{"681839":{"#nid":"681839","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Liquid Cooling Technology Developed at Georgia Tech Awarded U.S. Patent, Company Raising Capital to Scale","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u2019s the hottest thing in electronics and high-performance computing? In a word, it\u2019s \u201ccool.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo be more precise, it\u2019s a liquid cooling system developed at Georgia Tech for electronics aimed at solving a long-standing problem: overheating.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped by Daniel Lorenzini, a 2019 Tech graduate who earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, the cooling system uses microfluidic channels \u2014 tiny, intricate pathways for liquids \u2014 that are embedded within the chip packaging.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe worked with VentureLab, a Tech program in the Office of Commercialization, to spin his research into a startup company, EMCOOL, headquartered in Norcross.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur solution directly addresses the heat at the source of the silicon chip and therefore makes it faster,\u201d Lorenzini said. \u201cOur design has our system sitting directly on the silicon chips that generate the most heat. Using the fluids in the micro-pin fins, it carries the heat that\u2019s produced away from the chip.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat cooling solution is directly integrated into the electronic components, making it significantly more efficient than conventional cooling methods, because it enhances the heat dissipation process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe result is a much lower risk of overheating and reduced power consumption, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELorenzini, who researched and refined the technology in the lab of Yogendra Joshi at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded a patent for the technology in September 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, EMCOOL, which has five empoloyees, is actively pursuing venture capital funding to scale its technology and address the escalating thermal management challenges posed by AI processors in modern data centers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system uses a cooling block with tiny, pin-like fins on one side and a special thermal interface material on the other. There\u0027s also a junction attached to the block, with ports for the fluid to flow in and out. The cooling fluid moves through the micro-pin fins and helps to carry away the heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince the ports are designed to match the shape of the fins, it ensures that the fluid flows efficiently and the heat is dissipated as effectively as possible at chip-scale.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs electronic devices \u2014 from high-performance personal computers to data centers used for artificial intelligence processing \u2014 become more powerful, they generate more heat. This excess heat can damage components or cause the device to underperform.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional cooling methods, which include fans or heat sinks, often struggle to keep pace with the increasing demands of the newer model electronics. Lorenzini\u2019s microfluidic system addresses the challenge of overheating with his patented, more effective, compact, and integrated cooling solution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the guidance of Jonathan Goldman, director of Quadrant-i in Tech\u2019s Office of Commercialization, Lorenzini secured grant funding through the National Science Foundation and the Georgia Research Alliance to further the research and build design prototypes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe immediately had the sense there was commercial potential here,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThermal management, or getting rid of heat, is a ubiquitous problem in the computer industry, so when we saw what Daniel was doing, we immediately began to engage with him to understand what the commercial potential was.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndeed, the initial focus for the technology was the $159 billion global electronic gaming market. Gamers need a lot of computing power, which generates a lot of heat, causing lag.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut beyond gaming systems, the company, which manufactures custom cooling blocks and kits at its Norcross facility, is eyeing more sectors, which also suffer from overheating, Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology addresses similar overheating electronics challenges in high-performance computing, telecommunications, and energy systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work propels us forward in pushing the boundaries of what traditional cooling technologies can achieve because by harnessing the power of microfluidics, EMCOOL\u0027s systems offer a compact and energy-efficient way to manage heat,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThis has the potential to revolutionize industries reliant on high-performance computing, where heat management is a constant challenge.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith support from Georgia Tech\u2019s Office of Commercialization, VentureLab, NSF, and GRA, EmCool now manufactures custom cooling solutions in Norcross, GA for gaming, high-performance computing, and more.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"EMCOOL\u0027s technology solves overheating in electronics."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2025-04-16 15:23:51","changed_gmt":"2025-04-16 17:39:45","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Norcross, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676859":{"id":"676859","type":"video","title":"EMCOOL Video","body":"\u003Cp\u003EEmCool, a Georgia Tech spinout, is tackling one of tech\u2019s biggest challenges: overheating.\r\nDeveloped by Ph.D. alum Daniel Lorenzini, EmCool\u2019s patented microfluidic cooling system is embedded directly into silicon chips\u2014making it faster, smaller, and more efficient than traditional fans or heat sinks.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1744820433","gmt_created":"2025-04-16 16:20:33","changed":"1744820433","gmt_changed":"2025-04-16 16:20:33","video":{"youtube_id":"eZZg391Z_3s","video_url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/eZZg391Z_3s?si=xKbGHkGQnXRgOS-D"}}},"media_ids":["676859"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"193395","name":"Office of Commercialization"},{"id":"4193","name":"venturelab"},{"id":"190790","name":"Jonathan Goldman"},{"id":"181188","name":"Daniel Lorenzini"},{"id":"194476","name":"EMCOOL"},{"id":"194477","name":"liquid cooling technology"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"},{"id":"193654","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EP\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:peralte@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Eperalte@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404.316.1210\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}