{"id":17966,"date":"2026-09-08T12:11:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/?post_type=nus-news&p=17966"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:11:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:11:51","slug":"edgeconnex-joins-sustainable-tropical-data-centre-testbed-2-0-as-top-tier-anchor-partner","status":"publish","type":"nus-news","link":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/news\/edgeconnex-joins-sustainable-tropical-data-centre-testbed-2-0-as-top-tier-anchor-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"EdgeConneX joins Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed 2.0 as top-tier anchor partner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Edgeconnex\"\n\t<\/figure>\n\t

EdgeConneX has joined the NUS-led Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed Phase 2.0 (STDCT 2.0) Consortium as its top-tier anchor industry partner, marking a proud milestone for NUS Mechanical Engineering as the Department continues to advance sustainable, AI-ready data centre technologies for tropical environments.<\/p>\n

First launched in November 2023 and hosted at the NUS College of Design and Engineering, STDCT is the first data centre testbed in the tropics. Led by Professor Lee Poh Seng, Head of NUS Mechanical Engineering and Programme Director of STDCT, the initiative brings academia and industry together to evaluate, validate, de-risk and accelerate the deployment of sustainable solutions for tropical data centre environments.<\/p>\n

The second phase comes as artificial intelligence drives rapid increases in computing density, placing greater demands on the infrastructure needed to power and cool data centres. STDCT 2.0 is responding to these challenges by focusing on next-generation, AI-ready solutions, including advanced liquid cooling and grid-responsive operations to support ultra-high-density racks more sustainably.<\/p>\n

Professor Lee highlighted the challenges faced in tropical environments and the value that the collaboration brings to the programme:<\/p>\n

“As compute demand surges, the strain on digital infrastructure is intensifying. This strain is often felt hardest in tropical regions like Singapore, where high heat and humidity push conventional cooling and operational systems to their limits. EdgeConneX expertise in hyperscale and AI data center deployment will be instrumental in shaping the next phase of research at STDCT. We greatly appreciate the strong support for the program, and we look forward to our future collaborations,”<\/p>\n

Professor Lee Poh Seng, Programme Director of STDCT and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NUS CDE.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bridging research and real-world deployment<\/h3>\n

The multi-year commitment will see EdgeConneX contribute funding towards shared research infrastructure and bring its global data centre expertise to selected projects. As anchor industry partner, the company will also help shape the shared infrastructure and participate in collaborative R&D, technology integration and field validation, helping promising technologies progress towards commercial-scale deployment.<\/p>\n

Thorsten Ziegler, Senior Vice President of Engineering at EdgeConneX, said:<\/p>\n

“EdgeConneX is excited to provide its multi-year support to this established research program. With AI workloads driving a dramatic increase in rack densities, the industry is rethinking how data centers are designed, powered, cooled, and upgraded. We see value in programs like STDCT 2.0, which bridge research and deployment by testing physics-informed design and digital twin technologies in live operating environments and translating innovation into practical, scalable solutions,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The potential impact extends beyond Singapore, with lessons from STDCT 2.0 expected to inform EdgeConneX data centre designs and operations in other markets.<\/p>\n

Chi Yee Ling, Vice President of Site Development and Real Estate APAC at EdgeConneX, said:<\/p>\n

“EdgeConneX has a strong sustainability track record. In Asia Pacific, our facilities use advanced non-evaporative cooling systems, which deliver efficiency to our hyperscale and AI customers, and help preserve community water resources. The collaboration with NUS, and the lessons learned from STDCT 2.0, will benefit our data center designs and operations not only in APAC, but all around the world,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Engineering for the future<\/h3>\n

As Consortium Lead, NUS drives the design, development and orchestration of innovations across cooling, power, heat rejection systems and an AI-native digital twin. The shared infrastructure will provide researchers and industry partners with an environment to integrate, test and validate next-generation technologies before wider deployment.<\/p>\n

Beyond technology development, the collaboration will also support AI for Science initiatives and engineering talent development through real industrial use cases and learning opportunities.<\/p>\n

For NUS Mechanical Engineering, the partnership marks a proud milestone in addressing the rapidly evolving demands of AI and digital infrastructure. Through STDCT 2.0, our researchers are bringing expertise in thermal management, energy efficiency and intelligent systems together with industry experience to translate engineering research into real-world impact, contributing to a more sustainable digital future for Singapore and beyond.<\/p>\n

Source article: https:\/\/www.edgeconnex.com\/news\/press-releases\/edgeconnex-joins-singapores-sustainable-tropical-data-centre-testbed-2-0-as-top-tier-anchor-partner\/(opens in new tab)<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EdgeConneX has joined the NUS-led Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed Phase 2.0 (STDCT 2.0) Consortium as its top-tier anchor industry partner, marking a proud milestone for NUS Mechanical Engineering as the Department continues to advance sustainable, AI-ready data centre technologies for tropical environments. First launched in November 2023 and hosted at the NUS College of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":17970,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"news_category":[39,43,45],"class_list":["post-17966","nus-news","type-nus-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_category-all-me","news_category-development","news_category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/nus-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17971,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17966\/revisions\/17971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=17966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}