GDCP Full Proposal - Final

Research, Development & Demonstration of A Highly Efficient Hybrid Cooling System for High
Ambient Temperature Data Centre

PI: Lee Poh Seng (NUS); Co-PI: Peter Chen (NUS), Chai Kah Hin (NUS);
Collaborators: Yogendra K Joshi (Georgia Institute of Technology), Chua Beng Wah (SIMTech),
Jonathan Hey (SIMTech), G. Rajendran (SJ Manufacturing), Lim Ching Kwang (A*STAR CRC),
Carlos Garcia Rodriguez (B Barcelona Consulting), Ng Yew Soon (DSTA)
FULL PROPOSAL
1. Objectives of the Research Project
Factors such as politico-economic stability and well-developed telecommunications infrastructure have

led to Singapore being the data centre hub of Southeast Asia and this industry is expected to continue to
grow strongly in the foreseeable future. Despite its economic value, data centres are a significant and
growing energy challenge especially under Singapore’s unique operating environment – one of all-year-
round high humidity and temperature, and limited access to renewable energy. To ensure a sustainable
growth of the industry, new capabilities must be developed to realize long-term energy efficiency. In
response to the Green Data Centre Programme Office’s Directed Call for Research Proposals in
Increasing Energy Efficiency of Data Centres in Singapore, the Centre for Energy Research &
Technology (CERT) at the National University of Singapore together with its partners are proposing the
Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) of A Highly Efficient Hybrid Cooling System for
High Ambient Temperature Data Centre that is smart, integrative and cost effective.
The proposed RD&D programme, if supported, will yield useful insights, new technologies and a fully
functional hybrid cooling system prototype which will be test-bedded at a data centre operating in
Singapore’s hot and humid climatic conditions thus paving the way for widespread adoption in Singapore
and the Tropics.
1.1. Specific Objectives
The proposed RD&D project addresses Domain Area 1 of Green Data Centre Programme Office
(GDCPO) Green Data Centre Research Grant Call 2015: Cost effective systems that operate reliably in
the temperature range of 40-45°C in high humidity environments to reduce the cost of cooling. This is
particularly important since on an average, 37% of the total energy consumed by data centres in
Singapore is used to cool IT equipment. The specific objectives of this work are:
• Improved temperature uniformity and reduced fan power via novel rack design
o Air-flow through the servers in a conventional rack can be maldistributed (due to sharp
bends along the flow path) leading to undesirable hot spots which compromise servers’
reliability and performance. This project will exploit novel rack design to modulate the
air-flow to achieve more uniform flow and temperature distributions, and reduced
pressure drop/fan power.
• Enhanced rack-level air cooling via novel high efficiency finned oblique tube heat exchangers
o Rear door heat exchanger does not require hot-aisle or cold-aisle containment or raised
floor configuration which makes it more compact and readily adopted. However, the
conventional finned tube design suffers from poor air side heat transfer thus limiting its
application. This project will develop a novel finned oblique tube heat exchanger which
has superior air-side heat transfer and hydraulic performance.
• Mitigation of hot spots in server by high performance microchannel cold plate
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o Hot spots can result in poor server reliability, performance, or even server damage. This
part of the project will develop a high performance microchannel cooling system that is
2-3 orders of magnitude greater than air cooling. The proposed microchannel liquid and
two-phase cooling technologies would be able to manage the heat from high heat flux
dissipating components and mitigate hot spots issue while maintaining a low temperature.
The focus of research would be on novel fin arrays (for single phase and two-phase
cooling) and novel multilayer manifold designs for flow zoning exploiting the design
freedom offered by various advanced manufacturing technologies including additive
manufacturing, liquid forging and powder injection moulding.
• Enabling high ambient temperature operations via highly efficient hybrid cooling system
o While operating data centre at a higher ambient temperature decreases cooling costs, the
high temperatures experienced by active components e.g. CPU, GPU and memory
modules, can compromise their reliability and performance. Although the internal fans in
servers can be rotated at higher speeds to try to manage the high temperature, it will
consume more energy and there is a physical limit on how much heat flux air cooling can
dissipate. This part of the project will develop a novel triple-fluid finned double-tube heat
exchanger which enables highly energy efficient hybrid cooling. The active electronic
components will be cooled using high performance liquid/two-phase cold plates while
other auxiliary components will be thermally managed by rack-level air cooling thus
supporting higher ambient temperature operations and significantly reducing the energy
consumption.
2. Description of Project
2.1. Approach
Air cooling is the industry standard for data centre thermal management as it is reliable, highly
compatible with electronics and easy to implement; also significant changes to the facility structure are
not required when mounting new electronics or redesigning certain compartments [1]. At the electronics
level, an air-cooled heat sink is typically placed over high heat flux components such as microprocessor,
while other low heat flux components are simply placed in the path of airflow [2]. However, the power
density and efficiency achievable by air cooling are limited. In particular, the entire facility must be
cooled in order to maintain the temperatures of electronics in specific locations at the required level thus
resulting in significant amount of energy being wasted [3]. Air cooled data centres are expected to prove
insufficient when data centre power density approaches 25kW per rack [4]. Therefore other high
performance cooling techniques, such as microchannel liquid and two-phase cooling systems, are now
being actively developed. For instance, GE [5], Asetek [6], Koolance [7], MicroCool [8] and Avid
Thermalloy [9] offer liquid cooling systems employing microchannel cold plate designs. While
microchannel cold plates have superior cooling performance, their simple internal fin designs can still
result in non-uniform temperature distribution and excessive pumping power especially in hot spots
locations. On the other hand, Green Revolution Cooling [10] and LiquidCool Solutions [11] use liquid
immersion cooling technology while Allied Control [12] uses two-phase immersion cooling. However,
the associated cost and complexity are significantly higher since the servers have to be immersed in large
pool of dielectric coolant. In addition, the servers are only accessible from the top which limits scalability.
To address the above-mentioned limitations associated with current state-of-the-art data centre thermal
management solutions, the CERT @NUS and Geogia Institute of Technology, SIMTech, SJ
Manufacturing, ACRC, B Barcelona Consulting and DSTA will jointly develop a highly efficient hybrid
cooling system which is smart, integrative and cost effective. Figure 1 provides an overview of the
proposed RD&D programme which begins with the parallel tracking of the following five innovations (1)
Novel rack design for better temperature uniformity and reduced fan power, (2) high efficiency finned
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oblique tube heat exchangers for enhanced rack level air cooling, (3) Novel high performance
microchannel cold plate for hot spot mitigation, (4) Novel triple-fluid finned double-tube heat exchanger
for highly efficient hybrid cooling system which enables high ambient temperature operations, followed
by (5) System integration, demonstration, test bedding and cost-benefits analysis of the developed cooling
solution under actual operating conditions.
Figure 1: Overview of the proposed RD&D project on “A Highly Efficient Hybrid Cooling System for
High Ambient Temperature Data Centre”
Task 1: Novel Rack Design for Better Temperature Uniformity and Reduced Fan Power (PS Lee,
Jonathan Hey, G. Rajendran)
• In data centres, the airflow through the servers in a rack is perpendicular to the direction of the
cooling air supplied to the racks from the floor or the ceiling. Therefore, the conventional rack
design could cause maldistribution in the airflow through the servers due to the need to make
sharp bends. This may even cause dead zones in the airflow domain and a non-uniform
distribution of the cooling air to the servers could cause overheating in some of the servers. In
addition, significant fan power is required to overcome the pressure drop associated with
navigating sharp bends.
Figure 2. Schematic view of CFD thermal/flow simulation on a server rack, visualizing the sharp
changes of the direction of the air flow
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• This project will exploit the novel oblique array formation within the rack (Fig. 3a) to modulate
the air flow and ensure a uniform flow distribution which in turn could reduce or eliminate the
dead zones. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) will be extensively utilised to numerically
evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed novel rack design in ensuring uniform distribution of
air flow to the servers. Attention will also be given to minimise the pressure drop through the rack
in order to lower the total fan power to supply air to the rack. Special attention will be given to
the different airflow characteristics of multiple devices such as inlet fans and outlet discharge-
free, air intake from the sides, outlet fans, etc. Computational model will be developed to
investigate the effects of position and speed of the fans on the air flow dynamics and the resulting
heat transfer in the server rack. The combined multi-scale fluid dynamics and heat transfer
analysis will be performed in a single model to achieve more realistic results. The model will give
estimates of the pressure loss and the amount of heat removed from the IT equipment for different
design configurations and layouts based on the oblique array formation. Model reduction
techniques will be applied in the analysis to derive reduced order model characterizing the most
dominant paths of heat transfer in the server rack. The reduced model will be used in the design
analysis to determine the critical design parameters e.g. the angle of the oblique array formation
and its effects on temperature uniformity. It could also be used as a predictive model of the air
flow and heat transfer for real-time control of fan speed to achieve more uniform temperature
while reducing the fan power consumption. Figure 3(b) shows the preliminary CFD simulation
results of airflow through the novel rack design.
(a) (b)
Figure 3. (a) Novel rack design (b) Comparison of air flows through the conventional and the
novel rack designs
• The temperature of an individual server (which is a function of its processing load) will be
monitored and used as a feedback to dynamically control the fan speed so as to deliver the
required air flow rate to maintain the temperature of that server under varying processing loads. A
novel control approach will be developed and implemented to optimize the airflow rates while
maintaining the desired temperature of the server. This control approach will be both predictive
and reactive (hereafter referred to as “preactive”). Under this proposed approach, the control
actions are determined by examining (i) the incoming patterns of service requests and the current
status of the request queue to predict the future CPU load (hence predictive) and (ii) the current
fan speed and the current load and temperature of the CPU (hence reactive). This preactive
control approach enables the algorithm that controls the speed of the cooling fan to avoid
unnecessarily running the fan at higher speed, thus optimizing energy consumption while meeting
the on-server cooling requirement.
• Prototype of the novel rack design will be built and tested in the lab to validate its performance
under controlled conditions.
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Task 2: Development of Novel High Efficiency Finned Oblique Tube Heat Exchanger (FOTHX) for
Enhanced Rack-level Air Cooling (PS Lee, Jonathan Hey, G. Rajendran)
• Rear door heat exchangers are used to perform rack-level liquid-to-air heat exchange. Typically,
circular tubes are used but as shown in Fig 3a, there are always large wake zones behind the tubes
which can significantly compromise the convective heat transfer. To address this problem, some
researchers changed the shape of the tubes from circular to elliptic. Wake zones become smaller
in elliptic tube design while effective heat transfer area increase. Also, the friction drag of the
elliptic tube design is lower due to smaller local acceleration effect by the smaller frontal area of
the oval tube. Overall, the heat transfer rate of the finned oval tube is 1.5 – 4.9% higher with a
lower pressure drop of 22 – 31.8% compared to the finned circular tube [14-15]. To further
enhance the performance, our patent-pending and multiple awards winning oblique structure [13]
will be adapted to enhance the air-side heat transfer thus resulting in a highly efficiency liquid-to-
air heat exchanger. In our preliminary study, by replacing circular cross-section tubing with
oblique-shaped one, the wake zones can be significantly reduced (refer to Fig. 4) leading to
reduced friction drag and enhanced cooling performance (refer to Fig. 5).
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 4: Temperature contour and streamline distribution of (a) conventional circular tube,
(b) elliptic tube and (c) oblique tube
finned circular tube
finned elliptic tube
2.4 finned oblique-shaped tube, θ = 30o, β = 15o, staggered
2.0
Q/P (W/W x 103)
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4
0.0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
air inlet velocity (m/s)
Figure 5: Comparison of the overall performance of the three finned tube heat exchangers
• Header design for uniform splitting of flow into multiple single-pass coil (versus the conventional
serpentine multi-pass coil) could significantly reduce the liquid-side pressure drop shall be
adopted. In conventional serpentine coils used as rear door heat exchangers, cool/ warm water is
forced to go through a long flow path along which high pressure drop is accumulated. The
splitting of the flow into multiple parallel paths results in significant shortening of the flow length
and lowering of the flow rate per tube. In addition, pressure drop due to sharp bends is eliminated.
As such, the total pressure drop and the associated pumping power for the water-side can be
significantly reduced. However, an issue with such multiple single-pass coil is that the flow may
not be uniformly distributed through all the channels. Hence, the novel header design will focus
on uniform flow distribution and lowest possible overall pressure drop.
• After the design and optimization of the FOTHX, prototyping and experimental validation will be
conducted.
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Task 3: Development of Novel High Performance Liquid/Two-Phase Cold Plate for High Heat Flux
Dissipation, Overall Pressure Drop Reduction and Hot Spots Mitigation (PS Lee, Chua Beng Wah)
• As different electronic components generate different amount of heat, it will be more energy
efficient to deploy different cooling techniques for different electronic components. Specifically
for active components such as CPU, GPU and DIMM, especially those used in high performance
computing (HPC) data centres, high performance thermal management techniques in particular
liquid cooling via cold plate attached to these active components can be used to effectively
control their junction temperatures below some set limits e.g. 85 or 125°C.
Multi-Layer Manifold Design for Flow Splitting/Zoning
• Microchannel cooling is one of the most promising high performance thermal management
techniques but the associated high pressure drop/pumping power requirement limits its
widespread adoption. One way to manage the pressure drop is to use a split-flow arrangement
over the conventional single-pass arrangement because of the reduced flow length and fluid flow
rate in each microchannel, both of which contribute to reduction in pressure drop as observed by
several researchers [16-19]. To further reduce the pressure drop/pumping power, we propose
using a novel multilayer manifold design for flow zoning. Such a flow zoning concept can also be
exploited for hotspots mitigation. Higher coolant flow rate can be used to manage hotspots (high
heat flux zones) but this flow rate could be unnecessarily high for lower heat flux zones, which
would result in wastage of pumping power. The manifold can be designed to distribute coolant at
different flow rates in different zones to match the heat load. Figure 6 is a simple demonstration
of this concept. The complete heat sink comprises three layers/levels. The bottom layer is the
conventional straight fin micro-channel and the other two layers work as a manifold which splits
coolant into different zones unevenly. Three levels of splitting and multiple outlet plenums
greatly reduce the length of the flow path thus contributing to significant reduction in overall
pressure drop. Assuming a hotspot exists in the right corner, as highlighted in Fig. 6, the manifold
is designed such that at every splitting stage, the channels leading to the hotspot is wider than
their counterparts to decrease flow resistance. With this manifold, the flow rate of coolant in the
hot spot region would be higher than that at low heat flux regions. Hence novel manifold design
can be developed to both mitigate hotspots and lower overall pressure drop/pumping power.
(a) (b)
(c)
Figure 6: Multi-layer manifold design for flow splitting/zoning, showing wider channels
leading to hotspot areas (a) isometric view (b) top view (c) side view
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Novel Fin Designs for Hotspots Mitigation
For Liquid Cooling
• Novel fin designs will be integrated into the cold plate with multi-layer manifold. Our research
group’s patent pending and multiple awards winning oblique fin structure is capable of flow
modulation which leads to periodic redevelopment of boundary layers that enhances the liquid
cooling performance by up to 100% [20] (refer to Fig. 7).
Figure 7: Cooling performance comparison between straight fins (conventional microchannel)

and oblique fins (enhanced microchannel).
• In addition, the oblique fin structure geometry (size, oblique angle, pitch) can be used to tailor the
local cooling performance for hotspots mitigation (refer to Fig. 8).
(a) Straight fins (b) Oblique fin with variable pitch

Figure 8: Local tailoring of oblique fin cooling performance for hot spot mitigation.
• These attractive attributes of the oblique fin structures will be exploited to develop a high
performance liquid cold plate for hot spot mitigation.
For Two-Phase Cooling
• Recent work on flow boiling in microchannels with tapered manifolds (encouraging buoyancy
driven flow) by Kandilkar et al. [21] has shown very promising results. For heat fluxes ranging
from 50 to 250 W/cm2, pressure drop for uniform manifold heat sink ranged from 90 to 155 kPa
while that for tapered manifold ranged from 5 to 12 kPa with the latter showing improvement in
heat transfer coefficient by about 22% over the former. This has led us to conceive of hybridizing
pool and flow boiling. During pool boiling, vapour forms at the bottom heated surface. It rises
due to buoyancy and fresh coolant is naturally pumped towards the heated surface without
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requirement of any external pumping power. To take advantage of this phenomena of buoyancy
driven flow, the manifold would be designed to resemble an inverted funnel as shown in Figure
9(a). This design would greatly reduce the requirement for the pumping power while
characteristics of a typical flow boiling loop would ensure that evaporated liquid is replenished
sufficiently and that the heated fluid can be transported to the condenser which may be located
away from the heat source.
(a) (b)
Figure 9: (a) Proposed microchannel flow boiling having feature of pool boiling, (b) Tapered
fin design
• Other salient feature is the novel fin configuration/design. Two configurations/designs have been
conceived, namely Tapered fin design and hybrid microchannel-microgap configuration.
• Tapered fin design: Tapered fin design is as shown in Fig. 9(b). Compared to normal flat fins, the
inclined side walls of the fins can provide quicker bubble slug formation and easy liquid access to
the surface. Kang [22] conducted experiments to investigate the tube inclination angle effects on
pool boiling heat transfer. Effects of inclination are quite significant and so is the distance
between the fins. When using FC-72 as the working fluid, Mudawar and Anderson [23]
discovered a non-interference gap of 0.6 mm between pin-fins, which is close to the bubble
departure diameter. To handle the heat dissipation of a data centre, tapered fins would also be to
address the hot spots’ mitigation. Variable tapered fin density structure can be tailored to enhance
the heat transfer performance in certain areas. Apart from the solid fin design, we are shall also
inculcate the advantages of porous structures. Li et al. [24] conducted nucleate boiling heat
transfer experiments and found that modulated porous structure exhibited excellent performance
for both the CHF and heat transfer coefficient. The advantages are attributed to the increased
heating surface, nucleation sites, enhanced liquid replenishment and the separated vapour/liquid
flow paths.
• Hybrid microchannel-microgap configuration: From extensive prior work in the group (such as
[25]), it was found that compared to micro-gap, microchannel heat sink facilitates better heat
transfer performance at low heat flux (See Fig. 10(a)) due to early establishment of slug/annular
flow. In contrast, microgap heat sink performs better at high heat flux due to confined slug and
annular boiling dominance and a delay in dryout phase. Hence, to combine the advantages of
both, the microgap as well as microchannels, a hybrid microchannel-microgap heat sink is
proposed as shown in Fig. 10(b).
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(a) (b)
Figure 10: (a) Boiling curve for microchannel and micro-gap heat sink [28] (b) Top view of
the hybrid heat sink showing the microchannel section in the upstream region and microgap
section in the downstream region
Advanced Manufacturing Techniques for Realizing Performance Cold Plates

• For cost effective manufacturing of the proposed high performance cold plates, SIMTech will be
exploiting their patented Liquid Forging (LF) technology (Figure 11(a)) as well as Additive
Manufacturing (AM) (Figure 11(b)). SIMTech’s liquid forging process know-how has been
established for Al heat sink size equivalent to 100mm x100mm through process simulation, die
design, process control and optimization. During the process, direct high pressure is applied onto
the molten metal until it fully solidifies. Finer grained and pore free structure in the heat sink are
thus obtained. In addition, compound liquid forging process can produce hybrid material system
for example Al-Al and Al-Cu. In case of Al-Al hybrid system, solid Al plate fin can be embedded
in the molten Al during liquid forging to create denser packed plate fins for higher surface area.
The high pressure in the process also provides good interface bonding which leads to a very low
thermal resistance. Cu can also be embedded in Al to form an effective thermal spreader in the
cold plate. In this study, Al 6063 alloy with thermal conductivity of 200 W/m.K will be used to
form the cold plate to achieve higher thermal performance.
(a) (b)
Figure 11: (a) Sample of multi material Al-Cu structure using LF technology, (b) Sample of
Ti structure with complex feature using AM
• Fully dense metal parts can be built in a variety of metals directly from 3D Computer Aided
Design (CAD) models using AM technologies (e.g. Selective Laser Melting and Electron Beam
Melting). Selective laser melting (SLM) is a laser-based 3D AM technology and Electron Beam
Melting (EBM) uses high power electron beam to generate the energy needed for high melting
capacity and high productivity. A thin layer of the powder material on the built chamber is
melted locally after illumination with a focused high-power laser or electron beam. The melt
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immediately solidifies and bonds to the substrate or previously processed layer. The AM
technologies can be used to fabricate near net shaped parts with very complex geometries. This
study, will also involve AM process development if non-standard metallic AM materials are used.
A better understanding of AM enabled design freedom will also be developed, which will lead to
the development of advanced topologies for design of highly energy efficient/optimal thermal
energy systems based on expected operating conditions and system requirements.
Task 4: Development of Novel Finned Double-Tube Heat Exchanger (FDTHX) for Hybrid Cooling
System which Enables High Ambient Temperature Operations (PS Lee, Peter Chen, Jonathan Hey, G.
Rajendran, CK Lim, Carlos Garcia Rodriguez, Ng Yew Soon)
• As mentioned in the previous sections, hybrid cooling can be used to handle the different heat
fluxes generated by different electronic components to achieve better cooling energy efficiency.
For active components which generate higher heat fluxes, liquid/two-phase cooling can be used
whereas for auxiliary electronic components which usually do not generate much heat, air cooling
is usually sufficient. The heat exchange for liquid/two-phase cooling, on the other hand, is done at
a centralized coolant distribution unit which exchanges heat between facility chilled water and the
coolant in the liquid/two-phase loop. In recent years, the concept of hot water liquid cooling,
which using water as hot as 40°C and exchanges heat with outside air through a dry cooler, has
received much attention due to its ability to capture between 60% and 80% of server heat which
can result in the reduction data centre cooling cost by over 50% and allowing 2.5x-5x increases
in data center server density [26, 27]. On the other hand, air cooling is usually done using CRAC
unit or rear door heat exchanger which exchanges heat between facility chilled water and the
room or rack-level air respectively. While hot water liquid cooling can be very efficient due to its
“free cooling” nature, chilling is still needed for the air cooling of lower heat generating auxiliary
components.
• To address this apparent contradiction, this project will develop a novel triple-fluid heat
exchanger, specifically a finned double-tube heat exchanger (FDTHX), which transfers heat
between supply water from dry cooler and server coolant, as well as between supply water and
rack air. Figure 12 shows a possible design of FDTHX which can be can be fitted to the rear of
the rack. The use of such a FDTHX will enable high ambient temperature operations and totally
eliminate the need for chilling and is truly free cooling.
• Similar to the FOTHX, appropriate header design will be used for uniform splitting of flow into
multiple single-pass coil to significantly reduce the coolant-side pressure drop and the associated
pumping power.
• Prototype of the FDTHX will be built and tested in the lab to validate their performance under
controlled conditions.
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(a) (b)
Figure 12: Triple-fluid rear door finned double tube heat exchanger: (a) 3D model, (b)
sectional view
Task 5: System Integration, Test Bedding & Cost Benefit Analysis (PS Lee, Peter Chen, Chai Kah Hin,
Jonathan Hey, CK Lim, Carlos Garcia Rodriguez, Ng Yew Soon)
• This task integrates the results from Tasks 1-4 to produce a highly efficient hybrid cooling
system, even though the data centre may be operating under high ambient temperature (refer to
Fig. 13). This is accomplished by two mechanisms. First, the proposed hybrid cooling method in
this system is able to maintain a much smaller temperature difference for the active components.
Second, advanced control and system management technologies will be used to enable the system
to operate with high efficiency. The second mechanism will utilize advanced machine learning
technologies to implements adaptive and dynamic cooling strategies suitable for Singapore
climate. This mechanism provides a full connection between the cooling system and the IT
equipment. Such an innovative interfacing makes possible an adaptive and predictive cooling
solution tightly coupled with the total IT usage. For instance, various parameters, such as fan
speed or set-point temperatures, etc., can be dynamically adjusted to meet the conditions of
prevailing or anticipated IT load. Consequently, IT jobs could be scheduled according to
measured and estimated weather predictions, so that less-critical but more energy-consuming
operations can be performed when the conditions affecting the facilities are more favourable to
the aim of increasing energy efficiency. Many sectors could benefit from this solution, especially
the cloud industry and the high-performance computing labs, since tasks and usage of their
platforms can be scheduled and predicted with high reliability and accuracy.
• A centralized pumping system would be used for delivery of coolant into each cold plate offering
multiple advantages over distributed pumping system or integrated pump-cold plate design. It
would require fewer pumps compared to a distributed system, as coolant is pumped through a
manifold/splitter prior to the inlet of individual CPU cold plates. At the outlet, the coolant would
be collected in an exit manifold/collector. This arrangement would save cost and space, especially
in server racks, where space constraint is one of the major issues. An added advantage is ease of
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maintenance, especially since it can be carried out outside the server unit, thus minimizing the
possibility of damage to sensitive components.
• Prototype of the hybrid cooling system will be built factoring considerations on manufacturability
and cost effectiveness.
Figure 13. Schematic diagram of hybrid cooling system.

• The last phase of the project will see the testbedding of the fully functional hybrid cooling
system. Test bedding of the hybrid cooling system will be conducted under actual data centre
operating conditions. Two combinations of cooling technologies will be tested using four data
centre racks filled with IT equipment. The configurations include novel rack design for raised
floor air cooling system, hybrid in-server hot coolant liquid/two-phase cooling and rack-level
cold air cooling based on the novel FOTHX and hybrid in-server hot coolant liquid/two-phase
cooling and rack-level hot air cooling based on the novel FDTHX.
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Figure 14 Schematic of the different configurations of the developed hybrid cooling system: (a) novel
rack design, (b) in-server liquid cooling and rack-level air cooling based on triple fluids heat exchanger,
(c) in-server liquid cooling and rack-level air cooling based on finned oblique tube heat exchanger
• A better understanding of the behaviour of the hybrid cooling system will allow key parameters
to be identified and fine-tuned to achieve optimum energy efficiency while meeting the required
reliability and performance requirements.
• In depth cost and benefit analysis over a variety of data centre set-ups to ensure economic
viability of the design. Sensitivity analysis through methods such as Monte-Carlo simulation will
be conducted on factors such as energy price, cooling demand and expected rate of return. The
economic performance of the proposed design will be compared with current industry
benchmark. A product technology roadmap will also be proposed to facilitate its introduction in
Singapore and other potential markets.
• Useful insights and performance benchmarks for the proposed hybrid cooling system that would
inform future policies and solutions for Singapore’s data centre industry and lead to deployment
in Singapore and the Tropics.
2.2. Novelty
The novelty of this proposed project arises from the four key innovations and their eventual integration to
form a highly efficient hybrid cooling system for high ambient temperature data centre :
• Novel rack design compared to conventional ones
o Uniform air flow distribution
o Reduced pressure drop and fan power
o Better temperature uniformity
• High efficiency finned oblique tube liquid-to-air heat exchanger for enhanced rack-level air
cooling
o Enhanced air-side heat transfer
o Header design for uniform flow splitting to significantly reduce the coolant-side pressure
drop & pumping power.
• High performance liquid/two-phase cold plate for in server cooling
o Novel fin and manifold design for single and two-phase cooling.
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o Local tailoring of cooling performance for effective hotspots mitigation
o Header design for flow zoning for hotspots mitigation and with lowering of pumping
power
o Cost effective manufacturing by Advanced Manufacturing techniques
• High efficiency finned double-tube heat exchanger for hot coolant liquid/two-phase cooling and
hot air cooling.
o Triple-fluid heat exchanger
o Totally eliminates need for chilling, i.e. free cooling
o Header design for uniform flow splitting flow to significantly reduce the coolant-side
pressure drop & pumping power.
• Highly efficient hybrid cooling system which enables high ambient temperature operations
o Air cooling of auxiliary components which do not generate much heat
o Liquid cooling of thermally active components like CPU, GPU and DIMM
o Cooling load on air-side can be reduced by as much as 50%
o Allows the use of high ambient temperatures as the highly efficient liquid cooling is able
to maintain a small temperature different for the active components
• Novel preactive control approach that deepens the fundamental contributions of this research
o Tight integration of the control actions for cooling with the current and the predicted load
of the CPU in order to optimize energy consumption in server cooling
3. Economic Potential and Other Contributions of Project

• The joint development, integration and test-bedding of the proposed Highly Efficient Hybrid
Cooling System for High Ambient Temperature Data Centre by CERT@NUS and its industry
partners, will ensure the solution is cost-effective and scalable and able to adequately address the
unique operating challenges in Singapore and the Tropics such as hot and humid climatic
conditions.
• Besides new technologies development, this project will yield useful insights for different levels
of electronic cooling systems for the Tropics that would inform future relevant policies and
solutions for cooling system and lead to widespread deployment.
• The close partnership with Geogia Institute of Technology, SIMTech, SJ Manufacturing,
ACRC, B Barcelona Consulting and DSTA will allow rapid commercialization and market
penetration of the developed data centre cooling system and technologies.
• The research group will conduct an in depth cost and benefit analysis over a variety of data centre
set-ups to ensure economic viability of the design. Sensitivity analysis will also be conducted on
factors such as energy price, cooling demand and expected rate of return. The economic
performance of the proposed design will be compared with current industry benchmark. A
product technology roadmap will also be proposed to facilitate its introduction in Singapore and
other potential markets.
• Refer to Annex D for description of Principles of IP framework which includes disclosure
agreement.
Contributions from Industry and Host Institution

• Collaborator Georgia Tech will contribute host visits from researchers working on this project to
its 1,200 sq. ft. Data Centre Laboratory. These visit of 3 months to 6 months duration will be used
for model validation activities (S$50,000).
• Collaborator SIMTech will contribute in-kind for manpower 0.3 FTE per year
(S$56,000X3yr=S$168,000), and manufacturing facility for the prototyping of the proposed
liquid and two-phase heat sink design (S$50,000).
14
• Collaborator SJ Manufacturing will contribute in-kind for Engineer’s time 0.2 FTE per year
(S$25,500X3yr=S$76,500), manufacturing facility for prototyping (S$80,000).
• Collaborator ACRC will contribute in-kind for Engineer’s time 0.2 FTE per year
(S$25,000X3yr=$75,000) and providing green data centre facility for demonstration & test
bedding of liquid and two-phase cooling technology (S$20,000).
• Collaborator B Barcelona Consulting will provide high-level advisory and guidance to the
research team on the data centre integration and compliance (S$50,000).
• Colalborator DSTA will offer their expertise and insights in data centre operations and
performance, in order to incorporate the proposed system into an operational data centre
(S$50,000).
• Host institution NUS will provide in-kind contributions in the form of PI’s and Co-I’s time 0.45
FTE per year (S$84,000X3yr=S$252,000) research scholarships for training of 1 PhD student
(S$200,000), usage of existing facilities & equipment and utilities (S$100,000) for conducting the
R&D phase of the project.
• The total industry in-kind contributions amount to $619,500 and total host in-kind contributions
amount to $552,000.
4. Deployment Potential in Singapore’s Context
• The main outcome of this RD&D project is a highly efficient hybrid cooling system for the data
centres operating under Singapore’s hot & humid tropical climate.
• The hybrid cooling system allows the use of high ambient temperature air for cooling of auxiliary
electronic components while highly efficient CPU cold plates is used to cool microprocessors and
DIMM allowing the significant reduction (by as much as 50%) of the cooling load on air-side
thus contributing leading to substantial energy & cost savings.
• The close collaboration with SIMTech will ensure the hybrid cooling system is designed for
manufacturability and will be cost effective while the test bedding at ACRC under actual data
centre operating conditions will demonstrate its deployability and help accelerate its adoption by
the data centre industry.
• The team will be working closely with its industry partner, SJ Manufacturing, to manufacture the
hybrid cooling system. In addition, SJ Manufacturing will facilitate the marketing and
commercialization of the developed system through its established channels e.g. showcasing it in
data centre exhibitions and tradeshows which are well attended by industry players.
5. Team
Lead PI:
Associate Professor Lee Poh Seng will be leading the project and in charge of Tasks 1-5. He has been
working on thermal management techniques, especially liquid/two-phase cooling and air cooling for the
past 16 years with numerous publications on advanced cooling and enhanced heat transfer. His expertise
in thermal management is very crucial for this project in fundamental researches of rack level air-side and
liquid-side enhancement and chip level micro/mini-channel design as well as overall system thermal
management.
Co-PI:
Associate Professor Peter Chen (Nationality: Canadian) has led academic and industrial research
projects in modelling, analysis and synthesis of control systems for the past 20 years, with extensive
experience in the areas of unmanned autonomous vehicles and automatic control systems. He will be in-
charge of the control parts in Task 1, 4 and 5. He has extensive academic and industrial experience in
15
modelling, analysis and synthesis of control systems, with strong expertise in the field of real-time and
supervisory control, with applications in the areas of thermal management and micromanipulation
Associate Professor Chai Kah Hin will conduct the in depth cost and benefit analysis as well as possible
product technology roadmap for the new technology (Task 5). A/P Chai’s teaching and research interests
are in the area of new product development as well as industrial energy efficiency. Previously he has
conducted case studies and a large scale survey on how energy efficiency barriers may be overcome in the
manufacturing sector. He is a committee member of the national working group on ISO 50001.
Collaborators
Professor Yogendra K. Joshi will contribute in providing inputs on the design of test bed and
prototyping activities. He directs the Data Centre Laboratory at Georgia Tech, which has for more than 12
years conducted extensive research in data centre air flow characterization and management, reduced
order modelling techniques, and multi-objective design of data centres..
Dr. Chua Beng Wah will contribute in the prototyping of the oblique fin cold plate using liquid forging
and/or additive manufacturing in Task 3. His 10 years’ research experience in the field of liquid forging
and powder processing technologies is essential for the realization of all novel designs including novel
heat sinks and cold plates.
Dr. Jonathan Hey will contribute to the design of the novel server rack and analysis of the internal air
flow and heat transfer. He is a research scientist with SIMTech working on providing thermal
management solutions for industrial systems. His research is focused on the optimal design, monitoring
and control of high power industrial systems. He has developed methods of model reduction for
modelling multi-scale thermos-fluidic processes for the purposes of real-time monitoring and control.
G.Rajendran will be participating in Tasks 4 and 5, working with researchers on the proposed design
and overseeing the prototype production. He has 10 years industrial working experiences in rack design
and manufacturing and combined heat and power system design. His current work involves the design of
data centre cabinet, cooling system and power supply system which are very helpful for the proposed
project.
Carlos Garcia Rodriguez will contribute to the research team with technical advisory services, mainly
during tasks 4 and 5, providing industry-related guidance to the actual research topics.
Lim Ching Kwang will contribute actively in system integration for Task 4 and Planning and conduct of
demonstration and test-bedding at ACRC for Task 5. He has been working in ACRC on HPC operation
and management for 14 years. His knowledge and practical experience will help in understanding the
application requirements of data centres, current industry standards and practices as well as in the
implementation of the integrated system.
Ng Yew Soon will assist in benchmarking the proposed system with the current technologies in the
existing operational data centres, and will consider adopting the system should the effectiveness of the
proposed system be proven.
The research team comprising of 3 RFs, 2 REs and 1PhD student will have monthly updates to sought
inputs and direction from the PI, Co-PI and collaborators. Quarterly reviews will be conducted to review
key milestones and to ensure that the team is on track with the schedule and to discuss strategy to
complete the project within allocated time if the team is behind schedule.
6. Project Management and Budget
16
6.1. Project Management
• The following plan is designed to ensure close interaction of relevant team members and to
increase the likelihood of success in our project.
• Principal Investigator, A/Prof. Lee Poh Seng, will oversee the entire RD&D programme and in-
charge of Task 1 to Task 5. A/Prof Lee is a heat transfer expert with 15 years of experience in the
area of single- and two- phase cooling and holds two US patents and 3 PCT applications.
• This programme, if supported, will hire a total number 5 research staff (3 RFs and 2 REs) who
will work closely with the Lead-PI, and 4 Collaborators to deliver on the 4 aspects of the
proposed hybrid cooling system. The division of labour is described under EOM of Section III
(A).
• Refer to Annex D for description of Principles of IP framework, which includes disclosure
agreement.
Possible technical risks:

• During the system integration, prototyping and test-bedding, possible technical risks are mainly
related to mechanical, for example, parts are not adequately tolerated to interface with each other.
All final parts should be checked for dimension tolerance, material compatibility and approved by
the PI.
• Risks in test bedding are, for example, electrical contact and corrosion to casing to loss of ingress
protection. Mitigation measures including grounding of the server rack and installation of
humidity sensor will be put in place. Another risk is the possibility of not being able to test the
developed technologies in an actual data centre because it might void the warranty of their servers
and interfere the normal operation of the data centre. Mitigation measures include setting up a
small lab research data centre with 4 racks of servers to demonstrate and derisk as well as
discussing with IDA to perform the test bedding at their Green Data Centre Innovation Hub.
• To ensure that the proposed RD&D project achieves the expected outcomes and deliverables, all
tasks will be executed according to the schedule outlined in the Gantt chart in section 5.4. The
team will have monthly updates to sought inputs and direction from the PI, Co-PI and industry
collaborator. Quarterly reviews will be conducted to review key milestones and to ensure that the
team is on track with the schedule and to discuss strategy to complete the project within allocated
time if the team is behind schedule.
6.2. Proposed Budget

Budget Category Description Budget(S$)
Expenditure on • 3 × RFs ($70k/year) × 3 years ($630,000) 960,000
Manpower • 2 × REs ($50k/year) × 3 years ($300,000)
(EOM) • Technician time: $10,000/year × 3 years ($30,000)
• 1 RF for Task 1, 1 RF for Task 2, 1 RF for Task 3 and 1 RE for
Task 4 and 1 RE for Task 5
A. Expenditure on • 4 × 42U/45U Racks (S$16,000) 844,368
New Equipment • 80 × Servers (S$523,336)
• 3 × Workstations for simulations (S$75,000)
• DAQ systems for lab setups (S$50,000)
• Control module (S$30,000)
• PC/laptop for 5 RFs (S$9,000)
• Pumps (S$15,000)
• Dry cooler (S$5,000)
17
• Fire detection and suppression systems (S$25,000)
• Sensors (Temperature sensors, flow meters, pressure sensors,
wireless modules for sensors, etc.) (S$40,000)
• Standalone Chiller System (S$56,032)
Other • Fabrication of lab-based prototypes (SS$150,000) 829,000
Operating • Prototyping and installation of hybrid cooling system
Expenses (S$150,000)
(OOE) • Materials (Al 6063 materials, metallic powders, insulation
materials coolants, PCMs.) (S$40,000)
• Piping, fittings and connectors (S$50,000)
• Facilities usage fees (S$50,000)
• Maintenance of equipment (S$50,000)
• Local conference/training costs (S$20,000)
• Conference & Travel (S$6,000/trip × 2 trips/year ×
3years=S$36,000)
• Electrical cable (S$3,000)
• Thermocouple extension and wires (S$6,000)
• Thermal tape (S$3,000)
• Adhesive and epoxy (S$3,000)
• Bolts and nuts (S$3,000)
• Piping insulation (S$3,000)
• Teflon tape (S$500)
• Tubing (S$3,000)
• Extension plug (S$500)
• Soldering station (S$1,000)
• Pipe cutter (S$500)
• Portable harddisk (S$500)
• Filters (S$3,000)
• Travelling and accommodation expenses of our oversea
collaborator (S$10,000/trip × 1 trip/year × 3 years = S$30,000)
• Oversea travelling and accommodation expenses of our
research group (S$10,000/trip × 1 trip/year × 3 years =
S$30,000)
• Cost of start plates, fixtures, gases, chemicals and post-
processing services are estimated at (S$50,000).
• Purchasing of simulation software license (S$48,000)
• Renovation work (S$95,000)
• (Expected unit cost per headcount per year = S$55,267)
Total Direct Costs (S$): 2,633,368
6.3. Justification for the proposed budget
Justification for manpower

This programme, if supported, will hire 5 research staff (3 RFs and 2 REs) in total, who will work closely
with the Lead-PI, Co-PI and Collaborator to deliver on the 5 tasks. The division of labour is 1 RF for
Task 1 (Novel Rack Design for Better Temperature Uniformity and Reduced Fan Power), 1 RF for Task 2
(Development of High Efficiency Modular Rear Door Air-to-Water Heat Exchanger for Enhanced Rack-
based Cooling), 1 RF for Task 3 (Development of Novel High Performance CPU Cold Plate for Hot
Spots Mitigation), 1 RE for Task 4 (System Integration to form Hybrid Cooling System which Enables
18
High Ambient Temperature Operations) and 1RE for Task 5 (Demonstration & Test Bedding). And we
also need one technician to help with the purchasing and maintenance of equipment, and help with the
setup of test table and test-bedding.
Justification for expenditure on new equipment

4 server racks (3 new configurations and 1 baseline configuration) will be installed in the data centre to
hold all the IT equipment and test the proposed hybrid cooling system. 20 servers each with 2U size will
be put in each server rack running at heavy load as the heat source. 3 workstations will be used in Task 1,
2 and 3 to conduct simulation work on the heat and mass transfer of air/ liquid/ two-phase cooling
processes. In lab based test setups, DAQ will be needed for measuring, storing and analysing the test data.
The running status of all components in the proposed cooling system will be controlled using control
system. PC/laptop will be necessary for RFs and REs for documentation. Equipment such as pumps and a
dry cooler are needed for test-bedding to supply warm water to the rear door heat exchangers, cold plates,
etc. Fire detection and suppression systems will be installed in the sealed racks as well as in the shipping
container. Many temperature sensors, flow meters and pressure sensors will be needed to monitor the air
conditions at the various key spots in the under-floor air duct, inside the racks and inside the container, to
monitor the liquid/ two-phase flow conditions in the in-server cooling system, cold plate, etc. wireless
modules for the sensors will be used to enhance the flexibility of the monitoring system. As there is no
access to facility chilled water, 2 x standalone chiller systems are needed to provide chilled water for the
rear door cooling system and for the hybrid cooling system in comparative experiments. None of the
abovementioned equipment is available in CERT.
Justification for other operating expenses

Operating systems for servers is needed so that applications can be installed and executed to simulate the
varying computational load of the individual servers. Prototypes of novel rack structure, novel heat sinks,
novel heat exchangers and novel cold plates will be fabricated. Test-bedding of the proposed cooling
system will be taken place in a small thermal insulated room with raised floor at a testing site with various
prototyping, retrofitting, decoration and installation work. For cost effective manufacturing of the cold
plates, air channels, manifolds and tapered fins, liquid forging technology as well as additive
manufacturing will be conducted which need metallic powders. Several racks and the whole container
will be fully insulated to prevent heat propagation. Extra coolants will be needed to extend coolants from
chiller to rear door of racks or coolant distributors. Pool boiling rack will need PCMs as working medium.
Piping, fittings and connectors will be used in experiments to build liquid loops, as well as in test-bedding
to provide water or coolant supply. In the test-bedding of the proposed cooling system, on-site testing of
existing data centre facilities at A*CRC using the proposed cooling technologies will be needed to help
assess the performance and optimize the designs which will generate facilities usage fees. Maintenance
and repair of equipment will be important to ensure the smooth development of the project. Local
conference or training courses will be taken by the research group to exchange research work and
experiences with local experts and learn professional skills needed in the implementation of the project. In
addition, the expenses on conference and travel shall be prepared for jointly meeting among the team
members and presenting research work in international conferences. Miscellaneous such as cables,
connectors, chargers, memories, etc. will be needed to implement the project. Travelling and
accommodation expenses of our collaborator Prof Yogendra Joshi from Georgia Institute of Technology
to visit our lab and participate in the research every year is needed. On the other hand, the research group
will also visit Prof Joshi’s lab which occurs oversea travelling and accommodation expenses. Start plates
and fixtures will be used in the fabrication of novel racks and lab based test setups. Gases, chemicals and
post-processing services are needed by the liquid forging process and additive manufacturing process.
Annual license for the simulation software, ANSYS will be purchased for the simulation work which will
be running on the servers. The outdoor unit of the chiller as well as the dry cooler will be placed at the
outside of the building. Consequently, renovation work is required to run the piping from the chiller’s
indoor unit and rack level heat exchanger which are housed indoor to the outdoor unit and dry cooler
19
respectively. Renovation work is also needed to raise the floor of our demonstration room for air cooling
testing.
6.4. Detailed project schedule
Research Milestones/ Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Deliverables Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Milestone1 –
Comprehensive
literature survey
Milestone 2 –
Numerical study on air
cooling with novel
rack design
Milestone 3 –
Numerical study on
novel rear door heat
exchanger
Milestone 4 –
Numerical study on
high performance CPU
cold plate
Milestone 5 –
Building of
experimental setup and
validation of numerical
models
Milestone 6 – Design
of preactive control
module for cooling
systems
Milestone 7 –
Optimization of
designs
Milestone 8 –
Integration of hybrid
cooling system
Milestone 9 – Test-
bedding/demonstration
Milestone 10 -
Preparation of final
report
7. Deliverables of Project
Upon the completion of this project, we expect to achieve the following outcomes & deliverables:
• Fully functional prototype of the proposed hybrid cooling system which is smart, integrative and
cost effective and will maintain the electronics at the required temperature limits while
significantly increasing the energy efficiency with a targeted PUE within the range of 1.2 to 1.3.
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• Design and operation guidelines for the proposed hybrid cooling system that would ensure the
highest possible energy efficiency improvements and facilitate its adoption in data centre industry
locally and overseas.
• 2-3 invention disclosures and 1-2 patents filed to protect the generated IPs.
• 6-8 international peer-reviewed journal publications and 6-7 papers in proceedings of
international conferences.
• Train and develop specialized manpower: 3 Research Fellows, 2 Research Engineer and 1 PhD
student, for Singapore’s data centre industry as well as to facilitate the transfer of the knowledge
and technologies to the local and overseas data centre industry.
21
Annex A: References
1. Ebrahimi, Khosrow, Gerard F. Jones, and Amy S. Fleischer. "A review of data center cooling
technology, operating conditions and the corresponding low-grade waste heat recovery
opportunities.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 31 (2014): 622-638.
2. Airedale International Air Conditioning Limited, Product Guide (Leeds: Airedale International
Air Conditioning Limited), http://www.airedale.com.
3. Fakhim, B., M. Behnia, S. W. Armfield, and N. Srinarayana. "Cooling solutions in an operational
data centre: A case study." Applied thermal engineering 31, no. 14 (2011): 2279-2291.
4. Fulpagare, Yogesh, and Atul Bhargav. "Advances in data center thermal management."
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 43 (2015): 981-996.
5. Stephen A. Solovitz, Ljubisa D. Stevanovic, and Richard A. Beaupre. “Microchannels Take
Heatsinks to the Next Level.” Power Electronics Technology, (Nov 2006): 14-19.
6. David Sickinger, Otto Van Geet, and Chris Ravenscroft, Energy Performance Testing of Asetek’s
RackCDU System at NREL’s High Performance Computing Data Center, Technical Report,
Denver, USA: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2014.
7. “Cooling 101: Cooling System Design.” Koolance. https://koolance.com/cooling101-system-
design
8. “Liquid Cooling Systems.” Microcool, Wolverine Tube. http://www.microcooling.com/
9. Kayvan Abbasi, Sukhvinder Kang. “Temperature depression under heat sources with cylindrical
contact thermocouples.” in ASME - InterPACKICNMM2015 conference, San Francisco,
California, USA, July 6-9, 2015.
10. Dhruv Varma, Oil Submersion Cooling for Todayʼs Data Centers: An analysis of the technology
and its business implications (Green Revolution Cooling), http://www.grcooling.com.
11. “Liquidcool Solutions Data Center Cooling.” Liquidcool Solutions.
http://www.liquidcoolsolutions.com.
12. “Immersion Cooling, 4000 X More Efficient at Removing Heat than Air.” Allied Control.
http://www.allied-control.com/immersion-cooling.
13. Lee, P. S. and Lee, Y. J., “An Enhanced Heat Sink”, PCT Patent Application No.:
PCT/SG2010/000169. (2010) Country filings in US, Germany and China
14. Han, Hui, Ya-Ling He, Yin-Shi Li, Yu Wang, and Ming Wu. “A numerical study on compact
enhanced fin-and-tube heat exchangers with oval and circular tube configurations.” International
Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 65 (2013): 686-695.
15. Jang, Jiin-Yuh, and Jyh-Yau Yang. "Experimental and 3-D numerical analysis of the thermal-
hydraulic characteristics of elliptic finned-tube heat exchangers." Heat Transfer Engineering 19,
no. 4 (1998): 55-67.
16. Kandlikar, Satish G., and Harshal R. Upadhye. “Extending the heat flux limit with enhanced
microchannels in direct single-phase cooling of computer chips.” In Semiconductor Thermal
Measurement and Management Symposium, 2005 IEEE Twenty First Annual IEEE, pp. 8-15.
IEEE, 2005.
17. Yang, Kaijun, and Chuncheng Zuo. “A novel multi-layer manifold microchannel cooling system
for concentrating photovoltaic cells.” Energy Conversion and Management 89 (2015): 214-221.
18. Ryu, J. H., D. H. Choi, and S. J. Kim. “Three-dimensional numerical optimization of a manifold
microchannel heat sink.” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 46, no. 9 (2003): 1553-
1562.
19. Sharma, Chander Shekhar, Gerd Schlottig, Thomas Brunschwiler, Manish K. Tiwari, Bruno
Michel, and Dimos Poulikakos. “A novel method of energy efficient hotspot-targeted embedded
liquid cooling for electronics: an experimental study.” International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer 88 (2015): 684-694.
22
20. Lee, Y. J., Lee, P. S. and Chou, S. K., “Enhanced thermal transport in microchannel using oblique
fins,” Journal of Heat Transfer, 134, no. 10 (2012): 101901.
21. Kandlikar, Satish G., Theodore Widger, Ankit Kalani, and Valentina Mejia. “Enhanced flow
boiling over open microchannels with uniform and tapered gap manifolds.” Journal of Heat
Transfer 135, no. 6 (2013): 061401.
22. Kang, M-G. “Effect of tube inclination on pool boiling heat transfer.” Journal of heat transfer
122, no. 1 (2000): 188-192.
23. Mudawar, I., and T. M. Anderson. “Optimization of enhanced surfaces for high flux chip cooling
by pool boiling.” Journal of Electronic Packaging 115, no. 1 (1993): 89-100.
24. Li, Calvin, and G. Peterson. "Experimental study of enhanced nucleate boiling heat transfer on
uniform and modulated porous structures." Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer (FHMT) 1, no. 2
(2010).
25. Alam, Tamanna, Poh Seng Lee, Christopher R. Yap, and Liwen Jin. “A comparative study of
flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in microgap and microchannel heat
sink and an evaluation of microgap heat sink for hotspot mitigation.” International Journal of
Heat and Mass Transfer 58, no. 1 (2013): 335-347.
26. Zimmermann, Severin, Ingmar Meijer, Manish K. Tiwari, Stephan Paredes, Bruno Michel, and
Dimos Poulikakos. “Aquasar: A hot water cooled data center with direct energy reuse.” Energy
43, no. 1 (2012): 237-245.
27. Kasten, Peter, Severin Zimmermann, Manish Tiwari, Bruno Michel, and Dimos Poulikakos. “Hot
water cooled heat sinks for efficient data center cooling: towards electronic cooling with high
exergetic utility.” Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer (FHMT) 1, no. 2 (2010).
23
Annex B: Curriculum Vitae
Principal Investigator: Associate Professor LEE Poh Seng
Current Position:
o Assistant Dean of Faculty of Engineering on Research & Technology, NUS, Singapore
o Deputy Director in Centre for Energy Research & Technology (NUS), NUS, Singapore
o Associate Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS, Singapore
A. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
o Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, USA, May 2007
o Master of Engineering (Mechanical), NUS, August 2001
o Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), NUS, August 1999
B. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
o 2015 – Present, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS, Singapore
o 2014 – Present, Assistant Dean, Research & Technology, Faculty of Engineering, NUS, Singapore
o 2014 – Present, Deputy Director, Centre for Energy Research & Technology, Faculty of Engineering,
NUS, Singapore
o 2012 – 2015, Adjunct Professor, School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong
University, China.
o 2015 – Present, Laboratory Supervisor, Energy and Bio-Thermal System Group, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
o 2007 – 2014, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS, Singapore
C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

o Lee, Y.J., Singh, P.K., Lee, P.S., Fluid flow and heat transfer investigations on enhanced
microchannel heat sink using oblique fins with parametric study, 2015, International Journal of Heat
and Mass Transfer, 81, pp. 325-336.
o Law, M., Lee, P.S., A comparative study of experimental flow boiling heat transfer and pressure
characteristics in straight- and oblique-finned microchannels, 2015, International Journal of Heat and
Mass Transfer, 85, pp. 797-810.
o Alam, T., Lee, P.S., Yap, C.R., A comparative study of flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop
characteristics in microgap and microchannel heat sink and an evaluation of microgap heat sink for
hotspot mitigation, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 58 (1-2), pp. 335-347.
o Lee, Y.J., Lee, P.S., Chou, S.K., Hotspot mitigating with obliquely finned microchannel heat sink-an
experimental study, 2013, IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing
Technology, 3 (8), art. no. 6469273, pp. 1332-1341.
o Fan, Y., Lee, P.S., Jin, L.-W., Chua, B.W., A simulation and experimental study of fluid flow and
heat transfer on cylindrical oblique-finned heat sink, 2013, International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer, 61 (1), pp. 62-72.
D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

o Tamanna, A. and Lee, P.S., Flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in expanding
silicon microgap heat sink, 2015, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 82, pp.1-15.
o Fan, Y., Lee, P.S. and Chua, B.W., Investigation on the influence of edge effect on flow and
temperature uniformities in cylindrical oblique-finned minichannel array, 2014, International Journal
of Heat and Mass Transfer, 70, pp.651-663.
o Law, M., Lee, P.S. and Balasubramanian, K., Experimental investigation of flow boiling heat transfer
in novel oblique-finned microchannels, 2014, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 76,
pp.419-431.
24
o Jin, L.W., Lee, P.S., Kong, X.X., Fan, Y. and Chou, S.K., Ultra-thin minichannel LCP for EV battery
thermal management, 2014, Applied Energy, 113, pp.1786-1794.
o Balasubramanian, K., Lee, P.S., Teo, C.J. and Chou, S.K., Flow boiling heat transfer and pressure
drop in stepped fin microchannels, 2013, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 67, pp.234-
252.
E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

o 2007-2010: PI, MOE ARF Tier 1, S$179,957, Enhanced Micro-channel Heat Sinks
o 2008-2010: Co-PI, MOE ARF Tier 1, S$179,713, Heat transfer Enhancement through Chaotic
Advection in Micro-channel Flow
o 2010-2014: PI, A*STAR PSF, PI, S$991,790, Stabilized Two-Phase Micro/Mini-Channel Cooling for
Effective Thermal Management of Next Generation Electronics
o 2012-2015: MOE ARF Tier 2, PI, Investigations on Microscale Transport Phenomena in Novel
Oblique Structures, S$655,335
o 2013-2014: PI, NRF POC, S$235,250, Stabilized Two-Phase Cooling for Effective Thermal
Management of Power Electronics
o 2014-2017: PI, NRF EIRP, S$1,233,000, Development of a Novel Oblique Fin Air-Conditioning
(OFAC) System
o 2014-2017: Co-PI, EWI IRIS, S$1,989,600, A Transformative Polymer-based Heat Exchanger with a
Modular Multi-Core System of Curved Microfluidic Channels Utilizing the Inherent Unique
Dynamics of Dean Vortices (THERMIC)
o 2015-2018: Co-PI, NRF EIRP, S$1,580,400, Development of Functionalized Aerogel for Treatment
of Indoor Moisture and Air Contaminants (FATIMAC)
F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

o Prof SK Chou (NUS, Singapore)
o A/Prof Peter Chen (NUS, Singapore)
o A/Prof Ho Ghim Wei (NUS, Singapore)
o A/Prof Chai Kah Hin (NUS, Singapore)
o Richard Zhang (Daikin, Singapore)
o Robson Tan (Nicae, Singapore)
o Daniel Ong (GreenKoncepts, Singapore)
G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

PhDs:
Lee Yong Jiun (2012), Karthik Balasubramanian (2013), Tamanna Alam (2014), Fan Yan (2015), Mrinal
Jagirdar (2015), Matthew Law (2016), Mou Nasi (current), Kong Xinxian (current), Pradeep Kumar Bal
(current), Wu Tianqing (current), Shi Zeng (current), Omer Bugra Kanargi (current), John Mathew
(current), Fahid Riaz (current), Siva Sai (current).
H. GRADUATE ADVISOR
Suresh Garimella, Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships, Goodson Distinguished
Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Director, NSF Cooling Technologies Research Center, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
25
Co-Investigator (2): Associate Professor CHEN Chao Yu, Peter
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS, Singapore
o Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics and Intelligent Control), University of Toronto, Canada,
July 1995
o Master of Applied Science (Computer Integrated Manufacturing), University of Toronto, Canada,
November 1989
o Bachelor of Applied Science (Mechanical), University of Toronto, Canada, July 1987
o February 2012- present, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS,
Singapore
o June 2006- January 2012, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS,
Singapore
o April 2000- June 2006, Assistant Professor, Bachelor of Technology Programme, Faculty of
Engineering, NUS, Singapore
o September 1997- March 2000, Research Fellow, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology
(SIMTech), Singapore
o February 1995-August 1997, Founder and Project Manager, Henyco Mechatronic Systems Inc.,
Canada.
o November 1994- August 1997, Research Associate, University of Toronto, Canada
o January 1990- July 1990, Systems Engineer, Philips (Singapore) Private Limited, Singapore
o June 1989- December 1989, Project Engineer, Automation Tooling Systems, Inc. (ATS), Canada
1. Samuel D. Marshall, Rerngchai Arayanarakool, Lakshmi Balasubramaniam, Bing Li, Lee Poh Seng,
and Peter C.Y. Chen, Heat exchanger improvement via curved microfluidic channels. Part 1: Impact
of cross-sectional geometry and channel design on heat transfer enhancement, ASME 5th
Micro/Nanoscale Heat and Mass Transfer International Conference (MNHMT2016).
2. Samuel D. Marshall, Rerngchai Arayanarakool, Lakshmi Balasubramaniam, Bing Li, Lee Poh Seng,
and Peter C.Y. Chen, Heat exchanger improvement via curved microfluidic channels. Part 2:
Investigation into heat transfer enhancement due to the dynamics of Dean vortices, ASME 5th
Micro/Nanoscale Heat and Mass Transfer International Conference (MNHMT2016).
3. Guan, G., Chen, P.C.Y., Peng, K.W., Bhagat, A.A., Ong, C.J., and Han, J., Real-time control of a
microfluidic channel for size-independent deformability cytometry, Journal of Micromechanics and
Microengineering, 22 105037, 2012.
4. Guan, G, Bhagat, A.A., Peng, W.K., Lee, W.C., Ong, C.J., Chen, P.C.Y., and Han, J., Size-
independent deformability cytometry with active feedback control of microfluidic channels,
International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (MicoTAS 2011),
Seattle, USA, October 2-6, 2011.
1. Du, Herath, Wang, Wang, Asada, and Chen, Three-dimensional characterization of mechanical
interactions between endothelial cells and extracellular matrix during angiogenic sprouting.
Scientific Reports, 2016.
2. Herath, Du, Shi, Kim, Wang, Wang, Van Vliet, Asada, and Chen, Quantification of magnetically
induced changes in ECM local apparent stiffness. Biophysical Journal, 2014.
3. Zhou, Chen, and Ong, Force control of a cellular tensegrity structure with model uncertainties and
partial state measurability. Asian Journal of Control, 2014.
26
4. Herath, Du, Wang, Wang, Liao, Asada, and Chen, Characterization of uniaxial stiffness of
extracellular matrix embedded with magnetic beads via bio-conjugation and under the influence of
an external magnetic field. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2014.
5. Guan, G., Wu, L., Bhagat, A.A., Li, Z., Chen, P.C.Y., Chao, S., Ong, C.J., and Han, J., Spiral
microchannel with rectangular and trapezoidal cross-sections for size based particle separation.
Scientific Reports, Vol. 3, Article 1475, 2013.
6. Warkiani, M.E., Guan, G., Khoo, B.L., Lee, W.C., Bhagat, A.A., Tan, D.S.W., Lim, W.T., Lee, S.C.,
Chen, P.C.Y., Lim, C.T., Han., J., Slanted spiral microfluidics for the ultra-fast, label-free isolation
of circulating tumor cells, Lab on Chip, 2013.
o PI, A Transformative Polymer-based Heat Exchanger with a Modular Multi-Core System of Curved
Microfluidic Channels Utilizing the Inherent Unique Dynamics of Dean Vortices (THERMIC), EWI
IRIS, Awarded, S$1,989,600, Years of support: 3 years, Expiry date of 20/11/2017
o Co-PI, Adaptation of a Task-Oriented Workcell, A*Star / Industrial Robotics Programme, Awarded,
S$605,096, Years of support: 3 years, Expiry date of 31/08/2016
o PI, Research, Effectively Simultaneous Localized Manipulation of Multiple Magnetic Particles,
A*Star / Public Sector Fund, Awarded, S$337,200, Years of support: 3 years, Expiry date of
31/01/2016
o PI, ARMCON: An Assistive Ramp-Merging Control System for Dense Traffic Management, A*Star /
The 11th Singapore-China Joint Research Programme, Awarded, S$291,600, Years of support: 3
years, Expiry date of 31/04/2018
o Dr. Harry ASADA, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA
o Dr. Jongyoon HAN, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, USA
o Dr. LIAO Kin, Professor and Chair (Interim), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa
University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
o Dr. WANG Qing Guo, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National
University of Singapore, Singapore
o Dr. YANG Daiwen, Professor, Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore,
Singapore
o Dr. CHEN I-Ming, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
o Dr. GE Ruowen, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Science, National University of
Singapore, Singapore
o Dr. LIN Wei, Senior Scientist, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech),
Singapore

Master Eng, 2004: CHUA Kian Ti, CHENG Zhaolin, NGOO May Jin, QIAN Lin.
Ph.D. 2007: LU Zhe.
ph.D. 2012: WAN Jie, NAM Joo Hoo, Seyed Masood DEHGHANBANADAKI.
Ph.D. 2013: GUANG Guofeng.
Ph.D. 2014: ZHOU Shengfeng, Sahan Christie Bandara HERATH.
Ph.D. 2015: DU Yue.
H. GRADUATE ADVISOR
James K. Mills, Professor , Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto.
Beno Benhabib, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto.
27
Co-Investigator (2): Associate Professor CHAI Kah Hin
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Associate Professor, Deputy Head, Division of Engineering and Technology Management (primary
appointment)
Associate Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (secondary appointment)
o PhD in International Manufacturing, University of Cambridge (2000)
o M.Eng in Manufacturing Management, University of South Australia (1996)
o BEng (1st Class Honours) in Electrical Engineering, University of Technology Malaysia (1992)
Dr Chai Kah-Hin holds a joint appointment at the Industrial & Systems Engineering Department and at
the Engineering & Technology Management Division, National University of Singapore (NUS). He
received his PhD degree from Cambridge University (supervised by Prof. Mike Gregory) in the area of
international manufacturing. He has a Master Degree in Manufacturing Management from University of
South Australia, and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from University of Technology Malaysia. His
work experience includes management consulting (with Deloitte Consulting, 2000-2001) and
semiconductor manufacturing (Motorola Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 1992-1996). His work appears in journals
such as Journal of Product Innovation Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management,
Technovation, Journal of Service Research, European Journal of Operational Research, International
Journal of Service Industry Management, and Managing Service Quality. Dr. Chai is an editorial board
member for several international journals, including IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management,
Journal of Service Management, and Managing Service Quality. His current research interests include
industrial energy efficiency, new product/service development and knowledge management.

1. Chai KH and C Baudelaire (2015), Understanding the energy efficiency gap in Singapore – A
Motivation, Opportunity and Ability perspective, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 100, pp. 224-
234
2. Chai KH and C Yeo (2012), Overcoming energy efficiency barriers through systems approach - A
conceptual framework, Energy Policy, Vol. 46, July, pp. 460-472
3. Chai, KH., Q. Wang, M. Song, J. Halman and A. Brombacher (2012), "Understanding competencies
in platform-based product development: antecedents and outcomes". Journal of Product Innovation
Management, Vol. 29, No. 3., pp. 452-472
4. Ang, BW and K.H. Chai (2012). Energy efficiency. Encyclopedia of Environmetrics, 2nd edition.
5. Chai KH and Y Xin (2006), The Application of New Product Development Tools in Industry: The
Case of Singapore, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol 53, No 4, pp. 543 - 554
1. Chai KH and J. Nebus (2012), "Personalization or Codification? A Marketing Perspective to

Optimize Knowledge Reuse Efficiency", IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 59,
No. 1, pp.33-51
2. Chai, KH and X. Xin (2012), "Understanding design research: A bibliometric analysis of Design
Studies (1996-2010)", Design Studies, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 24-43
3. Chong, D., W. van Eerde, C. Rutte and KH Chai (2012), "Bringing Employees Closer: How
Effective is Proximity on Communication when Teams Function under Time Pressure?". Journal of
Product Innovation Management, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 205-215
28
4. Lin J, K H Chai, Y S Wong and A. Brombacher (2008), "A Dynamic Model for Managing
Overlapped Iterative Product Development", European Journal of Operation Research, Vol. 185, No.
1, pp 378-392
5. Chai K H, J Zhang and K C Tan (2005), “A TRIZ-Based Method for New Service Design”, Journal
of Service Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 48-66
6. Chai K H, M Gregory and Y J Shi (2004), “An exploratory study of inter-firm process innovation
transfer in Asia”. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 364-373
7. mechanisms”. International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 703-727

Principal investigator or Co-Principal Investigator of the following recent/current research projects:
1. Development of a Novel Oblique Fin Air-Conditioning (OFAC) System, Funded by the Building and
Construction Authority
2. Impacts of IMO Technical and Operational Energy Efficiency Measures on Singapore Registered
Ships, Funded by Singapore Maritime Institute
3. Singapore Fifth Fuel: Current Status and Realizing the Potentials of Industrial Energy Efficiency
(2009-2012). Funded by the Energy Studies Institute.

In the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, NUS: Prof ANG Beng Wah, Others: Prof.
Michael Song (University of Missouri at Kansas City) Prof. Aarnot Brombacher (Technical University of
Eindhoven), Prof. Johannes Halman (University of Twente), Ms. Catrina Yeo (Energy Studies Institute),
Dr. Alan Pilkington (Royal Holloway College, University of London), Dr. Jim Nebus (Suffolk
University).

PhDs:
Lin Jun (2008), Wang Xiaoyag (2008), Foong Hing Wih (2009), Wang Qi (2010), Chong Sau Foong
Darrel (2010), Tavernier Yvain Philippe Joseph (2010), Ang Choon Keat (2012), Ding Yi (2013), Jin
Dayu (2013), Liu Wenting (2014), Liu Hongmei (2014), Tong Wen Hao (2015), Wang Bo (current)
M.Engs:
Anselme Le Van (2007), Xing Yufeng (2008), Shabnam Hajizamanali (2008), Rourgier Loic (2009), Mu
Shifeng (2009), Ng Eng Peng Calvin (2009), Chang Hongling (2009), Yeo Kar Ling Catrina (2012), Xin
Yan (2013), Clement Bruno Baudelaire (2014), Kamalakannan S/O Soundararajan (current), Li Xiatong
(current)
H. GRADUATE ADVISOR
Sir Mike Gregory, Professor and Head, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge.
29
Collaborator (1): Professor Yogendra Kumar Joshi
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Professor in Georgia Institute of Technology;
John M. McKenney and Warren D. Shiver Distinguished Chair.
o Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
PA. (1984)
o M.S., Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY. (1981)
o Tech., Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. (1979)
o May 2004-Present: JOHN M. MCKENNEY AND WARREN D. SHIVER DISTINGUISHED
CHAIR, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
o May 2003-June 2007: ASSOCIATE CHAIR FOR GRADUATE STUDIES, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
o August 2001-Present: PROFESSOR, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
o August 1999-July 2001: PROFESSOR, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
o August 1993-July 1999: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland.
o July 1990-July 1993: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey,
California.
o March 1986 - June 1990: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey,
California.
o September 1984 - December 1985: ADVANCED MECHANICAL ENGINEER, K&S Industries,
Inc., Horsham, Pennsylvania.

1. Arghode, Vaibhav K., and Yogendra Joshi. Air Flow Management in Raised Floor Data Centers.
Springer, 2015.
2. Arghode, Vaibhav K., and Yogendra Joshi. "Room Level Modeling of Air Flow in a Contained Data
Center Aisle." Journal of Electronic Packaging 136, no. 1 (2014): 011011.
3. Ghosh, Rajesh, and Yash Joshi. "Proper orthogonal decomposition-based modeling framework for
improving spatial resolution of measured temperature data." Components, Packaging and
Manufacturing Technology, IEEE Transactions on 4, no. 5 (2014): 848-858.
4. Joshi, Yogendra, and Pramod Kumar, eds. Energy efficient thermal management of data centers.
Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.
5. Samadiani, Emad, Yogendra Joshi, and Farrokh Mistree. "The thermal design of a next generation
data center: a conceptual exposition." Journal of Electronic Packaging 130, no. 4 (2008): 041104.
1. Arghode, Vaibhav K., Pramod Kumar, Yogendra Joshi, Thomas Weiss, and Gary Meyer. "Rack
level modelling of air flow through perforated tile in a data center." Journal of Electronic Packaging
135, no. 3 (2013): 030902.
2. Samadiani, Emad, Yogendra Joshi, Hendrik Hamann, Madhusudan K. Iyengar, Steven Kamalsy, and
James Lacey. "Reduced order thermal modelling of data centers via distributed sensor data." Journal
of heat transfer 134, no. 4 (2012): 041401.
30
3. Li, G., Mian Li, Shapour Azarm, Jeffrey Rambo, and Yogendra Joshi. "Optimizing thermal design of
data center cabinets with a new multi-objective genetic algorithm." Distributed and Parallel
Databases 21, no. 2-3 (2007): 167-192.
4. Rambo, Jeffrey, and Yogendra Joshi. "Convective transport processes in data centers." Numerical
Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications 49, no. 10 (2006): 923-945.
5. Rambo, Jeffrey, Graham Nelson, and Yogendra Joshi. "Airflow Distribution through Perforated Tiles
in Close Proximity to Computer Room Air-Conditioning Units." ASHRAE Transactions 113, no. 2
(2007).

1. Nil.

A. Bar-Cohen, A. Srivastava (U-Maryland); A. Fedorov, M. Yoda, P. Kohl, J. Meindl, M. Bakir, K.
Schwan, S. Sitaraman, S. Yalamanchili, Z. Zhang, S. Kumar, S. Graham (Georgia Institute of
Technology); W.P. King (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); B. Sammakia (Binghamton
University); G. Refai-Ahmed (AMD); H. Hamann (IBM Corporation).

Ph.D. Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows (23):
Drs. V. Arghode, P. Kumar, D. Gerlach, Y. Kim, Qinghua Wang, S.I. Haider and O. Suzuki; E. Cruz, X.
Han, Z. Wan, S. Cho, J. Athavale, P. Asrar, (all current graduate students);
V. Sahu, S. Narayanan, C. Green, A. Sinha, E. Samadiani, R. Khiabani, B. Barabadi, A. Sathyanarayana,
A. McNamara, R. Ghosh (graduated students within the past 48 months)
H. GRADUATE ADVISOR
B. Gebhart (U-Penn; deceased).
31
Collaborator (2): Chua Beng Wah
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Group Head of Forming Technology Group
Metal & Ceramic Team Leader, Forming Technology Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing
Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
A. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
o Ph.D. in Engineering (Mechanical), NUS, Jan 2006
o Master of Engineering (Mechanical), NUS, Aug 2000
o Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), NUS, Aug 1998
o 2015-Present, Group Head, Forming Technology Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing
Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
o 2013-Present, Scientist III, Metal & Ceramic Team leader, Forming Technology Group, Singapore
Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
o 2010-2013, Scientist II, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
o 2008-2010, Scientist I, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
o 2006-2008, Research Engineer, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR,
Singapore
C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

1. Y. Fan, P. S. Lee, B. W. Chua, “Investigation on the Influence of Edge Effect on Flow and
Temperature Uniformities in Cylindrical Oblique-Finned Minichannel Array”, International Journal
of heat and mass transfer, Nov 2013
2. Y. Fan, P. S. Lee, L. W. Jin, B. W. Chua, D. C. Zhang, “A Parametric Investigation of Heat Transfer
and Friction Characteristics in Cylindrical Oblique Fin Minichannel Heat Sink”, International
Journal of heat and mass transfer, Oct 2013

1. F Li, W Y Peh, V Nagarajanb, M K Ho, D Atsushi, M J Tan, B W Chua, “Development of non-
flammable high strength AZ91+Ca alloys via liquid forging and extrusion”, Materials & Design
(2016) pp. 37-43
2. J. Liu, M J Tan, Y A Lan, M L Guo, S. Castagne, B W Chua, “Superplastic-like forming of Ti-6Al-
4V alloy”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Nov 2013, Volume
69, Issue 5, pp 1097-1104
3. J. Liu, M J Tan, C S V Lim, B W Chua, “Process optimization and microstructural development
during superplastic-like forming of AA5083”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology, Dec 2013, Volume 69, Issue 9, pp 2415-2422
4. C.S. Goh, K.S. Soh, P.H. Oon, B.W. Chua, “Effect of squeeze casting parameters on the mechanical
properties of AZ91–Ca Mg alloys”, Materials & Design, Volume 31, Supplement 1, June 2010,
Pages S50-S53
E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS:

o Nil.
o ETPL
32
o 1 PhD – NUS
o 2 PhD, 8 FYP, 3 Masters – NTU
H. GRADUATE ADVISORS
o Nil
33
Collaborator (3): Jonathan Hey
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Research Scientist, Mechatronics Group,
Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
A. A. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
o Ph.D. in Engineering (Mechanical), Imperial College London, May 2014
o Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), NTU, Aug 2008
B. B. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
o 2014-Present, Scientist I, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR, Singapore
o 2008-2009, Research Engineer, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR,
Singapore

1. J. Hey, A. C. Malloy, R. Martinez-botas, and M. Lamperth, “On-line monitoring of electromagnetic
losses in an electric motor indirectly through temperature measurement,” IEEE Transactions on
Energy Conversion, In Press, 2016. doi: 10.1109/TEC.2016.2562029
2. J. Hey, A. C. Malloy, R. Martinez-botas, and M. Lamperth, “Conjugate heat transfer analysis of an
energy conversion device with an updated numerical model obtained through inverse identification,”
Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 94, pp. 198–209, 2015. doi:
10.1016/j.enconman.2015.01.065
3. J. Hey, A. Malloy, R. Martinez-Botas and M. Lamperth, “Experimentally Determined Thermal
Parameters of an Energy Conversion Device Using a Constraint Least Square Parameter Estimation
Method Coupled with an Analytical Thermal Model,” 15th International Heat Transfer Conference
(IHTC-15), Kyoto, Aug 2014
4. J. Hey, T. J. Teo, V. P. Bui, G. Yang and R. Martinez-Botas, "Electromagnetic actuator design
analysis using a two stage optimization method with coarse-ne model output space mapping," IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 61, no. 10, pp. 5453-5464, 2014. doi:
10.1109/TIE.2014.2301727.
5. J. Hey, C. M. Kiew, G. Yang and R. Martinez-Botas, "Model based compensation of thermal
disturbance in a precision linear electromagnetic actuator," IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, vol.
19, no. 5, pp. 1477-1488, 2014. doi: 10.1109/TMECH.2013.2284967.

o Nil

o Nil

o Dr. Ricardo Martinez-Botas, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College
London, U.K.
o Dr. Alessandro Romagnoli, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Department, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
34
o Dr. Liu Yong, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore

o Ph.D. : Mr. Fabrizio Cola (ongoing), Mr. Lu Xiaofeng (ongoing)
o Masters: Mr. Pierluigi Nichilo (2016)
o Undergraduate: Mr. John Yang (2016), Mr. Xavier Tan (2016)
o Interns: Mr. Xie Xian (2015), Mr. Zhou Xian (2015)
o Dr. Ricardo Martinez-Botas, Professor of Turbomachinery, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Imperial College London, U.K.
35
Collaborator (4): G. Rajendran
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Assistant Sales Manager, SJ Manufacturing (2003) Pte Ltd
GCE A Levels. (1975)
CCNA Certified
o 1978 – 2016: Total Work Experience
o 2007 – 2016: Experience in Rack Industry

1. Nil
1. Nil

1. Nil

Nil

Nil
H. GRADUATE ADVISOR
Nil
36
Collaborator (5): Lim Ching Kwang
___________________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Deputy Director, Operations Group, Institute of High Performance Computing, A*CRC, Singapore
o Master of Engineering (Mechanical), NUS, 1999
o Postgraduate Diploma (Computing Technology), NUS, 1991
o Bachelor of Engineering (2nd Class Honours), NUS, 1985
o 2010-2016, Deputy Director, Operations Group, A*STAR Computational Resource Centre
o 2008-2009, Senior Systems Manager, Operations Group, A*STAR Computational Resource
Centre
o 2001-2007, Centre Manager, HPC Resource Centre, Institute of High Performance
Computing
o 1997-2001, Systems Manager, CAE/CAD/CAM Centre, NUS
o 1995-1997, Principal Systems Engineer, CAE/CAD/CAM Centre, NUS
o 1993-1995, Senior Systems Programmer, CAE/CAD/CAM Centre, NUS
o 1988-1993, Systems Programmer, National University of Singapore (NUS)
o 1986-1988, Software Application Engineer, Intergraph SEA Pte Ltd
o 1985-1986, Planning Engineer, Singapore Automotive Engineering

o Nil

6. Published a paper on “Object-Oriented Approach in Design for Lift Installation of Offshore
Structures” in International Journal of Microcomputers in Civil Engineering, 10 (1995),
199-212.

o Nil

o Nil

o Nil
o Nil
37
Collaborator (6): Carlos Garcia Rodriguez
_____________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Associate Director, B Barcelona Consulting Pte. Ltd., Singapore.
o Master of Engineering (IT), UPF, Barcelona (Spain), 2008.
o Bachelor of Engineering (IT), UPF, Barcelona (Spain), 2006.
o 2014-2016, Associate Director, B Barcelona Consulting.
o 2010-2014, Senior Consultant, BGC Arquitectura i Enginyeria (Spain).
o 2008-2010, Consultant, BGC Arquitectura i Enginyeria (Spain).

o Nil

o Nil

o Nil

o Nil

o M.Eng 2015: Laura Orpinell Palacio (UPC – Barcelona, Spain).
o M.Eng 2015: Isaïes Taboas (UPC – Barcelona, Spain).
o M.Eng 2014: Marc Pi Romeu (UPC – Barcelona, Spain).
o Nil
38
Collaborator (7): Er. NG YEW SOON
_____________________________________________________________________
Current Position:
Head (Mechanical), Defence Science And Technology Agency (DSTA).
o Master of Science in Operations Research (Distinction) from the Temasek Defence Systems
Institute, US Naval Postgraduate School, 2003.
o Master of Science in Defence Technology and Systems from the Temasek Defence Systems
Institute, National University of Singapore, 2002.
o Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering (First Class Honours) from the Nanyang
Technological University, 1996.
o Jun 1996-present, Head (Mechanical), Defence Science And Technology Agency (DSTA).

o Seawater Cooling and Thermal Storage in the New Naval Base Development in Singapore, IES
Journal.
o Performance Optimisation of the Central Sea-water Cooling System in Changi Naval Base, DTG
Technology Seminar.
o Innovative Approach to Energy Efficient Buildings Doorways to Energy Efficient Buildings
Seminar, BCA.
o Indirect Seawater Cooling and Thermal Storage System in Changi Naval Base (CNB), DSTA
Horizon.

o Rainwater Collecting System For High-Rise Residential Building, B. Eng (Mechanical).
o Optimizing A Military Supply Chain In The Presence Of Random, Non-Stationary Demands,
MSc(Defence Technology & Systems) and MSc(Operations Research).

o Nil

o Nil

o Nil
39
o Nil
40
Annex C – Letters of Support 1 – SIMTech
41
Annex C – Letters of Support 2 – SJ Manufacturing
42
Annex C – Letters of Support 3 – A*CRC
43
Annex C – Letters of Support 4 – B Barcelona Consulting
44
Annex C – Letters of Support 5 – DSTA
45
Annex D – Principles of IP Framework
General Principles
1) During every project discussion with industry, ILO representative will be present to discuss IP terms
and mode of collaboration.
2) IP ownership is based on inventive contribution – for instance, if there are 2 industry inventors and 1
NUS inventor, then the ratio is 2:1. NUS owns 1/3 of the IP and the industry, 2/3. If industry wishes
to license, he will have to license NUS’s 1/3 share only (in this scenario).
3) Industry has option to negotiate for an exclusive license.
4) There is entrepreneurship ecosystem e.g. there are incubation facilities and students/staff who are
open to have spin-offs to de-risk for the industry/MNCs. Students have the option to go for NUS
Overseas College (NOC) that trains them for start-ups.
Specifically for CERT

• Dr Rendy Tan of ILO is assisting CERT with Business Development and since he is from ILO, CERT
members will have quick and direct access to mode of working with industry, IP matters.
• CERT has intelligence on the latest in market so that any suitable technology can be implemented.
46

GDCP Full Proposal - Final

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GDCP Full Proposal - Final

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Research, Development & Demonstration of A Highly Efficient Hybrid Cooling System for High

Ambient Temperature Data Centre

1. Objectives of the Research Project

Factors such as politico-economic stability and well-developed telecommunications infrastructure have

1.1. Specific Objectives

• Mitigation of hot spots in server by high performance microchannel cold plate

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 7: Cooling performance comparison between straight fins (conventional microchannel)

(a) Straight fins (b) Oblique fin with variable pitch

Advanced Manufacturing Techniques for Realizing Performance Cold Plates

Figure 13. Schematic diagram of hybrid cooling system.

3. Economic Potential and Other Contributions of Project

Contributions from Industry and Host Institution

4. Deployment Potential in Singapore’s Context

6. Project Management and Budget

Possible technical risks:

6.2. Proposed Budget

6.3. Justification for the proposed budget

Justification for manpower

Justification for expenditure on new equipment

Justification for other operating expenses

6.4. Detailed project schedule

Research Milestones/ Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

1. Chai KH and J. Nebus (2012), "Personalization or Codification? A Marketing Perspective to

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS:

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS

E. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS IN RELATED AREAS

F. LIST OF RECENT COLLABORATORS

G. LIST OF ADVISEES (INCLUDING STUDENTS MENTORED)

C. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PROPOSAL

D. SELECTED OTHER PUBLICATIONS