As late night personal computer gamers, both Daren Klum and Chad Attlesey grew tired of investing in expensive gaming computers that frequently overheated. They knew that the heat emanating from the powerful components inside caused system instability and poor performance and that major computer manufacturers were struggling to solve the heat problem.
So, in 2005 the two friends set out to find a solution. At the time, Daren was a successful sales and marketing professional who enjoyed building computers in his basement for friends, and Chad was an accomplished high-tech product designer for the military with a background in industrial design and electro-mechanical engineering.
Experience told them that liquid submersion was the best solution for displacing heat. They developed a safe and reliable high-performance liquid-submerged personal computer and quickly patented the technology. Daren and Chad then incorporated as Hardcore Computer, Inc and brought on Al Berning as CEO. Al’s experience and leadership in successfully launching high-profile computer products at IBM and PEMSTAR made him the perfect choice.
Today, Hardcore Computer custom-designs and manufactures top-tier, high-performance computer systems that use a variety of patented Hardcore Computer technologies, including liquid-submersion cooling. By mitigating heat and building systems from the ground up, Hardcore Computer is able to push computer technology to its limits. In addition to high performance computer systems, Hardcore Computer’s liquid-submersion technology is suitable for cooling a number of computing platforms, including servers, console gaming machines and laptops.
Corporate address:
Hardcore Computer
2717 Highway 14 West, Suite D
Rochester, MN 55901
Phone: 1-866-530-0101
Office Hours
Executive Biographies
Allen J. Berning
Chief Executive Officer
Hardcore Computer founders Chad Attlesey and Daren Klum recruited Al from Pemstar, a company he founded in 1994. He served as chairman and CEO and led Pemstar’s Nasdaq IPO in 2000.
Since coming to Hardcore, Al has focused on building the corporate infrastructure needed to sustain the company’s growth and on ensuring that quality remains high while product development cycle times are kept to a minimum. Along with Chad and Daren, Al shares responsibility for Hardcore’s day‐to‐day operations.
Prior to Pemstar, Al held numerous engineering and management positions over a 15‐year career with IBM in process engineering, cost engineering and supply chain management and operations, including most recently as Operations Manager for IBM’s Rochester Storage Systems facility. He led the supply chain/operations teams that provided support for several key product launches, including the AS/400, the first RAID storage system and the first MR head disk drive.
Al received a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from St. Cloud State University. In 1999, he won the National Entrepreneur of the Year for Emerging Companies award and in 2005 was selected by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to serve on the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee. In addition, he served as board member and past chair of the Greater Rochester Area University Center, and also served on the 2007 Olmsted County United Way Campaign Cabinet and Board.
Daren Klum
Co‐Founder / President
As co‐founder and president for Hardcore Computer, Daren is directly responsible for revenue generation efforts as well as the day‐to‐day operations of the company’s sales and marketing initiatives. Daren has more than 15 years of business development, technology and implementation experience in entertainment, information technology and Internet‐related disciplines. He has held key positions at ABC/Disney Radio, The Gartner Group, Digital River, Sprint Business, and Time Warner and developed a portfolio of Fortune 1000 clients that include IBM, Netscape, Covad, Nash Finch, American Express/Ameriprise, General Dynamics, Seagate Technologies, Medica and Datacard. Daren also co‐founded Mobile Broadcasting Corporation with business partner Keith Pagan, Vice President of Disney Broadcast Alliances and former business manager of Ed McMahon.
Daren holds an Associate degree in broadcasting communications from Brown College in Minneapolis, studied business at Minnesota State University in Mankato and then earned a Bachelor’s degree in mass communications for University of Minnesota.
Chad D. Attlesey
Co‐Founder and Chief Technology/Design Officer
As co-founder and chief technology / design officer for Hardcore Computer, Chad spearheads all technology design and development for the company and has filed for and received patents in the areas of computer hardware architecture and cooling systems.
Chad has nearly two decades in technology creation, management and development, with extensive knowledge in the fields of product design, electro-mechanical engineering, computer hardware architecture, thermal management, human interface design, human factors, graphic design, computer-aided design and multimedia design applications.
Prior to Hardcore Computer, Chad owned i, Incorporated, an engineering and design consulting service, where he produced designs and managed development to production ramping of high-tech deliverables, including rugged, wearable and hand-held computers for military applications. Chad also co-founded and served as president and chief technology officer for MindSet, Incorporated, where he invented head-worn display technology, developed night-vision devices, created a variety of other body-worn computer and human interface technologies and delivered prototypes to the U.S. military. Prior to his work with MindSet, Chad worked for and with Pemstar, a leading provider of engineering automation and test equipment services.
Chad holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering with a business management minor from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, and performed graduate coursework in industrial design at the IIT Institute of Design and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.