Thursday, June 2, 2016

Conference and the Strip

Yesterday was the first day of the ITHERM conference, the bi-annual gathering of the electronic systems thermal community. Basically, everyone here is trying to figure out better ways to keep electronic devices from overheating, all the way from the phone in your pocket to mile-long Google data centers. The ITHERM Achievement Award went to Professor Suresh Garimella at Purdue University. He gave a great talk on the need to consider all the different factors in bringing a technology from the lab to an actual product, including supply chain, manufacturing, and consumer acceptance. I greatly admire his work, and my advisor at UT (Professor Vaibhav Bahadur) was one of his Ph.D. students. I was able to snag a quick picture "for the sake of posterity!"

Dr. Garimella and me (top), and the view from the back of the talk by a Google exec on data center efficiency (bottom)
After the conference, I met up with some new colleagues and friends to grab some dinner and explore the Strip. We went to Bobby's Burger Palace, with a burgers and shakes menu created by Bobby Flay! I had the Brunch burger with a sunny-side up egg and bacon, along with a mocha milkshake. Oh yes, it was fantastic.


We walked up the Strip, stopping in at several hotels along the way. We saw the Bellagio fountains (beautiful!), the Venetian hotel, and the Paris hotel. The Venetian was by far my favorite - they have an actual water canal inside the hotel, with gondoliers that will transport you to any shop you desire. The shops on the interior are made to feel as if you are in Venice, complete with an incredibly realistic sky ceiling. I actually felt as if I was outside. There were also beautiful purple/blue butterflies suspended near the entryway. I was not a fan of the Paris hotel - it felt more dim and dirty than the Venetian, and the sky was not as realistic. Still, I was amazed at how I still felt transported to a different world.

Bellagio Fountains
Venetian hotel shops area, with an interior waterway!
Paris hotel shops area, made to feel like a Paris street
Today, I present my work at the conference, then it's off to "Vegas - The Show!" tonight!

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