The Thermodynamics of Trading with Daniel Pontecorvo
About this episode
Daniel Pontecorvo discusses the challenges of heat exchange in datacenters and the importance of physical engineering in trading environments.
Daniel Pontecorvo runs the “physical engineering” team at Jane Street. This group blends architecture, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and construction management to build functional physical spaces. In this episode, Ron and Dan go deep on the challenge of heat exchange in a datacenter, especially in the face of increasingly dense power demands—and the analogous problem of keeping traders cool at their desks. Along the way they discuss the way ML is changing the physical constraints of computing; the benefits of having physical engineering expertise in-house; the importance of monitoring; and whether you really need Apollo-style CO2 scrubbers to ensure your office gets fresh air.
More episodes of Signals and Threads
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- Why ML Needs a New Programming Language with Chris Lattner
- Building Tools for Traders with Ian Henry
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- The Uncertain Art of Accelerating ML Models with Sylvain Gugger
- Solving Puzzles in Production with Liora Friedberg
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