CoolIT brings Liquid cooled PCs to the masses

Back in 2001, Calgarians Jason Myers, Sandy Scott, and Brydon Gierl set out to put a chill on the IT industry – literally. The three founders of CoolIT Systems were familiar with the “overclocking” crowd, the “hot rodders”, or tuners, of computing, and they knew that to coax more speed out of a computer, heat had to be dissipated. Liquid cooling was known to be the answer, but, up to that point, enthusiasts had to buy their own pump, run their own hose, install it and pray for no leaks. CoolIT Systems set out to change all that, harnessing the power of thermo electrics and liquid cooling to reduce temperatures with simple, reliable, standardized equipment.

Co-founder Sandy Scott’s idea was to build a liquid cooling system for computers, using the principles of thermo-electrics. The mission was deceptively simple; to address the electronic performance market via advanced liquid cooling, not just for super computers, but including mobile electronic devices and graphic card processors. The design and engineering behind that mission were anything but simple, with numerous patents and non-disclosure agreements protecting CoolIT’s intellectual property. CoolIT Systems’ products are now sold as installable add-ons at computer parts stores, as well as in original equipment from manufacturers such as Dell.

Personal Need Drives Innovative Solution Development

In 2001 Sandy Scott, an avid gamer, was annoyed his computer’s network card kept failing due to the heat generated by his graphics card. Most would have given up, bought a bigger fan or a new graphics card, but Scott had an idea. He threw together some sketches and spare parts and brought them to his then band-mate Brydon Gierl, who was operating a metal fabrication shop. While Gierl was “MacGyvering” up this first cooling unit, he got some advice from his accountant-neighbor Jason Myers on market size and opportunity.

That founding moment led to roughly four years of research, development, and intellectual property protection (the company holds numerous patents), all funded by capital from the founders, friends and family. In 2005, as CoolIT was nearing commercialization, now CEO Geoff Lyon joined the group. Lyon, one of the team behind the now famous Harmony Remote (since acquired by Logitech) brought with him a keen sense of commercialization, the importance of channel partners, and connections in Asian manufacturing. Lyon was tasked with building the go-to-market plan for CoolIT Systems.

“The entire industry wants to go faster with their CPUs. The only thing holding them back from going to liquid cooling, which is more efficient, is there have been no highly reliable suppliers with the track record, history, and ability to interface on a large scale with big entities like Dell or HP. We set out to be that company.” – Geoff Lyon, CEO

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