On Thursday afternoon, Northern California's mission critical facilities community lost one of its most prominent members. Charles Krieger, an electrical engineering veteran who focused much of his career on designing electrical systems for data centers, passed away.

Widely recognized as one of the most successful electrical engineers and critical facilities consultants in the region, Krieger was involved in designing data centers for the likes of global colocation giant Equinix and Silicon Valley's main private utility PG&E.

CFRT: "(Krieger) will long be remembered for his passion for doing things right, his tenacious leadership, his personal integrity, and his delightful sense of challenge to the status quo."

His colleagues and friends remember him as an engineer with an innovative mind, always challenging the industry's conventional wisdom.

"He has always challenged electrical designs for reliability in data centers, always coming up with new approaches to making things more reliable," said Kling Stubbins' Bruce Myatt, Krieger's friend and colleague of about eight years. "He was ready to challenge the best in the country."

Krieger and Myatt were co-founders of Critical Facilities Round Table, San Francisco Bay Area's open forum for data center owners and operators to share information, gain new knowledge and improve their expertise in the field.

For 10 years after graduating from University of California with a degree in electrical engineering in 1947, Krieger worked at a San Francisco engineering consulting firm, according to CFRT Web site. He started his own consulting company - Charles H. Krieger and Associates - in 1957. Krieger sold the firm in the late 80's and continued working as an independent consultant, with primary focus on data centers.

Besides having designed electrical systems for many legacy data centers in Northern California, he was a registered electrical engineer in Nevada, Texas and Missouri. Krieger was a past president of the Illuminating Engineering Society's Golden Gate chapter and a past chairman of the San Francisco Uniform Electrical Interpretations Committee.

"He was a man of real integrity and truly a friend, once you've developed a relationship with him," Myatt said. "He was a fighter who was always ready to get out and lead a cause for something he believed in."