Ian Dardani Wins Best Poster at Meeting of Industry – University Cooperative Research Center

Ian Dardani and Prof. Aaron Wemhoff with Dardani’s winning poster.

Ian Dardani, a senior in the Mechanical Engineering Department, earned the award for Best Poster at the October 2012 Meeting of the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) in Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2). The poster, entitled "Analysis of Air Cooling Effectiveness for 1U Servers," features the work Ian performed during the summer of 2012 under the advisement of Dr. Aaron Wemhoff. The project was funded by a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Supplement to ES2 by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Ian's poster, judged by industry members from high-tech companies such as IBM, Facebook, Comcast, and Verizon, was the only undergraduate poster in a competition which featured 23 other posters created by graduate students from Villanova, Georgia Tech, Binghamton University, and the University of Texas at Arlington.

“The work I did with Professor Wemhoff over the summer was very rewarding,” said Dardani. “I gained skills and knowledge in an area that has tremendous importance to finding solutions to the growing challenges in the field of increasing energy efficiency in data centers. This award is an honor for which I am very grateful.”

The IUCRC brings together academic researchers and universities that have national reputations in this field and partners them with companies that are involved with data centers. The partner companies identify specific research problems they are seeking solutions for and work closely with the faculty and students. The knowledge gained from the research is shared with all of the universities and companies in the IUCRC. Companies also have the option of pursuing additional proprietary research with any of the academic partners. Ultimately, this industry - university collaborative advances the nation’s knowledge base in areas of growing importance and helps ensure students such as Dardani are prepared to become leaders in the field.