Bridge Data Centres

Binghua Zhang brings extensive experience across data centre planning, site selection, construction, energy efficiency and operations. His career includes technical leadership at Baidu and ChinData Group, alongside industry standards work through the Open Data Center Committee, which he has chaired since 2015.

Binghua Zhang’s engineering contribution lies in connecting data centre design with the demands of delivery and long-term operation. Across hyperscale infrastructure, his focus is on how power, cooling, computing equipment and maintenance requirements work together, while shared engineering practices help teams carry that discipline into future projects.

At Baidu, Zhang worked across planning, site selection, construction, energy efficiency and operations, with further technical leadership experience at ChinData Group. That breadth informs his focus at BDC on connecting infrastructure design with delivery and the conditions a facility must meet in service.

Connecting Computing to Infrastructure

Zhang’s approach starts with the computing requirement and works outward. His experience leading systems and data centre engineering at Baidu taught him to connect IT architecture with the physical infrastructure that supports it. As AI hardware changes, power and thermal requirements can shift quickly; the utility connection, distribution path, cooling systems and rack design therefore, cannot be treated as separate decisions.

AI readiness also requires attention to maintenance access and future expansion. The building and its critical systems must remain useful through changes in equipment over a longer period than the hardware they initially accommodate. BDC’s prefabricated construction at Sedenak was delivered in under nine months, illustrating the role of off-site preparation and repeatable processes in the project’s delivery. Its liquid cooling work addresses higher-density computing needs.

“ The responsibility of a CTO is to connect technical innovation with practical deployment, while creating the standards, partnerships and talent that allow that progress to continue. ”

Developed with Morong Electric, PowerCore 5.0 integrates transformers, power distribution, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), supporting cooling, fire protection and monitoring in a factory-assembled and tested module. Factory integration can proceed alongside site civil works, while the modular design allows capacity to be added in phases. Each deployment must still account for local grid conditions, climate, regulations and commissioning requirements.

Turning Collaboration Into Practice

Zhang’s industry contribution extends beyond BDC. He has chaired the Open Data Center Committee (ODCC) since 2015, participating in work that translates engineering experience into shared technical practices. The work on prefabricated data centre modules, including standard YD/T3291-2017, illustrates this focus on common engineering foundations.

At BDC, shared knowledge must show up in requirements, interfaces and tests. Zhang expects specialist partners to challenge designs and understand how their equipment behaves as part of the whole system—including during faults, maintenance and changes in load. In Malaysia, BDC’s liquid cooling collaboration with Vertiv included a full-scale factory acceptance test to assess performance, stability and integration before deployment.

The Vertiv factory acceptance test provides a concrete example of BDC assessing performance and system integration before deployment. A specific example of how Zhang carries lessons from such tests into later projects would further establish the impact of his engineering leadership.

Planning for Power and Resources

For Zhang, power-first design means establishing dependable power availability and distribution early, then coordinating cooling, maintenance access and future capacity around the intended computing load. The approach connects AI requirements to the infrastructure decisions that determine how a facility can be delivered and operated.

At Ulu Tiram, BDC uses treated effluent for cooling, reducing reliance on potable water. Sedenak has recorded annualized power usage effectiveness (PUE) below 1.2. Together, the examples show how resource use and energy performance are part of infrastructure planning.

Zhang advises emerging leaders to stay close to design, commissioning and operations, while weighing technical choices against delivery dates, capital expenditure, operating costs and customer requirements. A lower-cost component is not necessarily the better choice if it raises maintenance risk or limits expansion; additional capacity must have a defined purpose.

Across infrastructure integration, pre-deployment testing and industry collaboration, Zhang’s work reflects a consistent priority. Engineering decisions must hold up in operation. That discipline becomes particularly important as AI changes the demands placed on data centre power, cooling and capacity.