Experts and thought leaders from across the prpl Foundation have been recognized for their achievements and contributions to the industry at the 2023 Annual Awards Ceremony.
Held at the Orange Headquarters, the ceremony served to highlight three distinguished members of the prpl Foundation, who each received the prestigious Contributor Award. This year’s winners included Evgueni Tzvetanov, Distinguished Engineer, System Architecture at Verizon, Brandon Kern, Broadband CPE Architect at Dish Network, and João Freitas, Broadband Product Architect at Deutsche Telekom.
“The prpl Foundation Annual Awards provides the perfect opportunity to recognize the outstanding work of our members”, said prpl Foundation President Dr. Len Dauphinee. “The Contributor Award is presented to those who have gone above and beyond in their contributions to the prpl Foundation, our ongoing mission, and to the industry at large. I would like to personally congratulate Evgueni, Brandon and João for their dedication and achievements this past year and look forward to seeing their future successes going forward”.
Alongside his role as Distinguished Engineer, System Architecture at Verizon, Evgueni Tzvetanov is the Chair of the prpl Foundation Gateway Product Working Group, while he also Co-Chairs the prplOS and Security Assurance Working Groups. Evgueni has been rewarded for his valuable contributions to the 2023 Product & Technical Steering Committee Working Groups.
“Evgueni is always formulating solid analysis to address challenging technical situations”, said prpl Foundation Platinum Board Director Randy Zimler. “He is a key member of the Operator Community Working Group and is well known for his extensive knowledge of the prpl Foundation. Evgueni has a sense of humor that always delights the team, and he is a deserved winner of the Contributor Award”.
Brandon Kern is the Broadband CPE System Architect for Dish Network, and has an extensive background in AI Design, QA Automation Development and Broadband Networks. An active member in non-profit organizations, Brandon was the Chair of the Product Steering Committee (PSC) in 2022, leading the company to propose, review and approve project objectives. His success in this area of the Foundation led to Brandon being awarded the Contributor Award this year.
“Brandon has a passion for technology and has the key leadership skills to drive developments”, said prpl Foundation Gold Board Director and Senior Engineering Manager, Broadband Systems at Dish Network, Paul Keator. “His outstanding leadership during his appointment as Chair of the prpl PSC came as no surprise. I would like to congratulate Brandon for effortlessly leading prpl member priorities during his time as Chair and applaud him for his continued dedication to the Foundation”.
Drawn to technology from a young age, João Freitas works in Deutsche Telekom as End-to-End Broadband Product Architect. He is also the chairman of the prpl LCM and the HL-API working groups and brings extensive experience from other organisations such as Vodafone and Altice. João’s love for innovation has led to his involvement in the prpl Foundation, enabling him to put his background in architecture, software development and telecommunications into practice. This gave him the opportunity to take part in worldwide open-source projects and influence new and existing standards across this industry including USP/TR-369, TR-181 and TR-398.
Each award winner was nominated and voted for by the prpl Foundation Board, celebrating the successes and key developments they have driven over the course of the year.