{"id":145136,"date":"2025-02-11T17:14:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T22:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//?p=145136"},"modified":"2025-02-13T15:33:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T20:33:32","slug":"ucf-alum-professor-team-up-to-power-next-generation-ai-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//ucf-alum-professor-team-up-to-power-next-generation-ai-data-centers/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136//","title":{"rendered":"UCF Alum, Professor Team Up to Power Next-generation AI Data Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keeping pace with the speed of light isn’t just a philosophy of chasing the future /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u2014 for UCF alum Jason Eichenholz /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u201995MS /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u201998PhD, it’s business./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n

“We’re well positioned to redefine the optical network of the future,” Eichenholz says./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n

That’s the vision for Relativity Networks, founded by Eichenholz and UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u2019s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) Professor Rodrigo Amezcua Correa. As the artificial intelligence (AI) industry grows, so does its need for data processing, which requires large amounts of energy. By 2026, data centers in the U.S. are expected to consume more than twice their current energy usage, and more than 40% of facilities are expected to face power shortages by 2027./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n

“Currently, new data centers can’t be built fast enough to satisfy the rapidly expanding AI-driven economy and the lack of available power is an existential threat to fueling that growth,” Eichenholz says./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n

Their solution? A patent-pending hollow-core fiber (HCF) cable that can transmit data nearly 50% faster than conventional glass fiber. The company has raised $4.6 million in pre-seed funding, and has already deployed the technology in multiple installations./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n

This large-scale innovation is familiar territory for Eichenholz. The holder of more than 90 U.S. patents was recently inducted into the National Academy of Inventors and the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida. He co-founded and served as chief technology officer of Luminar Technologies, one of the leading providers of lidar technology in driverless vehicles.  As a CREOL courtesy faculty member, he also maintains close ties with UCF, which he considers a key part of the first of three “life chapters” so far./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u201cI thought I was closing out my /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u2018chapter two/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u2019, but when I saw this technology, I realized this chapter is still being written,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u201d Eichenholz says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u201cBeing able to partner with UCF, which is near and dear to my heart, makes it that much better./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/145136/n