Did you know that as you type, more than half the electricity your computer consumes is simply keeping it cool? Jason Stevens, an alumnus of the Saïd Business School, has come up with a cool piece of technology to tackle this hot problem.
Stevens's new US-based company, Tarchia Inc, is building the CoreStalk Server System, made from a patent pending thermal and electrical design that includes new thermal materials and heat transfer techniques. CoreStalk technology is an efficient alternative to the high cooling cost, high density blade server systems in use today.
“Almost all computers need air conditioning – this alone eats up two per cent of energy usage in US,” says Stevens. CoreStalk will be one of the few technologies using both high and low power processor designs, managing to achieve this performance without the risks of leakage and condensation inherent to liquid cooled solutions, and without the use of air conditioning.
Ironic that Stevens came up with his idea while working in Russia in sub-zero temperatures. “I was in an office in Moscow, it was minus 20 outside and yet the computers were using air-con to keep them going,” says Stevens. He eventually moved to America to develop the technology, preferring Silicon Valley’s IT expertise and business infrastructure. But one of Stevens's former Russian employers became his investor, making Tarchia one of the first Silicon Valley companies to receive Russian angel investor money.
Stevens's long-term focus, however, is Russia and Eastern Europe where he sees a distinct view of business and a unique strand of emerging capitalism. “The balance of world power is going to shift and I believe countries like Russia are going to play much more of a world role,” he says. “If you want to be part of that you have to be there.”