Leadership

CoolIT’s executive team is a group of dynamic individuals with a shared vision. This team of experts work together with the belief that one departments success is a shared success for the company as a whole. It is their leadership combined with the ability to hire the right people, that makes CoolIT Systems an exceptionally dedicated group of individuals that foster a culture based on respect, mutual appreciation and a “One CoolIT” attitude.

STEVEN WALTON
Chief Executive Officer

STEVEN WALTON

Bachelor of Finance, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME), MBA in Finance & Strategy

Responsible for both long term and short term strategic planning and execution of the business, Steve is a strategy-driven, results-oriented leader. Steve is focused on scaling CoolIT at a rapid pace, day-to-day management, as well as being the lead in defining and evolving CoolIT’s company culture.

Before joining CoolIT Systems, Steve led AC Photonics through significant growth while also introducing solutions to increase operational efficiency and exceeding the corporation’s financial objectives. Steve has also held several executive roles at MicroTechnologies, Huntington Capital PE Group, and WFM. With over 20 years of international experience scaling technology companies, streamlining their operations, and increasing global and regional market share, he brings significant growth and value to CoolIT operations.

Some guiding values that Steve stands by include integrity and ethics. He also strongly believes that business is a team sport.

PATRICK MCGINN
Chief Operating Officer

PATRICK MCGINN

Bachelor’s in International Business

Patrick McGinn is responsible for CoolIT’s marketing, sales, product development, engineering, and customer service solutions. Having been with the company since 2012, Patrick has held various leadership roles within the product, business development, and marketing areas and has been a primary driver of CoolIT’s growth in both the consumer and data center markets.

With his team, they are responsible for developing and executing business strategies that ensure CoolIT continues as the global market share leader for Direct Liquid Cooling. They are also involved in advanced technology research and new market analysis; an exciting part of the groups work that Patrick particularly enjoys.

Patrick is a passionate leader and believes that with the right dream, people, and culture that CoolIT is well poised to continue with aggressive growth in coming years.

ADAM SCHADER
Chief Financial Officer

ADAM SCHADER

Bachelor of Science (BS) in Accounting, Master of Science (MS) in Accounting, CPA

With over 20 years of international experience managing technology companies, implementing effective financial policies, and developing go-to-market strategies, Adam brings a plethora of senior skills to the team. Before joining CoolIT Systems, Adam was the CFO at AC Photonics, leading the company through several technology transformations and managing the organization’s financial models and budgets.

BRYDON GIERL
Founder

BRYDON GIERL

Brydon Gierl has been working in the liquid cooling field for over 20 years and has been aggressively innovating since starting CoolIT. Possessing the ability to create and implement a vision, he has captured the future of data center technology and continues to plan and develop high-quality solutions.

Prior to co-founding CoolIT Systems he worked in various capacities in construction and fabrication industries learning valuable lessons as a first-time business owner operator.

Currently in his position as SVP of Product Development at CoolIT Systems he is back to where his creative talents are best exploited. With a work ethic born on the family farm, Brydon is a driver for CoolIT’s productivity and cutting-edge automation.

BRANDON PETERSON
Sr. Vice President, Business Development

BRANDON PETERSON

Professional Engineer (P. Eng.), MBA Candidate (2023)

Delivering industry-leading technology that enables our customers to push new limits, Brandon is Sr. Vice President of Business Development at CoolIT Systems. Starting at CoolIT in 2016 as a Field Application Engineer, he now leads business development and customer service functions, including strategy, processes, products, people, and growth.

Innovation, problem-solving and the ability to adapt are driving forces behind Brandon’s collaboration with customers and his team. He is a big picture thinker committed to strategizing and leading CoolIT’s data center and desktop businesses.

HAMID RAFIEI
Sr. Vice President, Global Operations

HAMID RAFIEI

Hamid has a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Calgary.

Hamid joined CoolIT Systems in Dec 2020 as Director, Manufacturing and his role and scope has increased over the past three years with recently being appointed Senior Vice President, Global Operations.

His team’s scope currently constitutes all CoolIT Systems’ manufacturing footprint in North America and Asia, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain and Supplier Quality. Hamid has a wide broad experience in all aspects of manufacturing from Production, Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement to Supply Chain Management and Quality Management.

Hamid was integral in CoolIT’s journey towards automation that started in 2021 with deployment of first automated Passive Coldplate Loop (PCL) assembly lines. Since then his contribution has been significant in restructuring and development of the Supply Chain in CoolIT and scaling manufacturing and operations and ramp up CoolIT’s manufacturing capacity multiple times.

Hamid has a passion for Continuous Improvement, Automation systems and integrated systems.  To learn more about some of the recent achievement led by Hamid at CoolIT, you can visit the article published by Manufacturing In Focus magazine on CoolIT Systems (manufacturinginfocus.com)

Prior to CoolIT, Hamid was with Eaton Corporation for more than 8 years, joining as part of Leadership Development Program (LDP) and served in variety of roles from Engineering team lead, supply chain manager, operational excellence manager and Quality management.

EVELYN GOLBA
Vice President, People

EVELYN GOLBA

Bachelor of Commerce, Marketing Management, CPHR

Evelyn is an entrepreneurial, business focused HR professional with over 15 years of experience specializing in building the Talent Management function within both global organizations as well as small, high growth businesses. Evelyn has a proven track record of developing effective talent management programs that promote career growth, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, recruitment strategies, and learning & development.  

By utilizing other areas of experience in strategic talent management, recruitment, performance management, workforce planning, immigration and health and safety, Evelyn has been able to help drive business success while developing Employer Brand & Culture. 

IAN GRAHAM
Vice President, Information Technology

IAN GRAHAM

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)

As VP of Information Technology, Ian is responsible for providing business and technical leadership to the CoolIT team.  He ensures the delivery of an integrated technology platform that aligns with the organization’s goals and objectives.  By working with CoolIT business partners, he provides innovative, robust, and secure information technology solutions to enable the organization for today and the future.

Ian has over 20 years of leadership experience spanning a wide range of industries including Oil & Gas, Container Shipping, Cyber Security, and several High-Tech Startup’s.  His experience in these organizations includes the development of commercial software with a worldwide client base, development of leading-edge software and IT infrastructures for multinational companies.

Ian believes and maintains that not only is the function of Information Technology to deliver innovative solutions but ensure it is delivered with a positive customer experience.

KAMAL MOSTAFAVI
Vice President, Engineering

KAMAL MOSTAFAVI

Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) and Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Mechanical Engineering

He leads a cross-functional engineering team supporting feasibility studies, R&D, design, analysis and simulation, verification and validation, system deployment and production support activities for all lines of CoolIT products. As part of his responsibilities, he develops and maintains strategic direction for technology and life cycle product development across all platforms.

Kamal has a broad and in-depth range of valuable experiences including teaching CATIA courses in Iran, working as a Technical Manager focused on designing medical device components, and many roles in Mechanical Engineering. Kamal was involved in a new hydro plant mechanical design project and designed a 3DOF leader robot capable of loading/unloading saw blades.

Kamal leads his team with these 5 engineering principles: uniformity (consistent designs), integrity (meeting customer requirements with quality), cost-driven (price-competitive products), communication, and innovation.

NEIL MULJI
Vice President, Product

NEIL MULJI

B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, M.Sc. Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, P.Eng.

Neil has been an significant leader in developing new programs to support the strategic direction of data center cooling. Neil joined CoolIT in 2019 as a Program Manager and quickly became a trusted resource for our customers and a strong cross-functional collaborator internally.

As Vice President of Product, Neil enjoys close interaction and engagement with customers, while also taking on broader responsibilities in Product Management.

Neil completed his BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo and went on to achieve his MASc at the University of Toronto in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Neil also holds a certification as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng). Spending most of his career working in start-up and emerging growth companies, Neil has a sharpness for strategic thinking and resilience.

TONY TANG
General Manager, China

TONY TANG

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Industrial Engineering, MBA Candidate (2025)

JERRY KAO
Regional Director, APAC

JERRY KAO

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Physics, Master of Science (M.Sc.) Industrial Engineering Specializing in Information Management Systems

Jerry is the Regional Director for our APAC team. As such, he is responsible for overseeing CoolIT’s presence in Asia. Boasting deep experience in the IT sector having held positions in sales and management, Jerry has been a foundational element of CoolIT’s overseas footprint.

Originally a Physics grad, Jerry earned his Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering, before working at a thermal solutions company where he honed his skills for several years. He loves the challenge of managing accounts and is driven to see them grow and flourish.

LORRIE WAZNY
Controller

LORRIE WAZNY

CPA, CGA

Lorrie has extensive experience as a senior financial and accounting professional contributing to the senior management team working in a variety of industry sectors, in both private and public company environments. She has been instrumental in improvements to processes, internal controls and ERP systems, working with small, medium and large sized companies. Her passion has always resided in the manufacturing sector, contributing to growth-oriented organizations.

Lorrie’s key manufacturing knowledge was acquired while working for Jayman MasterBUILT, one of Western Canada’s largest home builders, as well as with Graf Canada Ltd., a Canadian manufacturer and distributor of full-line elite hockey equipment and figure skates for the North American market. With Jayman MasterBUILT, she held the position of Divisional Controller for both the multi-family construction and land development divisions, working closely with the COO’s to put in place all of the finance and accounting systems necessary to run the two Divisions from their inception. With Graf Canada Ltd., she was quickly promoted to VP Finance/CFO from the Controllership role for her contribution to building up and managing the finance, accounting, administration and information technology divisions, while experiencing high growth. She participated in the private equity recapitalization of the company and was the lead on implementing SAP, a fully integrated ERP system, linking together customer service, sales, manufacturing, inventory, distribution, finance and accounting.

Lorrie is passionate and dedicated to adding value to the organization with the help of her team, while providing coaching and mentorship.

Lorrie is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta. Outside of her professional career she enjoys outdoor activities and has volunteered in various Board positions with local societies.

ANAS ATIEH
Director, Quality Assurance

ANAS ATIEH

Ph.D. Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, M.Sc. Design and Manufacturing, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Professional Engineer (P. Eng.)

Anas has a vast experience and expertise in the field of Quality, Manufacturing and comes with extensive background in Engineering . He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Calgary, M.Sc. in Design and Manufacturing and B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Jordan.

Anas is a Professional Engineer registered with APEGA and is a Certified Technical Assessor for technical labs ISO\IEC 17025:2017, a Certified Quality Management Lead Implementer of ISO 9001:2015 and a Certified Quality Management Lead Auditor of ISO9001:2015 and holds a Certified Assessor certification for European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).
Anas is very passionate about digital transformation, innovation, and leadership. Currently, enrolled in a professional certificate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in digital transformation. Anas is interested in Quality 4.0 and quality automation.

The integrity of solutions as well as the efficiency of processes is at the forefront of everything Anas develops and provides guidance on.  He believes quality assurance and the culture of continuous improvement at CoolIT tempered by risk-based thinking enables him to be customer-focused while never compromising quality standards.

JASON BOUTHILLIER
Director, Calgary Manufacturing

JASON BOUTHILLIER

As the Director of Manufacturing in Calgary, Jason oversees the local manufacturing team at CoolIT Systems, managing both the PCL and CDU/MF/SFN production lines. He collaborates with the Production, Engineering, SCM, Quality, Product, and Programs teams to ensure a consistent manufacturing framework.

With a focus on operational optimization, Jason emphasizes both productivity and cost efficiency. He incorporates lean manufacturing principles into operations to enhance efficiency. Recognized for his communication skills, Jason expertly leads cross-functional teams across various sectors. He’s deeply committed to the precision and integrity of manufacturing at CoolIT, consistently striving for operational excellence.

Jason comes with over a decade of leadership experience from diverse sectors, including oil and gas, electronics, automotive, and agriculture. Throughout his career, he has crafted production processes that uphold quality standards across these industries.

 

PEGGY BURROUGHS
Director, CoolIT Next

PEGGY BURROUGHS

Peggy joins CoolIT as the Director of CoolIT Next. This new program office owns bridging between our Advanced Technology Group, Product Management, Industry Partners, and Customers.

Before working at CoolIT, Peggy was a Strategic Program Manager in Intel’s Data Center Business Innovation Office, concentrating on sustainability in the data center. Prior to that role, she has held positions in Global Supply Chain at Intel, Kyocera-Wireless, and Qualcomm. She brings a passion for innovation and continued learning as well as a wealth of experience in data center thermal technology, market intelligence, and global supplier management. Peggy excels at forging a collaborative environment and building long-term relationships amongst teams and in the industry.

In her spare time, she enjoys time with her family and cheering on her kids at their games, traveling, and cooking.

ALBERTO CIPRIANO
Director, Supply Chain

ALBERTO CIPRIANO

Supply Chain Management professional. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA); Master in International Management (MIM).

As Director of Supply Chain at CoolIT, Alberto and his team are focused on developing and sustaining material readiness from a large, multi-region supply base for production and NPI projects supporting CIT’s commercial and consumer business segments.

Alberto’s journey in SCM, across various industries, includes managing (on-site and remotely) diverse teams in North America, South America, Europe, and China. Leading transformation towards category management, strategic sourcing, contract formation, supplier performance management, and supplier quality & development has been a constant challenge with rewarding results. Before joining CoolIT, Alberto’s experience includes roles in automotive, oil & gas, and aerospace/civil aviation industries.

Alberto has a passion for sharing learnings and mentoring his teams and the satisfaction of seeing individuals grow in their careers.

LUCA CUTRONE
Director, Business Development (OEM)

LUCA CUTRONE

B.A. Bachelor of Arts (Economics), M.B.A Master of Business Administration

As Director of Business Development, Luca and his team are focused on developing professional relationships with OEMs and channel partners to grow the CoolIT portfolio of customers, while helping customers solve complex problems in the Direct Liquid Cooling market, using CoolIT’s innovative suite of solutions.

A champion of deep customer engagement, Luca’s team serves as the Voice of the Customer to deliver product feedback and ensure customer satisfaction through partnership and service excellence.

Luca comes with over a decade of leadership experience designing and scaling world-class customer success, sales, and service delivery models for private companies through to Fortune 500 corporations.  His experiences span industries such as financial services, transportation and logistics, and high-tech startups (including leading a large cross-functional business transformation at Calgary’s first high-tech ‘Unicorn’ startup in 2019).

NASSIM KHALED
Director, Product Quality

NASSIM KHALED

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Six Sigma Green Belt, and Certified Amazon Cloud Practitioner

He leads product testing and qualification, regulatory, and compliance certification at CoolIT Systems. He also leads all efforts when it comes to reliability of CoolIT products.

Nassim has passion for leadership development, technology, and automation, and is the main author of 3 Engineering books with Springer and Elsevier. He has 35 US patents in the field of automotive, artificial intelligence, controls, and diagnostics. He also has published one children’s book and one novelette. Before joining CoolIT in 2021, he led engineering teams in Cummins and Dover corporation, USA.

JUSTIN LOGAN
Director, System Engineering

JUSTIN LOGAN

Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Queen’s University, the P.Eng designation with APEGA and a PdM-T credential.

Justin Logan has been extensively involved in successful ground-up team, process and product development in the Oil & Gas and Warehouse Automation industries amassing 440+ patents (nationalized families, continuations, and divisionals) to his name.

He co-founded Evolution Energy Technologies, an innovative downhole measurement-while-drilling telemetry engineering firm, and helped grow it from 5 to 130 employees, build a patent portfolio of 700+ filings, and achieve annual revenues over $30M USD before selling to one of the world’s largest oilfield service companies. Here he held roles including Mechanical Engineering Manager, Sustaining Engineering Manager and New Product Commercialization Manager in which he led geographically dispersed and multi-disciplinary teams to develop new products and product iterations from concept to commercialization. While working in the warehouse automation industry, Justin led multi-disciplinary teams to deliver massive reliability improvements (>180x reduction in failure rate), and to define & develop the structure & controls automation of a novel automated storage & retrieval system.

Justin’s experience has given him a strong wholistic view of novel product development and business processes to successfully commercialize new products. He is passionate about understanding the needs of the end user and how to effectively deliver high impact value.

SEAN MUTLOW
Director, Product

SEAN MUTLOW

PMP (Project Management Professional)

As Director of Desktop Solutions Sean has a 14-year track record at CoolIT of effective leadership and management of exploratory projects. With a role focused on supporting development, new product introduction (NPI) and sustainment for consumer-focused active liquid cooling solutions, he is investigating the next big steps in desktop innovations.

His career path started out with a technology company focused on conducting business online in the late ’90s; he became the fourth employee at FreeRealTime.com. Sean dove headfirst into the technology and as the company grew, moved into the software product team performing quality control, revision control and release management duties. Following the dot com bubble burst of the early 2000s, he took on several IT roles that expanded his hardware experience.

Sean believes in serving CoolIT clients by maintaining customer intimacy no matter the scale and strongly supports that this value ensures a focus on customer needs, driving quality and performance to guarantee lasting competitive advantage.

CHARLES ROBISON
Director, Marketing

CHARLES ROBISON

B.A. Political Science, M.Sc. International Marketing

Charles is the head of marketing and brand for CoolIT Systems. Starting his career at Intel in product marketing, he has extensive experience marketing technology-based products.  Charles has held product, marketing and sales leadership roles across several sectors, including semiconductors, advanced materials, industrial instrumentation, AI/ML applications, and enterprise software.

Charles views marketing as central to creating value.  He thrives on collaborating with team members, partners and customers to deliver winning corporate and product strategies.

Charles is passionate about working with technology leaders to enable leaps in AI and high-performance computing while helping data center operators worldwide reduce their energy and climate footprint with CoolIT’s industry-leading liquid cooling products.

TARAN SANDHU
Director, Manufacturing Engineering

TARAN SANDHU

Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), M. Eng – Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering.

As Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Taran and his team are focused on implementing new in-house manufacturing capabilities while enhancing quality, efficiency and capacity of current processes. With PDCA methodology and collaborative leadership at the core of workings, Taran leads continuous improvement for manufacturing automation and standardization.

Taran has a Master of Engineering in Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering from University of Calgary and holds Professional Engineer designation. He honed his skills in lean manufacturing, new process introductions and change management with over 14 years’ experience in various roles at a global manufacturing organization for Oil & Gas Industry.

JACLYN SCHMIDT
Director, Product Deployment

JACLYN SCHMIDT

B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Professional Engineer (P. Eng.)

Jaclyn Schmidt, Director of Product Deployment is the driving force behind our Professional Services department, bringing scalable liquid cooling solutions to demanding HPC and enterprise computing environments.  Jaclyn and her team are focused on delivering end-to-end solutions, utilizing CoolIT’s products and providing the necessary services to ensure seamless installation and commissioning. Their dedication enhances product efficiency and optimizes performance, ensuring peak operation throughout the lifetime of each liquid cooling system.”

Before joining CoolIT, Jaclyn accumulated extensive experience in professional services and product deployment in the oil and gas sector, occupying various positions that involved field work, account management, sales, design, and operations.

Originally a Mechanical Engineering graduate with a passion for developing innovative engineering solutions for complex on-site challenges, Jaclyn has led the Professional Services Team to become a leading force in the liquid cooling industry.

BRAD ZAKAIB
Director, Product Development

BRAD ZAKAIB

B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Professional Engineer (P. Eng.)

Brad Zakaib, Director of Product Development at CoolIT Systems, is set on making strides to develop the highest quality product in a timeframe suited to meet our ever-growing customer needs. Brad has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University where he specialized in Biomechanical Technology and founded a student-led Biomechanical Innovation Team. Brad began his career at CoolIT Systems as a Mechanical Engineering Intern back in 2014. He enjoys spending time outside with his friends and canines.

Company

As an experienced innovator with over 90 patents and more than five million liquid cooling units deployed, CoolIT Systems is the leading liquid cooling solution provider for HPC, Cloud and Enterprise markets worldwide.

Vivid Vision

We are

  • an innovation beacon, authority, and educator to industry.
  • bright passionate team members pursuing dreams, thinking different, and finding a better way.
  • delivering on what we promise, on-time, every time.

Check out our Vivid Vision here.

History

CoolIT Systems (CoolIT) was founded in 2001 and began designing and distributing superior direct liquid cooling products for the desktop gaming industry. As the company grew, so did the need for direct liquid cooling in the data center industry. CoolIT began designing products for datacenters and server OEMs in 2014 and is today the most trusted direct liquid cooling solution in the market. The company has its headquarters in Calgary, Canada, three manufacturing warehouses in Canada and China, and sales teams located around the globe.

Check out our 20 years of history here.

Careers

At CoolIT, innovation and a tight-knit team are what sets us apart. We are a pioneering industry leader that looks for the top employees who share our culture and values to make CoolIT the most trusted direct liquid cooling company in the world.

Explore Career Opportunities

News and Events

Event: CoolIT Systems at NVIDIA GTC AI Conference and Expo 2024

Event: CoolIT Systems at NVIDIA GTC AI Conference and Expo 2024
CoolIT Systems is honored to be a sponsor of the breakthrough AI conference, NVIDIA GTC 2024 happening from March 17 to March 21, 2024 in San Jose, California.
Discover firsthand how CoolIT delivers scalable direct liquid cooling solutions tailored for the most demanding machine learning and AI workloads.

Event: Join CoolIT Systems at Compu Dynamics Thought Leadership Summit 2024

Event: Join CoolIT Systems at Compu Dynamics Thought Leadership Summit 2024
Join CoolIT Systems at Compu Dynamics Thought Leadership Summit 2024 as we demystify AI and its implications for the data center industry, including how liquid cooling can support the ever-changing needs of the industry, fueled by Generative AI.

CoolIT Systems Reports Unprecedented Growth Fueled by Generative AI Expansion in 2023

CoolIT Systems Reports Unprecedented Growth Fueled by Generative AI Expansion in 2023
CoolIT Systems, the global leader in advanced cooling technology for data centers, has announced a successful year in 2023, reporting unprecedented growth amidst the continued expansion of generative AI.

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