Mark Fenton, Product Engineering Director at Cadence explores how Cadence is leveraging AI and data to make sustainability a competitive edge
sustainabilitymag.com, Jan. 31, 2025 –
Mark Fenton, Product Engineering Director at Cadence explores how the software company is using AI and data-driven solutions to ensure that sustainability is a competitive advantage.
Please introduce yourself and your role.
I'm Mark Fenton, Product Engineering Director for Cadence Reality DC software, physics-based digital twin platform that simulates cooling and power distribution behavior through data centers. I have over 20 years of experience in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a master's in mechanical engineering, which I use to help data center professionals optimise design and operations.
My job at Cadence involves incorporating global data center market trends, engineering technologies, and customer and sales requirements into the development, marketing, and sales strategies for our software products. The digital twin software I work on leads to significant improvements in cooling and power efficiencies within data centers, including the prevention of overheating in equipment. This can often impact the performance of critical applications. Furthermore, using digital twins helps facilities reduce overprovisioning, which refers to operators deliberately allocating more resources than necessary to meet peak demands. As this powerful technology improves resource allocation, it drastically reduces the overprovisioning of energy, leading to more sustainable practices and reduced carbon use in the data center.
Please give an overview of the division you are in at Cadence.
Cadence is a global leader in electronic design, driving innovation across many industries, such as data centers, automotive, mobile, consumer, industrial, and life sciences. One key aspect of the business is its cutting-edge digital twin technology, which essentially creates virtual replicas of physical data centers. This allows data center personnel, such as engineers, to simulate and design entire systems before investing time and money into implementing them, highlighting performance issues and providing recommendations for improvements.