podcast
details
.com
Print
Share
Look for any podcast host, guest or anyone
Search
Showing episodes and shows of
Mara Ervin & Val Crafton
Shows
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Nuclear Power by 2026? The Data Center Energy Crisis
The energy conversation in data centers just got real. In this episode, we dive deep with Alison Krager Hahn from the Department of Energy and Rhea Williams from E3 Energy Partners on the hybrid strategies reshaping how we power digital infrastructure. From nuclear timelines that will surprise you to the natural gas bridges we need today, this conversation cuts through the noise to deliver the hard truths about America's power crisis. Key Insights from This Episode: • Nuclear deployment is accelerating faster than expected - with concrete 2026 timelines and construction already underway for commercial advanced reactors • Natural gas represents the crit...
2025-07-17
39 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
The Eight-Week Mark: What We’ve Learned, and What Comes Next
Eight weeks into Beyond the Megawatt, Mara and Val pause to reflect on what they've learned about starting a podcast, challenging industry norms, and amplifying voices that typically don't get heard. This honest conversation reveals the real motivations behind their platform and why non-traditional career paths might be exactly what the data center industry needs. Key Insights: • The shame of non-traditional paths - Why many successful professionals hide their unconventional routes into infrastructure and construction • Breaking conference barriers - How arbitrary rules keep fresh voices off industry panels and what need...
2025-07-10
50 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Talent That Scales: Redefining People Strategy in Mission Critical Infrastructure
Half of all data center talent will retire within the next decade. At the same time, we need to double our workforce to meet exploding infrastructure demand. This isn't just another workforce challenge—it's an existential threat to the mission-critical systems that power our digital economy. Dr. Tracy Brown (Chief of Staff) and Lisa Stevens (Head of HR at CleanArc Data Centers) join Valerie Crafton to tackle the hard truths about talent development in mission-critical infrastructure. From the cultural disconnect veterans face transitioning to corporate environments to the performance review theater that wastes everyone's ti...
2025-07-03
38 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Can Data Centers Ever Be Sustainable? These Women Say Yes!
What happens when you put three sustainability leaders in one room and ask them to call BS on industry practices? You get the most honest conversation about data center sustainability we've had yet. Karen Cooper (DLR Group), Jenna Middaugh (Green Building Initiative), and Patricia Leyva (Equinix) didn't hold back. From fear-based pricing to parallel study failures, this episode tackles why sustainability initiatives keep getting blamed for project problems—and what to do about it. Key Insights From This Episode: • Sustainability should be code-required, not optional — No one argues...
2025-06-26
41 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Redefining Power: Transformational Leadership in a Transactional Industry
Leadership in mission-critical industries isn't broken—it's being measured all wrong. This conversation with executive coach Lori Severson and leadership expert Andrea Janzen exposes the invisible barriers keeping transformational leaders stuck and offers a bold roadmap for change. Key Revelations: • Why women's leadership journey feels like "dying by a thousand cuts"—and how those small moments add up to systemic exclusion • The missing metrics that keep our most effective leaders overlooked while rewarding outdated transactional behaviors • How to handle "you're too aggressive" criticism in real-time without losing your authentic...
2025-06-19
48 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
AI, Audacity & the Education Reboot We’re Too Scared to Start
What if the solution to the data center workforce crisis starts in kindergarten? Dr. Sharon Jones, founder of the Dottie Rose Foundation, joins us for a conversation that challenges everything you think you know about AI education, workforce development, and the future of technical careers. From her unexpected journey from DJ dreams to computer science advocacy, Sharon reveals why "the power of the blend" - human creativity combined with AI capabilities - is the key to thriving in our rapidly evolving industry. Key Insights: • Start AI literacy ea...
2025-06-12
45 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Digging Differently: The Hidden Innovation Transforming Data Center Construction
Sometimes the most transformative technology comes from the most unexpected places. In this episode, we go below the surface—literally—to explore how hydro excavation is changing data center construction, winter operations, and workplace culture in ways that extend far beyond digging. Kristy Black didn't start Black Hydrovac because she discovered a passion for construction equipment. She started it because she wanted to build teams of people who could think, solve problems, and grow in an industry that too often treats skilled workers as interchangeable parts. What emerged is a company that's revolutionizing both exca...
2025-06-05
40 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Fiber, Foresight, & The future: Solving for scale in the age of AI
What happens when AI meets data center infrastructure? Dan Molloy—known throughout the industry as "Fiber Dan"—brings decades of networking expertise and bold predictions about the future of mission-critical systems. From his early days discovering the internet in high school to his current role as a fiber infrastructure expert, Dan offers a unique perspective on how artificial intelligence will reshape everything from workforce training to blockchain applications in hyperscale environments. Key Insights & Bold Takes • AI isn't coming for technical jobs first—it's targeting middle management decision-making while making hands-on expertise more valuable...
2025-05-29
30 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Design to Handover: Closing the Gap on Commissioning, Workforce, and the Future of Ops
What happens when you combine decades of commissioning expertise with a vision for transforming how we develop the next generation of infrastructure talent? You get a conversation that challenges everything from when commissioning should start to how we can solve the workforce crisis while building better facilities. Lillian Rivera and Jim McEnteggart are launching 21st Century Ops with a bold approach that flips traditional commissioning on its head. Instead of bringing operational expertise in at the end of projects, they're advocating for "operationally directed design" that considers the humans who'll operate these systems for...
2025-05-29
30 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Mic Check: Accountability, Origins, and the Truth Behind the Podcast
Welcome to our inaugural episode! Hosts Mara Ervin and Valerie Crafton sit down with psychotherapist and workplace wellbeing consultant Kate Ahl for an honest conversation about inclusion, allyship, and the hidden challenges facing professionals in mission-critical industries. This isn't your typical diversity discussion. We dig into why women are leaving tech and construction as fast as they're entering, what neurodivergent thinking brings to complex problem-solving, and why creating inclusive workplaces benefits everyone—not just underrepresented groups. Key Themes Explored: • The disconnect between conference visibility and job site real...
2025-05-29
43 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
🎙️ Beyond the Megawatt: Live from the Cloud Run! ☁️
Your Co-Hosts Mara Ervin & Valerie Crafton MBA are thrilled to share our latest episode, recorded live at the 3rd Annual Cloud Run hosted by the 7x24 Exchange DC Chapter. This special edition kicks off with the race start, led by the dynamic Scott Davis with HazTek Safety Management, setting the tone for a day filled with energy and community spirit. Throughout the event, we posed a seemingly simple question: “What is or where is the cloud?” The answers ranged from...
2025-05-22
08 min
Beyond the Megawatt: Data Center Design, Technology Challenges, and Infrastructure Innovation
Coming Soon: Beyond the Megawatt - The Data Center Podcast You've Been Waiting For
Hosts Mara and Val introduce their new podcast "Beyond the Megawatt" from Data Center World, created specifically to amplify the voices of tech leaders who are actually building data centers but rarely get heard at conferences. Tired of the same perspectives week after week, they're digging into the weeds to find the people tackling real pain points and asking the audacious question: "Is it actually working?" Expect tough conversations, industry callouts, and plenty of laughter as they learn from those building infrastructure right now. New episodes will drop every Thursday. ...
2025-05-04
01 min