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Susan Kovac’s Remarkable Journey: A Retrospective on Her Retirement from Soltex
In the business world, some individuals leave an indelible mark on their organizations as well as the overall marketplace in which they served. Susan Kovacs is undoubtedly one of them. After dedicating 33 years to the company, Susan is now embarking on a well-deserved retirement. In this blog post, we’ll delve into her incredible journey, her contributions, and her thoughts on retirement.
A Journey Spanning Over Three Decades
Susan’s story at Soltex began when the company opened its doors in September 1990. From day one, she was a key part of the team, and her role in sales was her passion and strong suit. Her unwavering commitment to Soltex and its customers is evident in her impressive tenure, spanning over three decades. Susan had previously worked with Tony Massoud, Founder and CEO, and later met his business partner, Dave Brandt. These relationships were instrumental in Soltex’s early success. Susan’s admiration for her colleagues and their shared vision kept her rooted at Soltex throughout her career.
Memorable Moments and Milestones
Over the years, Susan witnessed numerous milestones and memorable moments at Soltex. She vividly remembers the excitement of their first order and the subsequent growth of the company. Polybutene became a cornerstone product for Soltex, and Susan played a pivotal role in managing our largest Polybutene accounts. She excelled at solidifying long-term trust with our valued customers.
Soltex’s growth journey was not without challenges. Susan and the team recognized the importance of expanding its product offerings beyond Polybutene to ensure long-term success. They focused on performance additives and the dielectric fluids business, adapting to the evolving industry landscape.
Among her many accomplishments, Susan took pride in developing and growing the cable oil/dielectric fluids business. Soltex has become the premier supplier in this field, known for high-quality products, exceptional customer service, reliability, and fair market-based pricing.
Valuable Lessons from Susan’s Career
Susan’s career at Soltex taught her the value of hard work, persistence, and always treating people with respect and kindness. These principles have shaped the culture at Soltex, emphasizing the importance of every team member’s contribution.
Susan witnessed significant changes in technology throughout her career, from the absence of computers and cell phones to the prevalence of emails and Zoom meetings. This has driven home to her and the rest of the Soltex organization the enduring importance of personal contact and face-to-face meetings for maintaining relationships and successful partnerships.
To new employees starting their careers at Soltex, Susan offers valuable advice: listen, find your own style, work hard, be responsive, and always be honest. She highlights the importance of learning from mistakes and understanding that everyone is unique.
The Road to Retirement
As Susan embarks on retirement, she looks forward to spending quality time with her family, traveling, and continuing her work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Additionally, she will remain involved with Soltex as a Board of Advisors member.
Conclusion
Susan’s retirement marks the end of an era at Soltex, but her legacy of dedication, hard work, and kindness will continue to inspire current and future employees. She leaves behind a company that has grown and thrived during her career, and her story serves as a testament to the power of passion and commitment in the workplace. Soltex and its employees will undoubtedly miss Susan, but her influence will continue to shape the company’s culture for years to come. We wish Susan a joyful and fulfilling retirement, knowing that her next adventure will be just as remarkable as her career at Soltex.
Soltex Employees Continue to Make a Difference in Suicide Prevention
In a recent demonstration of Soltex’s commitment to making a difference in its community, on November 4, 2023, members of the Soltex team participated in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) annual fundraiser, the “Out of the Darkness Walk” in Morris County, New Jersey. This inspiring event raised a remarkable $100,000 for suicide prevention.
The AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states and organizes walks across those chapters to raise awareness and help change the conversation about mental health, striving to put a stop to this tragic loss of life. Susan Kovacs, a dedicated member of the Soltex team, expressed the importance of suicide prevention and awareness, saying, “We must remember that suicide is a public health crisis that affects people from all walks of life. Our participation in the Out of the Darkness Walk and our support for the AFSP is a tangible way to contribute to the vital work of raising awareness and providing resources to those in need.”
The AFSP creates a culture that’s smart about mental health by engaging in core strategies. The AFSP stresses the importance of funding scientific research, educating the public about mental health and suicide, advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention, and supporting survivors of suicide loss and those affected by suicide.
This year, the Morris County Walk raised an impressive $100,000, and the entire New Jersey chapter of AFSP has raised $1 million to date for this important cause. Soltex looks forward to once again participating in the 2023 walk in Morris County, continuing its mission to make a positive impact on suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
Report: NREL Liquid Cooled Server Experiments with Opticool
Results for Liquid Submerged Server Experiments at NREL’s Advanced HVAC Systems Laboratory
Eric Kozubal
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Acknowledgements
The author would like to recognize the following efforts and people from NREL for their assistance in this
project:
- The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) program for funding the project through a competitive selection process,
- James Shelby who installed the operating systems and PTU software, and created scripts to operate and collect data on the servers,
- David Sickinger who provided insight into the operation of liquid cooled data centers and assisted in the experimental design,
- Kevin Regimbal who provided guidance and insight to the operation of liquid cooled data centers, and
- Report reviewers: David Sickinger, Jennifer Scheib, Kate Cheesbrough, Shanti Pless, and Otto VanGeet
The IN2 program would like to thank the following organizations for supporting the project by donating components and materials used in the LiquidCool Solutions LSS system:
- Intel Corporation for providing Xeon processors
- Micron Technology for providing server memory
- DSI Ventures for providing the dielectric coolant
Personnel from Intel Corporation also reviewed the content of this report
Executive Summary
LiquidCool Solutions (LCS) has developed liquid submerged server (LSS) technology that changes the manner in which computer electronics are cooled. The technology provides an option to cool electronics by the direct contact flow of dielectric fluid (coolant) into a sealed enclosure housing all the electronics of a single server. The intimate dielectric fluid contact with electronics improves the effectiveness of heat removal from the electronics. The LSS technology has the following advantages over traditional aircooled server systems:
- Maintains a small difference between central processing unit (CPU) and memory temperatures and inlet coolant temperature, allowing for:
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- Use of higher temperature coolant
- Higher temperature heat recovery
- Ability to maintain lower electronic temperatures
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- Eliminates the parasitic cooling energy used by fans
- Lower capital and energy costs in a building that contains a data center because the heat
removed from the servers can:- More effectively be rejected to ambient using lower cost systems
- Be re-used effectively as a heating source for the building.
The LSS shown in Figure 1 is encased in a liquid tight aluminum housing and was outfitted with two
windows such that the internal electronics and motherboard are visible.
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