Innovative Solution to Cooling Hard Disk Drives Wins Industry Grand Challenge

Dr Duke Oeba has emerged as the overall winner in the 2024 COMPASS-Seagate Industry Grand Challenge, a prestigious event organized by Seagate Technology and supported by COMPASS.

COMPASS, a National Science Foundation (NSF-USA) Science and Technology Center, focuses on fostering theoretical, experimental, and computational research to revolutionize particle-based matter systems. Seagate Technology, a trailblazer in mass-capacity data storage solutions, spearheads breakthrough technologies enabling clients to harness the full potential of their data.

The COMPASS-Seagate Industry Grand Challenge beckoned members from COMPASS, African universities, and research institutions, irrespective of their background or experience level, to delve into real-world materials science conundrums. Participants relished a plethora of benefits, including skill-enhancing webinars, invaluable networking opportunities, collaborative team engagements, and the thrill of competing for coveted awards and prize money.

Spanning from April 1 to April 15, 2024, this year's grand challenge posed a formidable task: designing a materials solution to cool Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) in data centers while concurrently converting excess heat into reusable energy to curtail energy consumption.

Dr Oeba's groundbreaking solution, titled "Material Solution for Cooling Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) with Waste Heat Recovery: A Machine Learning Approach," captivated judges with its ingenuity. His design offers a revolutionary method to cool HDDs within a multicomponent data center system while harnessing wasted heat to generate electrical energy. Leveraging Machine Learning for optimization, Dr Oeba's proposed materials include HTCHS, PCM layer, LMI, and an advanced ML algorithm to monitor HDD and ambient temperatures, along with cooling system performance. Additionally, Dr Oeba introduced novel Waste Heat Recovery strategies, such as Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs), to convert heat energy into renewable energy for various data center applications.

The accolades bestowed upon Dr Oeba included certificates recognizing his achievement as a finalist and securing the coveted 1^st place award, along with prize money. Moreover, he is slated to be featured on the COMPASS website, further amplifying his recognition. Distinguished Professor Malek Maaza, the esteemed chief guest at the event and UNESCO UNISA ITL/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnology hailed Dr. Oeba as a promising young researcher and expressed eagerness to collaborate. A potential collaboration between Dr Oeba's research group at Egerton University and Prof. Maaza's laboratory at the University of South Africa holds promise in addressing climate change challenges through renewable energy and carbon capture applications.

Dr Oeba attributes his success to the support of Egerton University's management, which fosters a conducive environment for innovation and research. His triumph not only elevates the visibility of Egerton University and its Physics Department at the Faculty of Science but also underscores the institution's commitment to tackling global challenges through pioneering research and innovation.