Dr. Leonard Dauphinee, MaxLinear
President, prpl Foundation
Len is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Broadband business unit at MaxLinear where he is responsible for technology direction and strategy.
He joined MaxLinear in 2012 as Vice President of Systems Engineering. In this role, he was responsible for hardware and software development across all products lines.
Prior to MaxLinear, he was at Broadcom since 1998 and led RFIC design for wired and wireless for broadband products. He received a Ph.D. in Electronics from Carleton University and is a named inventor on over 60 issued or filed U.S. patents.
Dan Mattox, Charter
Platinum Director
Wojtek Makowski, Orange
Platinum Director
Wojtek Makowski is the Vice President of the CPE Ecosystem at Orange. He is responsible for multi-operator collaboration in the CPE Ecosystem, streamlining innovation efforts of operators in the Connected Home and creating an open-source basis for a Software and Data driven innovation platform shared by the entire broadband industry.
Before joining Orange, Wojtek served as CTO for SoftAtHome – a leading software company providing solutions for operators’ home gateways, Wi-Fi extenders, set-top-boxes, voice assistants etc. He was also actively involved in working with standardization groups for the broadband industry, such as Home Gateway Initiative, Broadband Forum, Wi-Fi Alliance and prpl Foundation.
Wojtek started his professional career in France in 1991 developing Operational Support System solutions for France Telecom and other telecommunication operators. Since the mid-1990s he has founded or joined several start-up companies where he held positions of CTO, VP Engineering and CEO. He has a strong multi-cultural business background – having served for companies in different European countries, including France, Poland and the United Kingdom.
Wojtek holds an MSc in Computer Science from Technical University of Gdansk & IT Institute, Poland where he ranked first at graduation.
Randy Zimler, Verizon
Platinum Director
Randy Zimler is an accomplished business and technical leader specializing in IT / IP based networking product and services development. He has a comprehensive track record delivering value through effective command of product development, product management, technology assessment, technical operations, mission-critical initiatives, and developing / leading top-performing teams.
Recognized subject matter expert in multiple areas of business / technology including telecommunications, IT platform integration, home networking, home automation and residential / commercial security and fire protection; competitive advantage stems from industry experience and applied skill sets. Creates solutions and addresses challenges by leveraging diversified mix of business and technical acumen.
– Licensed Low Voltage Alarm Systems Contractor
– Board Chairman – State Regulator – Georgia Secretary of State Licensing Division – Low Voltage Contractors
Technology Architecture • IT •System Engineering • Contract Negotiation • Vendor Management • Project Management • Product Management • Product Development • IoT Platforms and Devices • Research & Development • Strategic Planning • Software Quality Assurance • Consumer Product Regulatory & Safety • Technical Documentation Development • Employee Development • Innovation leadership • Broadband Forum • 3GPP • CPE • Home Networking • Wi-Fi • 26 awarded US Patents.
Paul Keator, Dish Network
Gold Director
Highly motivated professional with 22 years’ experience in the Telecommunications industry emphasizing on broadband and Internet-based solutions. Proven leadership skills and demonstrated success in developing strategies, translating them into tactical executions while concentrating on growth and revenue objectives. Expert in network standardization along with in-home strategies. Well versed from the core to the home with a unique understanding from an engineering and product perspective. Very technical while understanding the product / customer strategy of the ecosystem. Always focused on customer satisfaction and cost optimization.
Proven collaborator and leader of the conversation in a customer or internal setting driving the conversation focusing on solutions that meet the customers or internal partner’s needs. Willing to have the hard conversations with executive management to drive the right solutions for the business and customer. Enjoyed success in leading merger activities and strategic planning to drive the company in a successful direction.
Strong experience participating in industry standards bodies including the HomeGrid Forum, Broadband Forum along with prpl. Currently, the Director of the Board for the HomeGrid Forum.
Ian Wheelock, Commscope
Silver Director
Ian Wheelock is an Engineering Fellow in CommScope’s Home Network CTO team. He’s worked in the broadband industry for over 20 years with Com21 Inc, ARRIS and CommScope. He works closely with product and engineering (SW & HW) teams developing CommScope’s newest home networking devices, and also engages with CommScope’s customers, bringing insights into new technology directions, standards and CommScope innovations. He works in areas such as Wi-Fi, virtualisation/containerisation, DOCSIS, xPON, FWA, IOT as well as the networking stacks, services and network management.
He has a broad background in product development and innovation, initially architecting and developing real-time IP Networking platforms for many years, and for the last 12 years a focus on Broadband Home Devices and home networking solutions. His expertise focus currently is the creation of new consumer connectivity experiences based on new Home Edge Software architectures, next generation Wi-Fi delivery and services, Virtualised service solutions and quality of service across various access networks Cable/DOCSIS, PON and Fixed Wireless access.
Ian represents CommScope on multiple standards bodies including CableLabs, Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), Broadband Forum (BBF), SCTE/SCTE-EU and of course the prpl Foundation where he has been a member since 2016. He is a co-chair of the WFA EasyMesh working group and works with the WFA and the OB-MAP group in BBF to help expand work into WFA Data Elements.
Wayne Daniel, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Silver Director
Wayne has held various technical and team leadership positions on some cool projects with a few companies. He currently serves as Sr Director, Technology at Qualcomm, a leader in wireless mobile and home networking technologies including, 5G/4G/3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth technologies. His main role is to work with North American network operators to introduce new wireless technologies and features to market. Previously, he worked at WiQuest bringing to market short range high speed Ultrawideband (UWB) technology for wireless USB and Wireless Digital Video. Prior to that, he worked for some fun companies like Efficient Networks which grew to be the world's leading customer premise equipment provider enabling broadband for millions of Internet users, Spectrapoint Wireless as a Systems Engineer developing one of the first mmW fixed wireless broadband systems, and Texas Instruments working on semiconductor and military projects. Wayne has been fortunate to participate in some leading-edge projects such as, 5G & Wi-Fi 6E Connected Home CPE, a DARPA sponsored super-computer concept demonstration, the mission display computer for the Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter, the F-16 Modular Mission Computer, and one of the first commercial GPS products – displayed in the Smithsonian Museum!
Wayne’s past roles include: Business Development, Strategic/Technical Marketing, Technology Guidance, Innovation and IPR Management, Systems Engineering, Project Management, as well as hardware and software design. He has participated in standards bodies such as, ATM Forum, HomePlug Alliance, and DSL/Broadband Forum including being awarded an Outstanding Service Award for his work as Co-Chair of the Broadband Home Technical Working Group. He is an IEEE Senior member, a licensed PE with Texas Board of Professional Engineers, and has been awarded seven patents. Wayne holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Southwestern Louisiana.
John Blackford, Commscope
Community Director
John Blackford is a Product Management Director at CommScope within the Home Networking Business Unit. His current focus is the development of products for the management and control of the connected home. His career includes 20+ years of data and telecommunications experience in engineering, software architecture, and product management.
John currently serves as the project leader for the OB-USP-Agent open source project, the Broadband User Services Work Area Co-Director within the Broadband Forum, and is the Chairman of the Broadband Forum board of directors. John previously worked for Efficient Networks, Siemens, 2Wire, Pace, and ARRIS where he has consistently expanded his knowledge of remotely managing devices in the connected home. He has received both the Broadband Forum’s Circle of Excellence award and Outstanding Contributor award. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Midwestern State University.
David Barr, MaxLinear
Technical Steering Committee Chair
David Barr is Director of Standards at MaxLinear. He founded and led the successful EasyMesh effort, now adopted and certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Other efforts include next-gen Access Networks such as Full-Duplex DoCSIS specifications for cable operators.
Prior to that, he developed MAC- and PHY-layer home networking and access technologies, such as co-founding the effort that led to the IEEE 1905.1 Standard, upon which EasyMesh is based.
Arnaud Bensaid, SoftAtHome
Marketing Committee Chair
As Vice President Marketing at SoftAtHome, he is responsible for Product Management, Product Marketing and Marketing Communication. He participated to the creation of SoftAtHome where he initially heads business development before taking in charge the Marketing activities. Arnaud has over 25 years of experience in the Telecom & Media industry. Prior to joining SoftAtHome, Arnaud served as Strategy & Management Consultant at Capgemini Telecom & Media. he is a graduate from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications - Telecom ParisTech.
Thomas Staneker, KAON Media
Treasurer
Thomas Staneker is SVP at KAON Media EMEA and has a vast experience in TV and Telco.
He has more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, spanning from R&D over product management to marketing and corporate strategy. He started in 1986 in Alcatel, where he stayed until 2005, when he moved from vendor to service provider, joining Deutsche Telekom. Since late 2017, he is back at the supplier side, leading sales in DACH and parts of EMEA at Kaonmedia. Having worked and lived in 6 countries, his experience is not only related to telecommunications and media but he also fluently speaks French, Italian, English and German.
Major projects and achievements include:
– Developing the world’s first analogue optical amplifier, allowing cable operators to transform coax networks into HFC networks
– Development of DVB based Cable Modem and Cable Telephony (before DOCSIS)
– Developing the world’s first 600Mbps digital SDH multiplexer for both the SONET hierarchy
– Pioneering IPTV, starting in the late 90s, building the world’s largest footprint of IPTV deployments
– Pioneering Internet-on-TV with the first DVB-T/IP settop box, developed for Deutsche Telekom
– Launching the first cross-national DTH satellite service in Slovakia, aggregating content on a common technology basis with Hungary
– Heading the first Shared Service Center for product development in Budapest, aggregating and leading a virtual team of up to 60 HW and SW engineers in 7 Eastern and Southern European countries
– Pioneering some of the world’s leading telecom cloud projects at Deutsche Telekom, centralizing the delivery of a unique User Experience through streamed UI and Meta Data