Chandrakant D. Patel

Chandrakant Patel is an HP Senior Fellow and director of the Sustainable Ecosystems Research Group at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. Patel has been a pioneer in microprocessor and system thermo-mechanical architectures, management of available energy as a key resource in "smart" data centers, and most recently, application of the IT ecosystem to enable a net positive impact on the environment. He has transcended conventional thinking in sustainability through a holistic, systemic and fundamentals based approach, in sharp contrast to the cookbook approaches that focus solely on greenhouse gas emissions. He has changed the conversation in sustainability to address lifetime resource consumption by using Joules of available energy or exergy as the currency.

Patel joined HP Labs in 1991, initially leading the cooling and packaging research of the Wide Word microprocessor. He founded the thermal technology research program, and with partners in the R&D groups, started a virtual thermal community - the vibrant HP Cool Team - to productize the electronics cooling research in HP Laboratories. Through the 90s, he charted the directions in thermo-mechanical research that led to innovations in chip and system cooling solutions. In the late 90s, he initiated the research in “smart” data centers. He foresaw the need to reduce available energy consumption by dynamically provisioning IT, power and cooling resources in the data center, arguing that the “data center is the computer.” It led to the development of an end-to-end management system to address data center energy consumption and the total cost of ownership.

An advocate of return to fundamentals of science and engineering, Patel passionately shares his work by teaching in community colleges and universities. He has taught computer aided design at Chabot College in Hayward, California for 16 years. He has also taught courses in thermal and energy management at U.C. Berkeley Extension, Santa Clara University and San Jose State University.

Patel has been honored as a distinguished alumnus by the City College of San Francisco and by the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at San Jose State University. Patel holds an AS from the City College of San Francisco, BSME from U.C. Berkeley, MSME from San Jose State University, and is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in the State of California.

In recognition of his work in the community, Patel was profiled by ABC-KGO television in its Emmy Award winning series "Profiles of Excellence" for contributions to science, technology and education.