Keynote - Future Drivers of Demand:

What Major Trends Will Shape The Industry and How to Prepare for It

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  Vello Ehvert

  Vello is the president of Ehvert Mission Critical, a vertically integrated multi-disciplinary engineering and construction firm specializing in the design, construction, and support of critical facilities with offices in the United States, Canada and Europe. Vello has been involved in the design, construction and operation of critical facilities for over forty years and has pioneered the use of digital technologies and manufacturing processes for critical facility design, construction and operation. Ehvert uses a manufacturing approach to construction and is a global leader in the use of BIM, Virtual Design, Digital Construction, and Automation System Programming for critical facilities. Vello Ehvert is a registered professional engineer in the United States and Canada, a LEED Accredited Professional, Uptime Accredited Tier Designer and a Broker of Record with Adelaide Realty Inc. He also holds an RBQ certification for construction in the Province of Quebec.

  Ehvert Mission Critical

  CEO

  Vello Ehvert

  CEO

  Ehvert Mission Critical

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  Peter Gross

  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.

  PMG Associates

  Managing Partner

  Peter Gross

  Managing Partner

  PMG Associates

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  Eric Jacobs

  Eric has over 20 years of sales leadership experience in the data center, cloud and telecommunications sectors. As the Chief Revenue Officer for Aligned, he is responsible for all facets of sales and solution architecture, including the development of sales and channel go-to-market strategies, execution of contract negotiations, implementation of robust sales support processes to ensure pipeline growth, revenue acquisition/projections, and customer success. Before joining Aligned, Eric worked at QTS Realty Trust for more than eight years, most recently serving as the Executive Vice President of Sales. While at QTS, he also held several executive leadership roles within sales, operations and facilities. Prior to QTS, Eric was Vice President of Sales at CMI, Executive Vice President of Sales and Officer for Pac-West, Senior Director of Enterprise Sales at Zayo Group (formerly AboveNet Communications), and one of the original team members for Nextel Communications, Inc. Eric is a graduate of the University of Oregon, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Corporate Management. He is also an active member in a variety of community organizations, currently serving as board member of the CIO Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for economically disadvantaged students seeking a degree in information technology.

  Aligned Data Centers

  CRO

  Eric Jacobs

  CRO

  Aligned Data Centers

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  Matthew Koerner

  Matthew Koerner has more than 20 years of experience in the AEC industry, Matthew has achieved an extensive understanding of the design and construction aspects of mission critical projects. His resume includes the integration of technology systems into critical environments in over 30 countries throughout the world. Mr. Koerner’s ability to strategically manage and actively participate in a project from inception and throughout design, procurement, construction, and commissioning is a testament to his experience as a professional design engineer and a construction manager of mission critical projects. Matthew is a founder and Principal of Critical Project Services and Integra Mission Critical. Matthew is a licensed professional engineer in multiple states and is a LEED AP. He is a graduate of Kansas State University’s Architectural Engineering program, holds multiple patents on critical environment systems and energy storage systems, and serves in various board and committee positions for the 7×24 Exchange and Open-IX.

  Critical Project Services

  Principal

  Matthew Koerner

  Principal

  Critical Project Services

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  Audrey Lee

  Dr. Audrey Lee is Senior Director of Energy Strategy at Microsoft. She leads global regulatory policy, technology, resilience, and commercial strategy on the Microsoft datacenter energy team to enable a resilient and sustainable cloud. She serves on the board of Redaptive Inc., deploying energy efficiency-as-a-service across commercial real estate portfolios. She volunteers as a board member of Gridworks, Linux Foundation Energy, and Clean Energy for America Education Fund. She holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton Univ and a B.S. in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology.

  Microsoft

  Sr. Director, Energy Strategy

  Audrey Lee

  Sr. Director, Energy Strategy

  Microsoft

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  Scott Noteboom

  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.

  Quantum Loophole

  CTO

  Scott Noteboom

  CTO

  Quantum Loophole

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  Craig Pennington

  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.

  Montera Infrastructure

  CTO

  Craig Pennington

  CTO

  Montera Infrastructure

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  Kemal Hawa

  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.

  Kirkland & Ellis

  Partner

  Moderator

  Kemal Hawa

  Partner

  Kirkland & Ellis

State of the West Coast Data Center Market:

Current Market Activity and 2023 Outlook for Northern California and the West Coast

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  Peter Hopper

  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.

  Primary Digital Infrastructure

  Co-Founder and Managing Director

  Peter Hopper

  Co-Founder and Managing Director

  Primary Digital Infrastructure

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  Arman Khalili

  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.

  Blackstart Infrastructure Partners

  Partner

  Arman Khalili

  Partner

  Blackstart Infrastructure Partners

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  Michael Ortiz

  Michael bring 23 years of investment banking, commercial real estate, and digital infrastructure experience, and with it he brings a deep understanding how mission critical infrastructure is the bind which holds today’s digital economy together. Serving as Chief Executive Officer for Layer 9 Data Centers, Michael leads the organization’s growth initiatives into Latin America where Layer 9 will begin delivering in 2023 hyperscale data center solutions to cloud service providers and enterprise 1000 clients. Michael has maintained leadership roles with hyperscale data center operators, Digital Realty and DuPont Fabros Technology and previously served in Portfolio Management at Equity Office Properties through the sale of the company to Blackstone in 2007. Michael’s investment banking experience at JP Morgan and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group focused on capital debt placements and distressed credit workouts. Michael recently earned his Executive Education Certifications in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence from the University Of Oxford.

  Layer 9 Datacenters

  CEO

  Michael Ortiz

  CEO

  Layer 9 Datacenters

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  Aaron Wangenheim

  As the Chief Executive Officer, Aaron provides leadership, strategy, and management for Base Partners with a focus on data center development and operations, as well as emerging power and electricity technologies. Base Partners, Inc. is an advisory and development company focused on next-generation mission-critical facilities and services. Aaron has held numerous leadership positions throughout his career covering every facet of the data center industry, including site selection and acquisition, sales, marketing, operations, finance and more. Aaron started in the industry in the 1990s as a consultant, acquiring data center sites for the first generation of mission critical facilities, before transitioning into the role of developer, owner and operator of modern, efficient and sustainable data centers. Prior to Base Partners, Aaron Was the Chief Operating Officer of T5 Data Centers. Aaron holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.

  Base Partners

  CEO

  Aaron Wangenheim

  CEO

  Base Partners

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  Kemal Hawa

  Kemal Hawa focuses his practice on corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on the telecommunications, media and technology industries, domestically and internationally. Kemal regularly advises public and private companies, private equity firms, investment banks, and creditors’ committees on a variety of matters, including mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies and restructurings, investments, financing arrangements, licensing agreements and commercial transactions. Kemal assists clients with the negotiation of transactions in the cloud computing space, including the negotiation of data center and co-location leases, globally. Kemal also has broad experience in the negotiation of network infrastructure transactions, including submarine cable systems (builds, financings, and capacity procurement), as well as terrestrial fiber optic network transactions. His company clients include telecommunications and media companies, wireless and international carriers, Internet and Voice-Over- IP service providers, content providers, satellite companies, equipment manufacturers, electric utilities, and numerous technology companies. Before private practice, Kemal worked for MCI and WinStar Communications. He developed an early and wide-ranging knowledge base in the telecommunications industry, coinciding with the opening of the U.S. market to competition. He now advises clients on market entry strategies in emerging markets throughout the world.

  Greenberg Traurig

  Shareholder

  Moderator

  Kemal Hawa

  Shareholder

  Greenberg Traurig

Design and Construction Trends:

Bridging the Gap Between Design and Construction to Eliminate Waste, Align Stakeholders, and Go Fast

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  Jeff Fini

  Jeff is the CEO of Vela Tech Holding, and Founder and Chairman of AlfaTech. He has a long and highly successful career spanning over 35 years in the engineering design, development, and execution of projects worldwide. As Chairman and Founder of AlfaTech, Jeff has successfully expanded AlfaTech’s US presence from its HQ in Silicon Valley to San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County and Monrovia. The firm is a strategic leader in Data Centers world-wide, and has many strong relationships with many Fortune 500 technology clients. Life Science, and Healthcare are also a big part of the firm’s portfolio. On the global side, Jeff is also CEO of Vela Tech Holding, a portfolio of companies—AlfaTech US, AT- PD, Verity Commercial, SecurView, and AlfaTech Asia (Singapore) --and which is comprised of over 700 people. Services include engineering design, architectural lighting design and technology, PM/CM, real estate and development, and cyber security. Vela Tech is part of RSBG Infrastructure Technologies (RSINTEC/RSBG) with over 8,000 people across 67 companies worldwide. Through this partnership, all business units have access to the strongest talent and resources across the USA, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to best serve our clients. Maintaining strong relationships with clients and personal involvement in projects has resulted in ongoing success, evidenced by the large number of long-time and repeat AlfaTech clients. Among these are Lucas Museum in Southern California, as well as Digital Edge, Meta, Adobe, Uber, Netflix, Amazon, Schwab, Cisco, LinkedIn, and many other high-powered clients and landmark projects. Jeff was honored by CoreNet Global as its Service Provider of the Year, 2004, and continues to be recognized as an industry leader in data center design, sustainable projects, and innovative sustainable solutions.

  CEO, Vela Tech Holding , and Chairman and Founder, AlfaTech

  Jeff Fini

  CEO, Vela Tech Holding , and Chairman and Founder, AlfaTech

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  Simon Casey

  Simon Casey is an energetic, collaborative, proactive project development executive with 28 years of domestic and international experience delivering high profile projects to strict deadlines for the most demanding of clients, both private and public. Based in the San Francisco Bay area for the past 20 years, Simon currently leads a diverse geographical team of project professionals executing the development of data centers for global hyper scale clients across North America. In prior roles, Simon has lead teams engaged on a variety of project types including vertical commercial corporate projects, hospitality, industrial, mixed use, aviation, historical renovation, interior corporate workplace and multi family residential. His global career spans several continents, including projects in North America, the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and throughout the Asia Pacific region including China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia as well as Australia. Specialties: Managing complex and fluid projects; Mission Critical Project execution, Strategic asset planning and management; Procurement, both domestic and International; Project Controls; Contract preparation; Real Estate Debt Financing; Problem Solving; Program and Project Strategy; Team building; Risk management and Conflict avoidance. Simon possesses the rare ability to get things done, efficiently and painlessly while satisfying the unique and varied demands of stakeholders and having fun at the same time.

  Vantage Data Centers

  VP, Construction NA

  Simon Casey

  VP, Construction NA

  Vantage Data Centers

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  Anuraj Jhajj

  Anuraj S. Jhajj is a General Manager/Partner at Microsoft. Anuraj oversees the Data Center Delivery program for the AMERs region. Anuraj has delivered and led many of Microsoft's fastest and highly cost-efficient data center projects. Before joining Microsoft, Anuraj was with AWS overseeing their Data Center Construction program at various levels. He has been working strictly in the data center industry for a decade. Anuraj has a master's degree in mechanical engineering from San Jose State University

  Microsoft

  Partner, Data Center Delivery

  Anuraj Jhajj

  Partner, Data Center Delivery

  Microsoft

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  Kurt Lindorfer

  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.

  PARADIGM Structural Engineers

  Founding Principal

  Kurt Lindorfer

  Founding Principal

  PARADIGM Structural Engineers

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  Nabeel Mahmood

  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.

  Nomad Futurist Foundation

  Co-Founder

  Nabeel Mahmood

  Co-Founder

  Nomad Futurist Foundation

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  Chris Plass

  Chris Plass has more than 15 years of commercial construction experience. As vice president of national firm HITT Contracting’s Santa Clara, California office, Plass currently leads mission critical data center projects in and around the Bay Area and works with some of the world’s leading technology firms. He has a wealth of experience leading all types of mission critical facilities such as colocation and greenfield data centers, network operation centers, SCIFs, and other facility types nationwide. A graduate of Virginia Tech, Plass earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture. After interning with HITT throughout his college years, Plass joined HITT’s preconstruction department post- graduation. He then transitioned to operations roles where he built an impressive portfolio of work in the technology and mission critical sector in Northern Virginia and nationwide before being promoted and moving to the West Coast in 2017 to help establish HITT’s portfolio in California. Plass’ move to the West Coast has helped lead HITT’s Santa Clara office to be the number three top telecommunications contractor in California, according to Engineering News-Record in 2022. Plass is LEED BD+C certified and is affiliated with Associated Builders and Contractors, 7x24 Exchange, and NAIOP.

  HITT Contracting

  VP

  Chris Plass

  VP

  HITT Contracting

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  Shane Saltzgiver

  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.

  VEC

  Founder & CEO

  Moderator

  Shane Saltzgiver

  Founder & CEO

  VEC

What’s Working and What’s Wrong:

A Hard Look at Current Sustainability Practices and Actionable Next Steps that Can Make Meaningful Improvements

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  Bruce Baxter

  Bruce leads the overall sales and delivery efforts for several of Jacobs key colocation clients and is engaged in all phases of projects from prospect identification through project close. He works closely with the global Mission Critical leadership to continue the growth of this dynamic market. With nearly 20 years of experience as an Architect and Project Manager and a heavy focus on complex Mission Critical/Data Center projects, he has led projects ranging from intricate “heart surgery” equipment replacement to large-scale multi-building data center campuses. He holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Architecture from Texas A&M University. He is a licensed architect in Texas and Oklahoma.

  Jacobs

  Principal, Global Data Center Design & Strategy

  Bruce Baxter

  Principal, Global Data Center Design & Strategy

  Jacobs

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  Kevin Dalton

  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.

  Cumulus Data

  Chief Data Center Officer

  Kevin Dalton

  Chief Data Center Officer

  Cumulus Data

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  Dave Meadows

  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.

  STULZ Air Technology Systems

  Director, Technology

  Dave Meadows

  Director, Technology

  STULZ Air Technology Systems

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  Dean Nelson

  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.

  Cato Digital

  CEO

  Dean Nelson

  CEO

  Cato Digital

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  Travis Wright

  VP, Energy & Sustainability

  QTS

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  Bruce Myatt

  Bruce Myatt is a Director in the Mission Critical Data Center Group. He offers over 35 years data center and power systems engineering, design, analysis, business/ project development and business operations experience, Bruce serves as a Project Advisor, Technical Director, and Client Sponsor for selected Data Center clients. He is responsible for the development and support of new client business and projects. He leads contractual negotiations and client relationships and he supports Enercon engineering teams with the delivery of complex and important projects related to data center design template design guidelines and equipment specifications, as well as on-site power generation and distribution.

  Enercon Services

  Director, Data Center Engineering & Design

  Moderator

  Bruce Myatt

  Director, Data Center Engineering & Design

  Enercon Services

Lunch n Learn: Up-Close with Evoque Data Center Solutions

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  Catherine Smith

  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.

  Evoque Data Center Solutions

  Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer

  Catherine Smith

  Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer

  Evoque Data Center Solutions

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  Mike Rechtin

  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.

  DLA Piper

  Partner

  Mike Rechtin

  Partner

  DLA Piper

The Evolving Edge and Distributed Cloud:

Where are we in the Adoption Curve? Which Industries Stand to Benefit the Most?

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  Kevin Imboden

  Global Director, Market Research & Intelligence

  EdgeConneX

• 

  Shweta Saraf

  Head of Engineering, Edge Infrastructure

  Equinix

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  Dave Ward

  CEO

  PacketFabric

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  Luke Boyea

  Luke Boyea has worked for Schneider Electric in the data center industry for fifteen years. During his tenure at Schneider, he has worked closely with Data Center end-users, engineers, contractors, and partners to deliver building management technology solutions for some of the largest data center providers globally. In his current role, Luke is the commercial director for a staff that focuses solely on the cloud and service provider vertical market. Luke is a graduate of Texas A&M with a bachelor’s of Industrial Distribution. He lives with his wife and two children in Dallas, Texas.

  Schneider Electric

  Director

  Moderator

  Luke Boyea

  Director

  Schneider Electric

The Future of IT Cloud Infrastructure:

How are Operators and Providers Optimizing for Efficient Management and Operation Solutions

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  Keith Dines

  Keith Dines is a recognized expert on data centers. With over 30 years of experience developing data centers for enterprise and colocation providers he has a broad background in all phases of design, construction and IT deployment. Currently the Senior Leader of Data Center Site Selection and Construction Management for nVidia, he is responsible for the company’s strategy and implementation of its next generation of high-performance data centers for the future of machine learning and artificial intelligence in all of its deployments. Prior to joining Nvidia, Mr. Dines served in senior management positions for colocation companies including Digital Realty Trust, The Cambay Group, Aligned Energy, and Core Location. While focused on build-to-suit developments at Digital Realty, he developed customized solutions for NetApp, Savvis, ARM Technologies and Equinix. Earlier in his career as a data center consultant, Dines’ clients included corporate real estate executives, IT directors, and venture capitalists managing software developers, hardware manufacturers, on-line investment firms, on-line travel firms, telecommunications and a university hospital system. His most notable clients include Oracle, Charles Schwab, GI Partners, ViaWest, Adobe, and Stanford University Hospital.

  Nvidia

  Senior Leader, DC Site Selection & Construction Mgmt.

  Keith Dines

  Senior Leader, DC Site Selection & Construction Mgmt.

  Nvidia

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  Shannon Hulbert

  Ms Hulbert is CEO of Opus Interactive. Shannon has led the strategy and vision for the cloud provider since 2011. Prior to cloud, Shannon was in the utility energy-efficiency sector for 8 years. Opus Interactive is a hybrid and multicloud solutions provider with a dedicated FEDRAMP Moderate Ready IaaS/PaaS environment and can be found on the FedRAMP marketplace under OpusGov (OG). OG is housed inside of FISMA High faciliites, operated by screened US citizens. This environment is restricted to US federal, state, local and tribal governments, and their partners - backed by over 24 years of proven reliability in the commercial sector.

  Opus Interactive

  CEO

  Shannon Hulbert

  CEO

  Opus Interactive

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  David Klein

  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.

  ChilliRack

  Founder & CEO

  David Klein

  Founder & CEO

  ChilliRack

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  David McCall

  David is an experienced public speaker and data center evangelist with over 25 years in the IT/Data Center industry. He has held a variety of roles, from leading national product and solution engineering teams to hosting the QTS Experience podcast. David is passionate about using technology and data for the greater good. He believes that data centers can help humanity prosper, nurture our planet, and safeguard a future for upcoming generations. He is committed to fostering a community that brings together a diverse range of users, thinkers, and implementers of technology for enriching conversations, shared laughter, and immersive experiences into the inner workings of our digitally connected world. David is a visionary who is eager to leverage the far-reaching implications of our interconnected digital lives. He is a respected industry professional known for his

  QTS

  Brand Evangelist

  David McCall

  Brand Evangelist

  QTS

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  Tony Keyser

  Tony Keyser is a global, results-focused executive for Turner Construction Company responsible for setting strategy and managing client relationships in the expanding mission critical and technology market. He manages a $1.6 billion portfolio of work that includes Fortune 500 clients. The foundation of his proven success lies in building partnerships, improving operations, and lowering the total cost of ownership for mission critical facilities. Prior to joining Turner, his career spanned work in 42 countries that began with technical engineering and installation of transoceanic fiber optic cables for the major telecommunication networks in the world. Tony is a graduate of Marine Engineering at the University of Washington. Tony and his wife, Jill, reside in Leavenworth, Washington a Bavarian Town located in the North Central part of the state. They are proud parents to Simon who is a firefighter in their hometown. Tony is an avid motorcyclist and most recently completed a 3,500 mile ride to the Yucatan Peninsula.

  Turner Construction Company

  Manager, Business Development

  Moderator

  Tony Keyser

  Manager, Business Development

  Turner Construction Company

Cost Pressures, Interest Rates, Inflation:

How are These Major Economic Factors Affecting the Data Center and Digital Infrastructure Industry?

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  Jay Rappaport

  Jay Rappaport is a co-founder and Managing Member of Legacy Investing, and has been involved in all of Legacy’s transactions. In 2003, Jay founded Centurion Investments, LLC and since then has transacted in over 16 million SF of net leased, industrial real estate representing over $1 billion of value. More recently, Jay founded Legacy Investing with Daniel English to focus on acquiring a portfolio of industrial real estate, primarily for a core set of family offices, focused on holding for the long-term. Prior to entering the real estate business, Jay spent 15 years as a senior executive of several Internet based companies. Jay began his Internet career in 1995 at America Online where he spent his first four years negotiating all of AOL’s major transactions, including the acquisitions of Time Warner, Netscape and CompuServe. After the merger with Time Warner, Jay became the company's first COO post-merger. After leaving AOL, Jay took the role as President of Vonage where he was responsible for the entire U.S. business. After leaving Vonage, Jay was President and COO of AddThis (sold to Oracle) and most recently EVP of Corporate Development for Cricket Media, helping to take the company public. Jay is also on the Board of Advisors to the Washington Wizards NBA team and a former advisor to the Washington Capitals NHL team. Jay received his J.D. degree from UCLA Law School and his B.S. in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

  Legacy Investing

  CEO

  Jay Rappaport

  CEO

  Legacy Investing

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  Brandon Hunt

  Brandon has over 15 years of experience in the alternative investment industry and has been involved in over $7B in investment offerings. He currently serves as EVP, Portfolio Manager for StratCap Investment Management, an asset management organization focused on digital infrastructure assets, based in Greenwich, CT. Brandon has integral roles in asset management, product development, market research and thought leadership for the company, with responsibilities and oversight across StratCap's investment platforms for both institutional investors and financial intermediaries. Brandon started his career in 2007 as an analyst for a commercial real estate acquisitions team where he helped underwrite commercial real estate investments, provide industry research and conduct analysis of public REITs. Brandon also led the project to create a proprietary interactive database to help the company uncover off-market transactions. Since then, Brandon has served in various capital markets and management roles at several alternative investment companies. Brandon graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University Honors Program at California State University Fullerton. His studies included real estate and corporate finance, with a special interest in alternative investments and derivatives. He was also the recipient of the CSUF College of Business and Economics Alumni Scholarship, CSUF Dean’s Advisory Board Scholarship and the TABR Capital Management Scholarship.

  StratCap

  Executive VP & Portfolio Manager

  Brandon Hunt

  Executive VP & Portfolio Manager

  StratCap

• 

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Jeff heads our Real Estate and Communications practices in New York and has significant experience in general commercial real estate law. Jeff’s general real estate practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, and borrower’s side financing. He 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, such as data center leases. His clients include both large national companies and smaller, local clients. He is frequently invited to speak on real estate, data center, and telecom topics. He also writes for several industry publications, and he is regularly quoted in national media. Jeff was a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and led many of its major real estate and telecom transactions.

  Mintz

  Member

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Member

  Mintz

• 

  Enrique Torres

  Enrique Torres joined Equinix in 2014 and serves as Vice President of Corporate Development, Real Estate Investment. Mr. Torres focuses on managing the real estate development investment process, capital prioritization, and supporting Equinix's Hyperscale expansion. Mr. Torres brings to Equinix over 10 years of real estate investment, capital markets, and finance experience. Mr. Torres also serves as a Director at Mid-Pen Housing, a non-profit, low-income housing developer. Prior to joining Equinix, Mr. Torres served as an Acquisition and Corporate Finance Manager at Rexford Industrial where he helped close over $150 million in acquisitions and led the financial analysis for company's IPO. Prior to joining Rexford, Mr. Torres worked at Green Street Advisors as a REIT Equity Research Analyst where in 2012 was awarded the Wall Street Journal’s Best on the Street Award. Mr. Torres received his B.S. degree in Economics Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and his International MBA with honors from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.

  Equinix

  VP, Corporate Development - Real Estate

  Enrique Torres

  VP, Corporate Development - Real Estate

  Equinix

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  Tom Traugott

  Tom leads EdgeCore’s strategy, teams, and activities around client leasing and marketing initiatives focused on bespoke client-centric growth solutions for top hyperscale and technology companies globally. Tom brings to EdgeCore 19 years of experience in wholesale data centers, enabling him with valuable insight into client needs for tailored data center developments and tailored commercial models designed to enable EdgeCore clients to ensure scalability, reduce cost, and maximize flexibility. Supporting these objectives, Tom leverages his experience in site selection, acquisition, development, and leasing supporting hyperscale CSPs and information-intensive businesses, including completion of transactions totaling over 600+ MW and valued at over $1.8B. Prior to joining EdgeCore, Tom worked for Amazon Web Services, where he was accountable for strategy and execution for new and existing regions across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, along with diligence and strategy for additional regions under evaluation. At AWS, Tom worked in a multi-stakeholder environment executing on accountabilities to scale data center infrastructure planned to exceed $1B in construction investment. Prior to Amazon, Tom was co-practice leader of Cassidy Turley’s (now Cushman & Wakefield’s) Data Center Advisory Practice, focused on end-user representation and capital markets transactions. Tom previously worked with many members of the EdgeCore team at CoreSite Realty Corporation as regional VP of Sales. Tom holds a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard College, with honors.

  EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

  Senior VP, Strategy

  Tom Traugott

  Senior VP, Strategy

  EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

• Moderator

  Rima Raouda

  Director, Operations & Events - Data Centers

  Bisnow Media