Greater Minnesota Chapter

Thom Jackson Bio

Thom Jackson is a data center design engineer with over 20 years of experience designing data centers of all sizes and redundancy levels.

Employed at Dunham Associates, he works to coordinate the needs of the IT and facility teams to help develop project requirements for data centers of all sizes. Thom is responsible for the comparison and selection of mechanical systems to provide scalable solutions for the life of the data center. Thom has been through the Uptime Institute’s Tier Level approval process several times including the highest Tier IV certification. Thom is dedicated to sustainable design as a LEED Accredited Professional and a DOE Data Center Energy Practitioner and has performed multiple data center energy efficiency studies to reduce data center energy usage for clients across the country.

Pat Siebenaler Bio

As an integrated technology leader for more than 16 years, I’ve helped companies minimize business risk and reduce wasteful technology investments by designing strategic IT roadmaps that maximize technology placement and spend on office and data center solutions. Uniquely, I bring skills to bridge facilities and IT for data centers, real estate and consultants to meet the goals and objectives of all parties involved in consolidating data centers, implementing flexible work spaces and implementing a DCIM solution for better operational efficiencies.

I’ve achieved results through skillfully developing long-term relationships with key stakeholders, being a subject matter expert and trusted advisor to clients and sales teams, and by getting the right people on the team to implement solutions and following through to ensure exceptional customer satisfaction.

Bill Doty Bio

Bill Doty is a Senior Advisor for Itascapoint Advisory Services, providing consulting services on data centers and mission critical facilities for small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. He has over 35 years of IT experience with several Fortune 500 companies in various business sectors including logistics, retail, food distribution, and banking. Bill has experience in various areas of IT including data center management, disaster recovery, and data warehouse across many platforms. He has been a member of the Greater Minnesota Chapter of AFCOM since its inception in 2007 and is the Treasurer of the group.

Brad Wilson Bio

Brad has enjoyed being the IT Manager, Global Data Center for 3M Company in St. Paul, MN for the last 8+ years. The Global Data Center supports Enterprise-level compute & storage, manufacturing and shipping for the international operations of a 96,000 employee company with annual revenue of $35.4B.

In this role Brad holds a unique position in the Data Center industry -responsible for both the building and the Computer Room. For the building- physical access & security, building envelope, Mechanical/Electrical/Piping, delivery of power and conditioned air to the Computer Room, operating expense and capital renewal plans. In the Computer Room- physical infrastructure, space planning, network infrastructure, installing & decommissioning IT platforms such as servers, storage, switches & routers and network appliances along with Mainframes, Large Systems and High Performance Computing. Constant communication with his Server, Storage and Telecom peers is key to avoid any last-minute surprises. He is responsible for planning of future data center needs and identifying potential Colocation partners. He also leads support staff at the Bracknell, UK and San Antonio, TX regional data centers and consults on projects and Continuity plans.

He has worked at 3M for 24+ years with roles as a Senior Controls Engineer in Division Engineering, Crew Supervisor in Plant Engineering and Electrical Specialist in Facilities & Services. Brad holds a BSEE from the University of Minnesota and pre-3M job experience include 6 years as a Project and Systems Engineer at integrated pulp & paper mills in Decatur, Alabama and Park Falls, Wisconsin.

Brad’s goals as an at-large board member of MN AFCOM is to help out wherever he can, soak up as much knowledge as he can and connect with the expert Data Center professionals in our chapter.

Bob Grill Bio

Bob Grill has been in the electrical construction industry for over 30 years and is on the Mission Critical Services team at Hunt Electric Corporation. His experience within data centers ranges from new construction to retrofits, battery change out to complete rewire projects. Bob works with his teams and coordinates with other trades to ensure a seamless upgrade of equipment without unplanned downtime for his customers. Bob holds many industry licenses and certifications and has decades of experience with testing, commissioning, startup and troubleshooting.

Heath Taylor Bio

Heath Taylor is a Regional Manager and CCM with over 14 years of experience in various sectors. He has led the construction of large scale, multi-year mission critical facilities, and has been involved in the construction of supporting central utility facilities, as well as, retrofits within active facilities.

Employed at The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, Heath leads the local Whiting-Turner Minneapolis office. With comprehensive industry experience, he is charged with the overall direction and success of the local team. His experience, coupled with several years embedded in a large scale data center program, will provide him with a unique viewpoint in which to analyze and engage the AFCOM chapter.

Tom Gebell Bio

Tom Gebell is the Director of Product Management for cable assembly and connectivity manufacturer, Cablcon. With nearly 30 years of experience in the fiber optic world, Tom’s current focus is on premise fiber optic solutions within medium to large data centers.

Prior to his arrival at Cablcon, Tom worked for OFS in a sales role. He was a part of teams that introduced bend-insensitive fiber and collapsible ribbon structures to the North American market. As a part of a group that supported other OEM companies, Tom has worked on solutions for applications ranging from small enterprise to hyperscale data centers, and from local telephone companies to Tier 1 carriers and MSOs.

Dan Peterson Bio

Dan Peterson, CBRE
Director at Large

For the last 20 years, Dan has represented clients in the sale, leasing, and development of commercial real estate with a focus on digital infrastructure, data centers, and workplace strategies. As a member of the CBRE Data Center Solutions team, Dan represents both occupiers, investors and service providers in technology real estate requirements and enterprise clients requiring data center expertise. Dan’s data center brokerage experience includes site selection, colocation agreements, sale/leasebacks, and asset acquisition/disposition. His advisory background includes enterprise consulting and project management. In addition to advisory and transaction services, Dan leads the CBRE Edge DCS practice in North America. Dan’s ability to combine specialized market knowledge, extensive transactional history, and corporate experience provides his clients timely insight, economic value, and trusted support for their business objectives.

Amy Dunton Bio

Amy Dunton is an accomplished professional with a focus on developing business, relationships, and strategies with her customers. Her nearly 20 years of experience in the data center industry began with time spent punching down 66 blocks in a data center with her father. This experience served as the foundation for what now is a consultative wholistic data center approach. Her experience in structured cabling, power/cooling, connectivity, security, network, storage, and compute brings a well-rounded and unique perspective to the data center industry. Her roles have included working for distribution, manufacturing, manufacturing representatives, and a leading Enterprise IT Solutions provider. Her expansive network and understanding of IT infrastructure, Facilities and Data Centers has fuelled a passion for creating an environment with more collaboration as IT Infrastructure trends can greatly impact how we design and build our data centers.

Amy is committed to her professional growth through continued learning and involvement in industry associations. In addition to serving as a board member of the Greater MN AFCOM chapter, she is a member of Women in Data Centers, Women Leading in Technology, WiMCO and ASIS. Last year Amy also served as VP of PR for her Toastmasters group in Minneapolis.