied Materials in various technical and executive roles, such as process and product development, new product introductions, engineering operations, business development, general management, and IT operations. He holds four US Patents for his work in reactive ion and plasma etch technology while at Applied Materials. Joe has a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. During his tenure at Google, Joe has been a staunch advocate for building sustainable data centers and implementing Google’s cloud computing strategy. He is passionate about educating the global data center industry so that others can benefit from the efficiency best-practices pioneered by Google.

Luyuan Fang

Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder

AI in Healthcare Compliance and Certification Institute (AIHCCI)

Prescryptive Health, a healthcare technology company focused on empowering consumers by improving the way healthcare is delivered, announced today that Dr. Luyuan Fang has joined the leadership team as Chief AI and Data Officer. In this role, Dr. Fang will be responsible for Prescryptive’s AI and Data strategy and roadmap.

Dr. Fang was most recently Chief AI Officer and Senior VP at Change Healthcare, where she was responsible for driving all AI initiatives. She led an extensive team of AI Product, Data Science, Engineering, and Behavioral Science/UI/UX and launched the Healthcare AI-First platform with HIPAA compliance and a comprehensive portfolio of AI-First healthcare financial management solutions.

Dr. Fang is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the AI in Healthcare Compliance and Certification Institute AIHCCI), a non-profit organization providing certification services to evaluate effectiveness and safety of AI/ML-based products for healthcare use and establish their compliance to FDA regulatory frameworks.

Prior to Change Healthcare, Dr. Fang was Founder and Head of AI Labs, VP, at Expedia Group, where she led the successful delivery of the Expedia AI-First platform and 20+ AI-First products in 20+ countries and 11 languages. She has also held senior roles at eBay, Microsoft Azure, Cisco, and AT&T, and has 10 U.S. patents.

Dr. Fang is a frequent speaker, keynote, and chair in major global AI and Networking tech conferences and has authored or co-authored more than 100 publications. Dr. Fang holds a Ph.D. in computer science, AI, from Flinders University, Australia, and a M.S. in computer science, AI, from Brigham Young University.

Bill Kleyman

CEO & Co-Founder

Apolo.us

Bill Kleyman is an award-winning data center, cloud, and digital infrastructure leader. He

was ranked globally by an Onalytica Study as one of the leading executives in cloud

computing and data security. He has spent more than 15 years specializing in the

cybersecurity, virtualization, cloud, and data center industry. As an award-winning

technologist, his most recent efforts with the Infrastructure Masons were recognized

when he received the 2020 IM100 Award and the 2021 iMasons Education Champion

Award for his work with numerous HBCUs and for helping diversify the digital

infrastructure talent pool.

As an industry analyst, speaker, and author, Bill helps the digital infrastructure teams

develop new ways to impact data center design, cloud architecture, security models

(both physical and software), and how to work with new and emerging technologies.

You can read more of Bill’s contributions as a contributing editor in Data Center

Frontier, Data Center Knowledge, InformationWeek, ITPro Today, and others.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/quadstack

http://linkedin.com/in/billkleyman

https://www.billkleyman.com

Eddie Schutter

Managing Partner

LuxML

Eddie Schutter is currently Managing Partner at LuxML, prior he was the Chief Technology Officer for Switch, responsible for technical and operational leadership, optimization of production and services, and strategic development of innovation programs and initiatives that drive top-and-bottom line business value across all business units. Transforming the company’s monetary and intellectual capital into technology to advance strategic and tactical plans, his focus includes leading efforts to identify new technologies that advance the strategic vision and mission of Switch. Eddie will also lead Switch’s efforts to promote, integrate and apply new technologies through research and development, proof of concept, piloting, field trials, scale out and realization. Eddie has over 25 years of experience and leadership in the data center and information technology industry for organizations including eBay, AT&T, DCF Technologies, The Green Grid, Datacenter Pulse, and other various advisory boards. He is a Director on the iMasons BOD, executive advisor on the Technical Curriculum Advisory Board of CNet Training, and Executive Advisor on the SMU Lyle School of Engineering DSE Advisory Board. Additionally, he has been instrumental in the development of operational optimization, technology innovations, automation, full stack solution development and deployment, networks, infrastructure security, cloud engineering, new product development, industry standards and advancing formal education in data center design and engineering. Eddie is a Navy veteran and he studied Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. He resides in Dallas with his wife of 28 years and their eleven children. In his free time, Eddie enjoys outdoor activities, soccer, hunting, fishing, and farming.

Jim Gao

Moderator

Phaidra

Jim Gao is the CEO and co-founder of Phaidra — an AI company that makes autonomous, self-learning control systems for data centers. Prior to Phaidra, Jim launched DeepMind Energy, a Google business division dedicated to applying AI to mitigate climate change. This included reducing Google's data center cooling energy by over 30% via machine learning. Jim started his career as a mechanical engineer helping to design and operate Google's hyperscale data centers.

Seyfarth Shaw Lunch n Learn: Up Close With Edged Energy

Frank Scandariato

Frank Scandariato

Director, Platform Delivery

Edged Energy

Mike Rechtin
Moderator

Mike Rechtin

Partner

DLA Piper

Frank Scandariato

Director, Platform Delivery

Edged Energy

Frank is an industry veteran in mission critical infrastructure for large scale construction projects who is leading the rapid rollout of the Edged platform in North America. He has led the design and construction of multibillion dollar projects that span a multitude of industries. Frank brings to bear his formidable background in engineering, technology, and infrastructure design — as well as his extensive leadership and project management skills. A few examples of his projects include data centers for eBay, IBM, Royal Bank of Canada, Lenovo, and Telus, and airline terminals for John F. Kennedy International and Laguardia Airports.

Mike Rechtin

Moderator

DLA Piper

Mike has more than 30 years of sophisticated and broad-based real estate experience representing clients in buying, selling, developing, leasing and financing real estate assets in all asset classes. Since 2010, he has been at the forefront of the expanding, multi-disciplinary data center, digital infrastructure and IT commercial contracting fields that straddle real estate and technology. Mike was named the 2023 Lawyer of the Year in Chicago for Privacy and Data Security Law by Best Lawyers. He is in-demand for presentations at digital infrastructure conferences and is often quoted in trade periodicals.

Mike's clients include insurance companies, Fortune 500 companies, pension funds, investment advisers, enterprise companies, financial institutions, real estate developers, high-tech companies and data center developers/providers. His recent transactions include representing multiple platform data center companies in acquiring land for development, developing data centers and entering into leases and master services agreements with major technology companies; acquiring operating data centers for private equity-backed real estate and technology funds; representing a financial services client in the outsourcing of all of its legacy IT infrastructure supporting its banking operations and applications, including mission-critical banking applications; negotiating joint venture agreements related to the development of data centers and multi-family developments; and representing a real estate investment company in the sale of a carrier hotel/data center in a major US market.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure Presentation

Todd Thurlow

Todd Thurlow

Director, Distributed Energy Systems

Siemens

Todd Thurlow

Director, Distributed Energy Systems

Siemens

Mr. Thurlow has over 20 years of experience supporting the strategic energy needs of end-use customers, including experience developing innovative energy asset and infrastructure projects, analyzing energy markets, and implementing energy solutions. He is focused on combining cutting edge renewable, storage and microgrid technologies with

innovative commercial solutions to improve resiliency, support decarbonization, and reduce costs for end use customers. He is well versed in North American energy markets and the opportunities they provide for distributed energy assets to access multiple available profit pools and maximize value to sponsors and off-takers.

Checkhub Presentation

Sarah El-Taher

Sarah El-Taher

Director

Chekhub

AFTERNOON KEYNOTE

Winsome Earle-Sears, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia

Winsome Earle-Sears

Winsome Earle-Sears

Lieutenant Governor

Virginia

Winsome Earle-Sears

Lieutenant Governor

Virginia

Winsome Earle-Sears, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, immigrated to the United States at the age of

six. She is proud to have served in the United States Marine Corps. In addition to her various

appointments, she has served as the Vice President of the Virginia State Board of Education; and as

a presidential appointee to the US Census Bureau, as co-chair of the African American Committee;

and the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Winsome was first elected in 2002 to a majority Black House of Delegates district, a first for a

Republican in Virginia since 1865. She is the first female Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth

of Virginia, the first Black female elected statewide, and the first naturalized female elected to

statewide office. She is also the first female Veteran to be elected to statewide office.

As Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Earle-Sears presides over the Senate when they are in a

legislative session and casts the tie-breaking vote. Additionally, the Lieutenant Governor serves on

various state boards and commissions: Virginia Tourism Authority, Virginia Military Advisory Council,

Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, The Center for Rural Virginia, Secure and Resilient

Commonwealth Panel, as well as serving as the national Secretary of the Aerospace States

Association (ASA), and as the Chair of the Virginia chapter of ASA (2023). Her office has been

represented on the Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Alliance (VAAMA) since 2022. The Lieutenant

Governor is also a Fellow at the Hunt Kean Leadership Institute. Education has been and continues

to be a focus of the Lieutenant Governor.

In her efforts to hear from as many Virginians as possible, the Lieutenant Governor has traveled over

28,000 miles across the Commonwealth since coming into office. An often-requested speaker, the

Lieutenant Governor has headlined numerous events across the Commonwealth and across the

nation.

A former program manager for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and VISTA volunteer,

Winsome is a trained electrician and successful businesswoman. However, Winsome is most proud

of her community work leading a men’s prison ministry and as director of a women’s homeless

shelter. She holds a B.A. in English with a minor in Economics, and an M.A. in Organizational

Leadership, with a concentration in Government. Winsome and her husband, Terence, have two

daughters Katia and Janel, in addition to DeJon, and granddaughters Victoria and Faith, who are

now looking into the face of God.

Dept. of Energy Lead In Presentation: Coolest Innovations That Should Be On Every Data Center Operator's Radar

Rima Oueid

Rima Oueid

Senior Commercialization Executive

Department of Energy

Rima Oueid

Senior Commercialization Executive

Department of Energy

As a senior commercialization executive, Rima Oueid combines her experience in finance and strategy with her energy policy expertise to identify market development and public private partnership opportunities in the energy sector. Rima works with a diverse array of stakeholders to develop business models that commercialize innovative technologies and tap diverse capital sources to deliver holistic energy solutions. Rima is currently working on quantum information science technology applications, artificial intelligence, microgrids, and bidirectional vehicle electrification solutions.

Rima previously served in the Office of Policy and the Hurricane Sandy Task Force where she helped facilitate $15 billion in energy related infrastructure deployment initiatives including a report to the President with recommendations for energy resilience. For example, Rima helped develop innovative infrastructure projects such as the NJ TransitGrid, a 100+ MW, $600 million advanced microgrid for NJ Transit and Amtrak, and NJ Energy Resilience Bank, a $210 million fund targeting investments in distributed energy and microgrids. While with the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, Rima led the development of a new $600 million energy finance portfolio for states which included helping establish the CT Green Bank among others. Rima also assisted the U.S. Department of Defense on a 3GW power purchase agreement initiative that included the Navy, Army, and Air Force.

Prior to the U.S. Department of Energy, Rima spent a decade working in finance, real estate, and management consulting. Rima began her career at Accenture helping Fortune 500 companies in the financial services industry redesign their business models to leverage cutting edge technologies. Subsequent to Accenture, Rima spent six years in real estate, venture capital, and private equity investing, including stints at William Harris Investors and CID Equity Partners. Rima has experience evaluating investments in residential and commercial real estate, solar, biofuels, solid state light manufacturing, and water purification industries. Rima earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Finance, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship and selected as a Kauffman Fellow in 2007 and 2009. Rima also holds a Bachelors of Science from the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana. Rima lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two children.

Hotel Availability

Hilton McLean: 3 min drive / 11 min walk, has availability May 23-25
The Watermark Hotel: 5 min drive / 23 min walk
Courtyard by Marriott: 5 min drive / 16 min walk, no availability May 23, but you can check in on the 24th 
Hyatt Regency: 4 min drive / 14min walk, no availability May 23, but you can check in on the 24th 

There are currently no available discounted rooms at The Ritz Carlton. 
 

Why You Won't Want To Miss This Data Center Commercial Real Estate Conference:

What You'll Learn From CRE Leaders:

  • In 2023, global data center demand is set to reach 35 GW, up from 17 GW in 2022. How are investors and developers bracing for this pace of growth?

  • The dynamics in the largest data center market in the world are changing — what are the ripple effects for stakeholders and other markets?

  • What are developers and service providers doing to manage the chronic supply chain challenges? How have they adjusted their processes for this “new normal?”

  • How are data center developers and operators actively addressing the sustainability challenges and minimizing their environmental footprints? Is there a sense of urgency?

  • What can we learn from power-hungry, high-performance computing technologies? What does it mean for the industry?

  • How are engineering practices and applications changing to adapt to today's needs? What are the current misconceptions?

  • What are the market demand drivers for higher power densities in the rack? What are the implications for the ecosystem of mechanical and electrical infrastructure?

  • Is the sector attractive to investors given the current cost of capital?

  • What will be the future innovations and big ideas that will shape this industry for the next three to five years?

How You'll Do More Business From Attending This Event: Learn how top players are navigating the region's density, power and land challenges, which deals are coming to the market and how industry titans are driving new trends to shape the industry. Hear from the industry's most influential people, connect with decision-makers and expand your network with the right people. 

Relevant Data Center News & Developments To Be Discussed During The Session:

Who You’ll Meet During Networking: Providers, investors, contractors, lawyers, consultants, brokers, end users, CEOs, vice presidents of construction, engineers, heads of facilities, directors of operations and city officials.

Why You Should Attend This Summit: Learn how other data center markets are likely to follow Northern Virginia's lead at Bisnow's largest data center conference of the year.

Are you an end user*?

Click here to be considered for a complimentary pass. *Hyperscaler, colocation provider (non-sales), investor, private equity, or enterprise tenant.

For questions, group ticket rates or interest in becoming a speaker or sponsor, please email our DICE Global Director, Adam Knobloch, adam.knobloch@bisnow.com

Agenda

Time Activity
Wednesday May 24, 2023
11:30 AM
12:25 PM
Registration, Breakfast and Networking
12:25 PM
12:30 PM
Opening Remarks: Welcome to Day 1 of DICE East!
12:30 PM
1:15 PM
Opening Keynote: State of The Northern Virginia Market: How Are The Dynamics Changing In The World’s Largest Data Center Market And What Are The Ripple Effects Across Tier 2 and 3 Markets?

Northern Virginia is the epicenter of the digital infrastructure industry and a key market for the players involved. Seemingly saturated, the continued growth and interest in this market continues to prove otherwise. How are the dynamics we are seeing in the region impacting development in this market and what are the ripple effects nationally, and perhaps globally?

1:15 PM
1:55 PM
Engineering Done Right: How to Keep Costs Down, Meet Client Demand and Remain Adaptable to New Technologies

Although a simple-looking box from the outside, data centers are quite complex structures, particularly when it comes to engineering. From load densities to alternative energy sources to AI/ML, there are many factors that need to be considered when designing data centers, not only for current demands but for future needs and emerging tech, as well. What are today’s best practices and trends that should be considered?

1:55 PM
2:15 PM
Networking Break
2:15 PM
3:00 PM
Optimizing Design and Construction: The Best Strategies Behind Project Design to Delivery For Today’s Demands and Technologies

Speed-to-market is always a top priority for developers. What are some of the best strategies and tools in the market today to help deliver a final product while navigating the industry’s current design and construction challenges? How is the process changing, given today’s evolving needs?

3:00 PM
3:15 PM
Chekhub Presentation: Workforce Empowerment During a Skilled Labor Crisis
3:15 PM
3:55 PM
From Hyperscale to On Premise to Colocation Data Centers: Near-Term Strategies To Drive Efficiency And De-carbonization

Learning how to optimize your facility will lead to increased reliability and decreased down time. Which best practices are operators applying to ensure systems keep running, costs remain low and sustainability is prioritized? What challenges can occur and which inefficiencies are often overlooked?

3:55 PM
4:10 PM
Mintz Levin Presentation
4:10 PM
5:20 PM
Networking Lunch
4:40 PM
5:00 PM
Ameristar Lunch n Learn: Putting Security First: How to Avoid A (Multi-)Million Dollar Mistake
5:20 PM
6:00 PM
The Great PR Problem: How To Engage With Local Stakeholders and Bring On The Next-Gen Workforce

Data centers are critical infrastructure, but also seem to be gaining more critics — particularly in Northern Virginia. How can developers change the narrative and engage with local communities in a more meaningful way? How can we leverage these partnerships to attract the next generation of data center workers?

6:00 PM
6:20 PM
Coffee Break
6:20 PM
7:00 PM
Edge Computing: The Current State Of The Edge In Today’s Digital Infrastructure Needs

With low latency and proximity to the end user becoming key technological focus areas and priorities, the edge narrative is gaining momentum. Although still novel and not widely adopted, there are more use cases being created and more industries benefiting from edge than ever before, and it may only be the start. With that, what does the adoption curve look like today? How is the deployment strategy changing? Which industries stand to benefit the most?

7:00 PM
7:40 PM
The AI Opportunity: What it Means for Cloud, Compute and Your Customer
7:40 PM
8:00 PM
Afternoon Keynote: Winsome Earle-Sears, Lieutenant Governor, State of Virginia
8:00 PM
9:00 PM
Post-Event Networking and Cocktail Party Presented by JK Technologies & The Weitz Company
8:00 PM
9:00 PM
Post-Event Networking and Cocktail Party Presented by JK Technologies & The Weitz Company
Thursday May 25, 2023
11:30 AM
12:25 PM
Registration, Breakfast and Networking
12:25 PM
12:30 PM
Opening Remarks: Welcome to Day 2 of DICE East!
12:30 PM
1:10 PM
Opening Keynote: It’s Not a Data Center, But a Network of Data: How The Global Digital Infrastructure Sector Is Evolving Given Today’s Technology Needs

The composition of our current digital infrastructure is made up of different hubs, nodes, components, layers, fibers and more. To understand a data center is to understand how the whole ecosystem works together to support our information technology needs. With that, how are the players working together to build the next generation technology and anticipating customer demand?

1:10 PM
1:45 PM
The Transition to Web 3.0: What Does It Look Like And What Do We Need To Do Now?

What is Web 3.0 and why should the data center industry care? This next generation of the internet will drive further digital infrastructure demand and advancements. How can operators and developers be prepared today for the requirements of tomorrow?

1:45 PM
2:05 PM
Presentation: Siemens Smart Infrastructure
2:05 PM
2:30 PM
Networking Break
2:30 PM
3:10 PM
Keep IT Cool: What Does Cooling Look Like In An AI World?

Power rack density is on its way up and creating a new definition of “average” frequency. What are the impacts on uptime availability, resiliency, sustainability and power costs of ever-higher power densities and cooling requirements?

3:10 PM
3:25 PM
Dept. of Energy Lead In Presentation: Coolest Innovations That Should Be On Every Data Center Operator's Radar

A dive into what technologies and initiatives the Department of Energy is closely watching and helping to develop. If it's on their radar, it should be on yours.

3:25 PM
4:10 PM
Identifying The Right Energy Strategy and Alternatives: What Is The Most Feasible Path Forward?

One of the industry’s biggest priorities is renewable power sources for sustainability. Despite providers adopting alternative energy practices and increasing their focus on carbon emissions, not all practices are the same in yielding impactful change. Are PPAs the right move? Can we still solely rely on PUE and other metrics to capture environmental impacts? What’s currently working when it comes to sustainability practices and renewable energy and what needs to change?

4:10 PM
5:20 PM
Networking Lunch
4:40 PM
5:00 PM
Lunch n Learn: Up Close With Edged Energy
5:20 PM
6:00 PM
Investing In The Digital Infrastructure Industry — How Has The Narrative Changed?

Given today’s macroeconomic landscape and the cost of capital, how are investors and owners looking at this unique asset class now?

6:00 PM
6:40 PM
The Next Big Thing You Need To Know About: The Innovations And Technologies That Will Shape The Industry

Because innovation has no end, there is always an opportunity for advancement and optimization. With that, what are the top industry leaders thinking about today as key areas ripe for innovation? What new technologies will shape this industry in the near and long-term future?

6:40 PM
8:00 PM
Post-Event Networking and Cocktail Party Presented by Cornet & Powersmiths
6:40 PM
8:00 PM
Post-Event Networking and Cocktail Party Presented by Cornet & Powersmiths

RELEVANT INDUSTRY NEWS & DEVELOPMENTS