David Quirk, President and CEO, DLB Associates
David Quirk is a visionary entrepreneur and leader in the built environment, with over 25 years of experience in the mission-critical industry. As the CEO and co-owner of several companies, he leads a team of 1000+ professionals focused on “Empowering Innovation and Transformative Change in the Built Environment.”
A licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer in 49 states, Certified Energy Manager and LEED Accredited Professional, David plays a significant role within ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers), serving as the Chair of TC9.9 and a current voting member. He has been pivotal in leading a research project on resiliency and in the development of Standard 90.4, the Energy Standard for Data Centers. Furthermore, David has contributed to books on Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) in collaboration with ASHRAE and The Green Grid (TGG).
In January 2026, Accenture acquired 65% majority stake in DLB and its affiliated companies, integrating the firm into Accenture’s Industry X practice to expand end-to-end AI data center capabilities.
Peter de Bock, Vice President Data Center Energy and Cooling, Eaton
Dr. Peter de Bock serves in Eaton's CTO Office, where he leads strategic initiatives for Eaton's data center technology roadmap. His work focuses on next-generation AI infrastructure, including power distribution, liquid cooling, digital engineering, system engineering, and technology partnerships that enable the industry's transition to higher-density data centers.
Previously Peter served as a Program Director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E agency, where he architected, and managed the COOLERCHIPS program, a breakthrough initiative establishing the technical foundation for hot‑water–cooled data centers. He also led the ASCEND program, pioneering Megawatt class power architectures. Prior to ARPA-E, he spent nearly two decades at General Electric Research as a principal engineer in thermosciences and platform leader for power and thermal management systems.
He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Cincinnati and MSc degrees from the University of Warwick and the University of Twente, and is an ASME Fellow, IEEE Senior Member and holds 68 patents and applications.