• Our team “Hyperscale WATTER-NEX”, led by Ann Mary Toms together with Linhan Fang, Hassan Zahid Butt, Rida Fatima, Fan Jiang, and Andrew Campos from the UH Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship (WCE), competed in the 5th annual UH Energy Innovation Competition sponsored by Chevron.

• Hyperscale WATTER-NEX is a decision-support and optimization platform that coordinates the power, cooling, and water infrastructure of hyperscale AI data centers across their entire lifecycle, from infrastructure planning and sizing before construction to operational optimization after commissioning.

• Eight teams entered the competition. After the Elimination Round on July 24, 2026, our team was selected as a finalist and received an award of $2,000.

• At the Final Pitch on August 28, 2026, our team placed third among the five finalist teams competing for the grand prize of $25,000.

• Ann Mary Toms led the team and contributed the most throughout the competition. Hyperscale WATTER-NEX grew out of her Ph.D. research, and she led the team’s preparation and presented our pitch. Thank you, Ann, for your leadership and hard work!

• Special thanks to Andrew Campos, who joined our team through the WCE program and helped us prepare and refine the pitch.

• The UH Energy Innovation Competition is organized by UH Energy and sponsored by Chevron.

Photos from the competition:

The Hyperscale WATTER-NEX team at the Final Pitch.

Ann Mary Toms pitching Hyperscale WATTER-NEX.

Finalist certificate for the 2026-2027 competition.