Q&A with MCFI Vice President, Patrick Giangrosso

While you may have seen various coverage on some of our products and solutions, it’s the individuals on the MCFI team that make those solutions possible. Vice President Patrick Giangrosso is one of those individuals. From managing the implementation of our GENIUS solutions in addition to our full lifecycle solutions for data center infrastructures, Giangrosso has been an integral part of the MCFI team.

We pride ourselves on having the best of the best on our team, so we asked Giangrosso a few questions to shed light on his journey to MCFI and insight into the industry.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the journey that has led you to your current role as VP of MCFI?

A: I think it is the culmination of my many experiences since I graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree…many, many years ago.  I started as a commissioning engineer on 85MW gas turbines allowing me to gain valuable experience in power generation/self-generation.

From there, I went to Liebert in San Francisco for my first introduction to data centers and the data center market.  This was a great experience as it allowed me to meet and befriend some of the leaders in the data center industry during the early days.  Along the way, I was introduced to fuel cells and the “green” message; back before being green was cool.  It was during this time that I appreciated the need to be more mindful of our impact on the Earth. 

After many years back in the data center market, I was able to round out my experiences while running Coolcentric and then working for Jacobs.  Coolcentric was a perfect introduction for me to liquid cooling and the mechanical infrastructure of a data center, where I was able to gain a greater appreciation for mechanical systems.  Working at Jacobs rounded out my experiences, where I learned a lot about the engineering process that goes into the development of a data center, from conception to commissioning and operation.

It was the aggregation of these many experiences that has allowed me to bring value to MCFI. 

Q: What is your favorite part of being on the MCFI team?

A: My favorite part is working with a smaller, dedicated group of people that do what it takes to take care of the client. There is so much value in looking at what you can provide outside of a simple product or service. People are looking for so much more than vendor relationships. They want partners, advisors, and experts they can trust when solving their pain points. The MCFI team has built a great reputation for going above and beyond to utilize the totality of our team’s skills and experience to fill that role as a partner to our clients.

Q: Sustainability is a major focus for MCFI, which is evident in solutions like your GENIUS modular Data Centers. What is the driving force behind the development of more environmentally conscious solutions like these?

A: As the sustainability movement started to gain steam, we recognized an opportunity to offer a solution that eliminates one of the biggest contributors to environmental challenges; the diesel generator.  By replacing the diesel generator with a fuel cell, end-users will eliminate the nasty exhaust pollution from the generator along with the environmental hazards of storing diesel on-site.  We are looking to take this experience to our GENIUS Data Center solution by offering Fuel Cell backups and on-site power generation on a much larger scale. 

Q: What would you say is the most exciting aspect of these GENIUS solutions?

A: I think the most exciting aspect is the opportunity to deliver a more efficient, economical, and sustainable way to build data centers.I think one of the major barriers when it comes to adopting sustainable practices has been that many simply can’t afford it with their current budgets. Our GENIUS solutions eliminate that barrier, which I think is both important and exciting.

Q: What trends are you seeing in the industry that are you most excited about?

A: I am really excited about the increasing use of liquid cooling. I think this is a very important next step to driving more efficient data center operations. It’s great to see the industry taking additional steps toward a more sustainable future, and that starts with efforts like this. We believe that the use of liquid cooling in smaller, containerized data centers will allow clients to place higher density compute closer to what it is needed. Everyone seems to be on the same page about finding alternatives, and seeing some of those alternatives, like liquid cool, starting to make waves is exciting. 

Q: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

A: There are no problems, only challenges that give you the opportunity to make things better!

To connect with Patrick on LinkedIn, click here.

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