NovoLINC Appoints Tech Industry Veteran Bob Wenner as COO to Scale Product for AI Data Center Cooling

Wenner to lead operations, manufacturing, and strategic execution to accelerate NovoLINC's delivery to cool AI data-centers high-power, high-performance chips

PITTSBURGH, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NovoLINC, a pioneering thermal technology startup, announced the appointment of Bob Wenner as its Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors. With over 40 years of experience in the data storage industry, Wenner brings operational expertise and experience in scaling novel manufacturing processes to accelerate the company's growth and meet the increasing demand for NovoLINC's breakthrough thermal interface solution.

A critical thermal management challenge is rapidly arising at the heart of the race for next-generation AI data centers. Flagship GPUs now demand up to 1,200W per device, with that power density expected to triple in the next two years. Traditional thermal interface materials (TIMs) have become the weakest link in the system, unable to keep pace with the performance and reliability demands of modern AI systems. NovoLINC's breakthrough nanostructured thermal interface solution is engineered to eliminate this bottleneck, and the company is already working with leading semiconductor companies, hyperscalers, and AI infrastructure providers to dramatically improve thermal performance, increase compute reliability, and reduce data center energy consumption in the AI era.

"Bob has extensive leadership experience across operations, engineering, and manufacturing; he has driven innovation and operational excellence at the industry's top companies," said Ning Li, Ph.D, CEO and co-founder of NovoLINC. "We are very fortunate to have Bob come on board at this critical time as we are seeing incredible customer pull for our innovation. With his leadership, we will be able to accelerate the delivery of our products to customers."

"This is a transformative technology that doesn't come around often," said Wenner. "I'm incredibly excited to be part of NovoLINC and joining a group of very talented and experienced team members. With customers validating our game-changing thermal performance, I can't wait to help our customers break out from today's thermal limitations and extract more performance for the next-generation high-performance chips."

"Bob brings exactly the kind of operational leadership we need at this pivotal moment," said Ilja Aizenberg, Principal at M Ventures and member of NovoLINC's board of directors. "His proven track record of translating breakthrough technologies into high-volume production makes him uniquely qualified to help us deliver our thermal solutions at scale."

Previously, Wenner served as Head of Worldwide Equipment Development Engineering at Seagate Technology, overseeing all internally developed equipment across global manufacturing sites and teams across the U.S., Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and China. In addition, Wenner led R&D budget planning, product development processes, corporate quality initiatives, and strategic acquisitions in the CTO office. Prior to Seagate, Wenner held various leadership positions at IBM and Western Digital. 

About NovoLINC
NovoLINC is a pioneering startup in advanced thermal interface solutions, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. NovoLINC has developed an advanced nanostructured materials system and proprietary manufacturing process to revolutionize thermal management for high-performance computing, data centers, automotive, aerospace and power electronics. With a team of industry experts and partnerships with leading technology companies, NovoLINC aims to enable sustainable scaling of semiconductor and data center industries. Interested partners may contact the company via [email protected].

About M Ventures

M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital fund of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, investing in Biotechnology and Technology. M Ventures covers the areas of Healthcare drug development, Life Science tools, Electronics and Frontier Technology & Sustainability. M Ventures invests - with dual strategic and financial foci - into visionary companies that find new ways to: treat the most challenging diseases, empower scientists with cutting-edge research and development tools, develop new solutions that change the way in which information is accessed, stored, processed, and displayed and address some of the most complex challenges in sustainability and technology convergence. For more information, visit www.m-ventures.com.

SOURCE NovoLINC, Inc.