Cooling the 1-2 MW Rack: Liquid Strategies That Actually Deploy
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Summary
AI infrastructure is rapidly pushing beyond the limits of traditional air-cooled data center design. With rack densities now approaching 1 MW, liquid cooling is no longer experimental: it is becoming a core requirement for deploying next-generation AI clusters at scale.
Yet many operators, developers, and enterprise buyers still face practical questions: What designs actually deploy? What scales reliably? And what can be supported and serviced over time?
This Data Center Frontier webinar moves beyond theory to focus on real-world liquid cooling strategies now entering production environments. Industry experts will discuss cooling architectures, operational tradeoffs, supply chain readiness, and service models that enable high-density AI deployments to move from pilot projects into repeatable infrastructure.
Key discussion areas include:
• Direct-to-chip vs. immersion: what operators are deploying today
• CDU and facility loop design for megawatt-class racks
• Warm-water cooling and facility integration strategies
• Serviceability, maintenance, and operational risk management
• Supply chain readiness for pumps, manifolds, fluids, and controls
• Brownfield retrofits vs. greenfield AI campuses
• Designing infrastructure that survives multiple hardware generations
As AI campuses scale from megawatts per hall to hundreds of megawatts per site, cooling design is becoming a central business and operational decision. This session provides practical guidance on deploying liquid cooling solutions that work today, and scale for tomorrow’s density requirements.
Who should attend: Data center operators, hyperscale infrastructure teams, colocation providers, developers, enterprise infrastructure leaders, design engineers, investors, and vendors building infrastructure for the AI era.
Speakers
Sean McDaniel
Data Center Business Development Director - Americas
Chemelex Raychem
Sean started his career in the construction industry in the marketing division of Bancroft Construction Company, a construction management firm located in Wilmington, Delaware. He worked closely with estimating and project management
gaining a broad view of the construction process.
Sean has spent the majority of his career at Chemelex specializing in Raychem brand heat trace, leak detection, and control systems for data centers. Offering application design assistance for industrial facilities, commercial buildings, and data center engineers and design build firms. His cumulative experience and expertise allows him to understand the entire construction process from conceptual design, through construction, and ongoing facility operations. Sean has designed heat trace and leak detection projects of all sizes while maintaining focus on total installed and operating costs and speed to project completion. The right design can minimize installation errors and wasted man hours while improving the overall reliability of the system for the end user.
Tom Cabral
Field Application Engineer
Chatsworth Products
Tom Cabral, RCDD, has worked in the telecom industry for 27 years and has been employed with CPI for 22 years, serving as a Regional Sales Manager, Product Application Specialist and now Field Application Engineer. Tom provides technical advice and design specifications on complex product applications and acts as a technical liaison with a high level of knowledge on product operation and performance. Tom graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Marketing and Business Communications from the University of Maryland.
Thomas Steen
Chief Technology Officer
Nortek Data Center Cooling
Thomas Steen is Chief Technology Officer at Nortek Data Center Cooling, where he leads engineering, product, and innovation for next-generation cooling solutions supporting AI data centers. He focuses on advancing air, liquid, and hybrid technologies to meet rising demands for performance, energy efficiency, and water use. With 15+ years of global engineering leadership experience, Thomas has led complex organizations across multiple industries, building high-performing teams and driving innovation, with more than seven patents and five published works. He previously held leadership roles at Honeywell, Ingersoll Rand, and GE Oil and Gas.
Lauton Rushford
National Flow Product Marketing Manager
Endress + Hauser
Lauton Rushford is the National Flow Product Marketing Manager, focusing on marketing activities related to the Flow Product line for Endress+Hauser USA. Lauton graduated from Purdue University in 2018 and holds a a BS in Nuclear Engineering. He has 5 years of experience at Endress+Hauser and began his career with the organization as an Inside Sales Engineer. In 2020, Lauton transitioned into a Regional Industry Manager role for the Midwest region, focused on the Water & Wastewater market where he worked with end users, engineering firms, OEMs and integrators promoting Endress+Hauser products. In 2023, he transitioned into his current role as National Flow Product Marketing Manager at Endress+Hauser USA.
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