Featured Speakers
Mr. Dmitriy Kovsh, Senior Director of System Design and Product Management, Subcom (USA)
Biography: Dmitriy received his M.S. in Applied Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and PhD in Optics from CREOL, School of Optics, University of Central Florida. After joining SubCom Research and Development Organization in Eatontown, New Jersey he was studying optical transmission through long haul fiber links and introducing numerical models to simulate performance of undersea communication systems. Dmitriy was a lead developer of simulation software tools used by engineers and researchers to study and optimize undersea systems that utilize wide range of technologies from 10G direct detection and dispersion managed point-to-point links to 400G coherent transponders and dynamically reconfigurable undersea networks. Dmitriy later moved to manage Wet-Plant Design and served as Director of Transmission Design Group. He is currently a Senior Director of System Design and Product Management within Customer Solution Organization of SubCom. His responsibilities include design and implementation of technical solutions that SubCom offers to its customers as well as management of SubCom product portfolio.
Talk Title: Subsea Communications.
Abstract: This presentation will explore how operators and equipment providers are incorporating improvements in optical performance and spectral density to improve the efficiency of the subsea fiber they are installing and maintaining. It will address design methodology, “Open Cable,” and enabling technologies.
Mr. Loukas Paraschis, Senior Director, Infinera Cloud Transport (USA)
Biography: Loukas Paraschis is senior director of cloud transport system engineering for Internet and content providers at Infinera. From 2007-2015, Loukas was Cisco’s senior technology architect for wireline transport in global service provider, and from 2000-2006 technical leader in Cisco optical networking and routing. He has (co)authored more than 100 peer‐reviewed publications, invited and tutorial presentations, book chapters, and 5 patents, has served in many IEEE and OSA leadership positions, including the OFC and JOCN steering committees, as JOCN associated editor, IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Lecturer (2009), and is an OSA Fellow (2011). Loukas graduated from Stanford University (PhD 1999, MS 1998) where he worked at the Information Systems and Networking Research laboratories. He was born in Athens, Greece, where he completed his undergraduate studies.
Talk Title: Optical Networking.
Abstract: This presentation will address the impact on optical networks of the explosive growth of cloud-based applications that has been the biggest revolution in networking since the proliferation of the Internet more than 20 years ago. It will also address how new applications that are driving cloud-based transport networks.
Prof. Jason Yi-Bing Lin, Winbond Chair Professor, National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan),
Biography: Yi-Bing Lin is Winbond Chair Professor of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). He received his Bachelor’s degree from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, in 1983, and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, USA, in 1990. From 1990 to 1995 he was a Research Scientist with Bellcore (Telcordia). He then joined NCTU in Taiwan, where he remains. In 2010, Lin became a lifetime Chair Professor of NCTU, and in 2011, the Vice President of NCTU. During 2014 – 2016, Lin was Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Since 2016, Lin has been appointed as Vice Chancellor, University System of Taiwan (for NCTU, NTHU, NCU, and NYM).
Lin is an Adjunct Research Fellow, Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Research Center for Information Technology Innovation, Academia Sinica, and a member of board of directors, Chunghwa Telecom. He serves on the editorial boards of IEEE Trans. on Vehicular Technology. He is General or Program Chair for prestigious conferences including ACM MobiCom 2002. He is Guest Editor for several journals including IEEE Transactions on Computers. Lin is the author of the books Wireless and Mobile Network Architecture (Wiley, 2001), Wireless and Mobile All-IP Networks (John Wiley,2005), and Charging for Mobile All-IP Telecommunications (Wiley, 2008). Lin received numerous research awards including 2005 NSC Distinguished Researcher, 2006 Academic Award of Ministry of Education and 2008 Award for Outstanding contributions in Science and Technology, Executive Yuen, 2011 National Chair Award, and TWAS Prize in Engineering Sciences, 2011 (The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World). He is in the advisory boards or the review boards of various government organizations including Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and National Science Council. Lin is AAAS Fellow, ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, and IET Fellow.
Talk Title: Smart Agriculture Networks.
Abstract: Agriculture is constantly under pressure to improve yields, lower costs, and minimize environmental side effects. This presentation will explore how smart Internet of Things (IoT) networking and sensor technologies will impact the agriculture supply chain and help create next generation agriculture.
Mr. Robert Shapiro, Chief Technology Officer, Intelligent Building Technology, Inc. (USA)
Biography: Robert C. Shapiro, P.E. is the Chief Technology Officer of Intelligent Building Technology Inc. and a Land Mobile Radio Engineer and Consultant professional serving the Public Safety, Electric Utility, Energy, Transportation and Telecommunications industries based in Plano, Texas, USA.
Robert’s 35 years of experience in public safety and critical communications begins with large nationwide systems focusing on maximum radio coverage and capacity, evolves to regional systems and migrates to municipal and micro systems including relevance to smart cities and buildings. These systems include applications like voice push to talk, video and situational awareness. The applications use features like body sensors, area wide sensors, cameras, small and large cells, narrowband private land mobile radio and 5G including front-haul and back-haul voice and data transport.
Robert has held his Professional Engineering Certification Texas since 1990. He is a Fellow of the Radio Club of America and a Member of the IEEE since 1981 and Senior Member since 2003. He has over 30 articles published in industry magazines and in IEEE conferences as poster sessions.
Talk Title: Public Safety Networks and Critical Communications.
Abstract: Public Safety is a key application for modern networking and communications. Recent technical developments are allowing Public Safety networks to be much more flexible, responsive, and technically sophisticated without jeopardizing their usefulness in emergency situations. This presentation will discuss some of these emerging technical developments.
Dr. Tao Zhang, National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA)
Biography: For over 30 years, Dr. Tao Zhang, an IEEE Fellow, has been directing research, product development, and corporate strategies; creating disruptive innovations and transforming them into practical solutions. He is currently with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He was the CTO for the Smart Connected Vehicles Business Unit at Cisco Systems, and the Chief Scientist and the Director of R&D on vehicular and wireless networking at Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore, originally part of the Bell Labs). He co-founded the OpenFog Consortium and the Connected Vehicle Trade Association, and served as a founding Board Director for them. Tao holds over 50 US patents and coauthored two books “Vehicle Safety Communications: Protocols, Security, and Privacy” and “IP-Based Next Generation Wireless Networks”, and 70+ peer-reviewed papers. He was a Visiting Chair Professor at National Chiao Tung University and a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. He has served as the CIO and a Board Governor of the IEEE Communications Society, a Board Advisor for multiple organizations, and an editor for numerous technical journals. He co-founded and served on leadership roles for multiple international conferences.
Talk Title: AI in Fog Computing and Networking.
Abstract: Service and Application architectures that require all data to be sent to the cloud for processing will choke in the Yotta-byte era. This presentation will discuss how Fog/Edge architectures using Artificial Intelligence provide a way for service providers to use their edge and distribution networks to process data in a way that lowers latency and improves efficiencies.
Prof. Raouf Boutaba, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Waterloo (Canada)
Biography: Raouf Boutaba is a University Chair Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean Research of the faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. He also holds an INRIA International Chair in France. He is the founding Editor in Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management (2007-2010), and the current Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. He served as the general or technical program chair for a number of international conferences including IM, NOMS and CNSM. His research interests are in the area of network and service management. He has published extensively in this area and received several journal and conference Best Paper Awards such as the IEEE 2008 Fred W. Ellersick Prize Paper Award. He also received other recognitions, including the Premier’s Research Excellence Award, Industry research excellence Awards, fellowships of the Faculty of Mathematics, of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science and several outstanding performance awards at the University of Waterloo. He has also received the IEEE Communications Society Hal Sobol Award and the IFIP Silver Core in 2007, the IEEE Communications Society Joe LociCero and the Dan Stokesbury awards in 2009, the Salah Aidarous award in 2012, the IEEE Canada McNaugthon Gold Medal in 2014, the Technical Achievement Award of the IEEE Technical Committee on Information Infrastructure and Networking as well as the Donald W. McLellan Meritorious Service Award in 2016. He served as a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies. He is fellow of the IEEE, a fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
Talk Title: Network Management and AI.
Abstract: It is often said that networks are getting smarter, but what does that really mean? What new technologies are available that help an operator monitor, manage, and resolve issues with their network? Can AI achieve these goals with no or minimal human intervention? This presentation looks at what technologies are available today, and what future capabilities might become available.
Mr. Sichao Yang, Co-Founder and CEO, Nakamoto & Turing Labs (USA)
Biography: Sichao Yang is the Co-Founder and CEO of Nakamoto & Turning Labs, a New York based research lab focus on blockchain technology and distributed computing. Sichao got his Ph.D in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and M.S. in Department of Mathematics both from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His Ph.D. research is on resource allocation and optimization in distributed networks. He was a senior staff engineer in Qualcomm Inc, the world’s leading wireless communications chip and service provider. During his tenure in Qualcomm, he was one of the key contributors to the design and development of the 4th and 5th generation mobile communications. He also served as a technical lead in Qualcomm’s research on vehicular network and autonomous driving and holds many invention patents. Sichao has many journal and conference papers and was a reviewer for Mathematics of Operations Research, IEEE Transaction on Networking, Games and Economics Behavior and other magazines.
Talk Title: Internet Economy and Blockchain.
Abstract: Just as the protocols underlying the Internet, such as TCP/IP, revolutionized connectivity, there are some who speculate that Blockchain technology will revolutionize transactions. This presentation will discuss the economic, security, and privacy implications of the adoption of blockchain technology.
Prof. Ali G. Hessami, Innovation and R&D Director, Vega Systems Ltd. (UK)
Biography: Ali is currently the Director of R&D and Innovation at Vega Systems. He is an expert in the systems assurance and safety, security, sustainability and knowledge assessment/management methodologies and has a background in design and development of advanced control systems for business and safety critical industrial applications.
Ali represents UK on CENELEC & IEC safety systems, hardware & software standards committees. He was appointed by CENELEC as convener of a number of Working Groups for review of EN50128 Software Safety Standard and for update and restructuring of the software, hardware and system safety standards in CENELEC. Ali also a member of Cyber Security Standardisation SGA16, SG24 and WG26 Groups and started and chairs the IEEE SMC and the Systems Council Chapters in the UK and Ireland Section.
During 2017 Ali joined the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) initially as a committee member for the new landmark IEEE P7000 standard focused on “Ethical Considerations in System Design”. He was subsequently appointed as the Technical Editor and later the Chair of P7000 standard. In November 2018, he was appointed as the VC and Process Architect of the IEEE Ethics Certification Programme for A/IS (ECPAIS).
He has been the recent Chair of the IEEE in the UK and the Republic of Ireland driving an extensive programme of reform and member value initiatives ranging from educational programme for online and face to face delivery to events, Open Days, Lectures and Professional Recognition and Registration for members.
Ali is a Visiting Professor at London City University’s Centre for Systems and Control in the School of Engineering & Mathematics and at Beijing Jiaotong University School of Electronics & Information Engineering. He is also a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), Fellow of the UK Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) and a Senior Member of IEEE.
Talk Title: Technology Ethics Standardization.
Abstract: The combination of the Internet and artificial intelligence (AI) has created some dilemmas for the engineers who design this technology as well as the service providers who deploy it. In response to this, the IEEE has pioneered a new series of standards on the Ethics for Autonomous and Intelligent Systems. This presentation will introduce this work and how to participate in this ongoing stream of work.
Panelists
Talk Title: Panel 1: Vision Meets Reality: Roadmapping Telecom Technology.
Abstract: Where do we go from here? This eternal question is in the mind of telecom execs everywhere because the answer has large implications for CapEx, OpEx, and almost everything else. The IEEE has started a series of technology roadmaps that outline the future directions that telecom technologies are likely to take. This panel will discuss the content and some implications of those roadmaps.
Mehmet Ulema, Moderator IEEE Future Directions Committee and Manhattan College (USA)
Biography: Dr. Mehmet Ulema is a professor of Computer Information Systems at Manhattan College, New York. Previously, he held management and technical positions in AT&T Bell Laboratories, Bellcore, Daewoo Telecom, and Hazeltine Corporation. Dr. Ulema has more than 30 years of experience in telecommunications as a professor, researcher, systems engineer, project manager, network architect, and software developer.
He has authored numerous papers, book chapters, and organized many special issues in several journals and technical magazines. He has been on the editorial board of a number of journals, including the IEEE Journal of Internet of Things, IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, and the Springer Journal of Network and Services Management. Dr. Ulema is the author of a book entitled “Fundamentals of Public Safety Networks and Critical Communications” to be published by Wiley in 1Q2019.
Mehmet was actively involved in standardization in ITU, TIA, ATIS, and IEEE. Mehmet has been a prominent volunteer at IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) and the IEEE Standard Association (SA). Currently, he is the chair of the IEEE COM/NetSoft Standards Committee and Co-chair of the IEEE Future Network Initiatives’ Standards Working Group. Dr. Ulema has received a number of awards including IEEE ComSoc Harold Sobol Award, IEEE SA Standards Medallion award, and IEEE ComSoc Salah Aidarous Memorial Award.
Dr. Ulema received MS & Ph.D. in Computer Science at Polytechnic University (now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering), Brooklyn, New York, USA. He also received BS & MS degrees at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey.
Nigel Bayliff, Aqua Comms (Ireland)
Biography: Nigel joined Aqua Comms in October 2016, having previously provided consultancy services to global telecoms companies through SIN Medida Limited, a business he established in 2008 to capitalise on his experience of more than 25 years of senior technical, operational and executive roles in the global telecommunications industry. Nigel also served as Vice-Chairman of the joint United Nations agencies task force that looked at providing disaster relief and climate information from the global web of undersea cables. Between 2009 and 2013, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Huawei Marine Networks (HMN). Leading HMN from start-up through many complex system sales, the delivery of the first new subsea technology in more than a decade, and the development of a second phase innovative titanium repeater, he drove the organisation to break-even in year four and established its position in the marketplace. From 2002 to 2008, Nigel was a member of the executive team of FLAG Telecom, where he served as an Officer and Deputy Chairman for several group companies and was responsible for construction and operation of the FLAG Global Network, encompassing approximately 65,000 km of submarine cable systems connecting 40 countries and providing carrier-grade connectivity services. Prior to this, he held senior roles at NTL (now Virgin Media) and Cable & Wireless/Mercury Communications (now Vodafone). Nigel is a Chartered Engineer and holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Telecommunications Engineering from Essex University. He studied International Development at INSEAD, Paris, and Strategic Management at Ashridge, UK. In 2006, Nigel was elected as a Fellow of the UK Institute of Engineering Technology.
Rose Hu, Utah State University (USA)
Biography: Rose Qingyang Hu is a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and Associate Dean for research of College of Engineering at Utah State University. She also directs Communications Network Innovation Lab at Utah State University. Her current research interests include next-generation wireless system design and optimization, Internet of Things, Cyber Physical system, Mobile Edge Computing, V2X communications, artificial intelligence in wireless networks. Prof. Hu received the B.S. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China, the M.S. degree from New York University, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Kansas. Besides a decade academia experience, she has more than 10 years of R&D experience with Nortel, Blackberry, and Intel as a Technical Manager, a Senior Wireless System Architect, and a Senior Research Scientist, actively participating in industrial 3G/4G technology development, standardization, system level simulation, and performance evaluation. She has published over 230 papers in top IEEE journals and conferences and also holds numerous patents in her research areas. Prof. Hu is currently serving on the editorial boards of the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, the IEEE Communications Magazine and the IEEE Wireless Communications. She also served as the TPC Co-Chair for the IEEE ICC 2018. She is an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer Class 2015-2018 and a recipient of prestigious Best Paper Awards from the IEEE GLOBECOM 2012, the IEEE ICC 2015, the IEEE VTC Spring 2016, and the IEEE ICC 2016. Prof. Hu is senior member of IEEE and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
Narendra Mangra, Wireless Mobility Advisor, GlobeNet (USA)
Biography: Narendra Mangra is a wireless mobility advisor at GlobeNet. His experience extends across the wireless mobility ecosystem and mobile network deployment lifecycle within the industry, academia, and government sectors. He is the IEEE Future Networks International Network Generations Roadmap (INGR) Co Chair, IEEE INGR Applications and Services Working Group Co-Chair, and IEEE Future Networks Summer School Education Chair. The IEEE initiatives include developing a smart cities roadmap framework, and holding local recurring industry focused educational sessions for Young Professionals. Narendra is also an Adjunct Professor at the Volgeneau School of Engineering at the George Mason University.
Narendra has extensive consulting experience in the mobile satellite and cellular communications, public safety communications, information technology, higher education, and federal & local government sectors. His business and technical consulting experience spans the end-to-end mobile ecosystem and network deployment life cycle and includes strategy development, procurements including solicitation development, spectrum management, RAN network planning and optimization, mobile terrestrial and LEO satellite network deployments, operations & business support systems, international and prepaid roaming, and project management. He has an MBA, MSEE/BSEE and a PMP Certificate. His current interests include the 5G ecosystem, Smart Cities and related sustainable interconnected ecosystems.
Matt Miller, Mastercard (USA)
Biography: Matt currently leads the global relationship between Mastercard and Facebook working on a variety of initiatives across geographies and use cases. Prior to this role, Matt ran Mastercard’s Digital Future team responsible for identifying trends and technologies that will impact the way we shop, pay and bank from 3 years into the future and beyond. Matt has made a career partnering with the innovation teams at top technology companies, merchants, banks and many other industries across the globe to deliver new technology products. Previously Matt worked for American Express and China Union Pay after attending the Thunderbird School for Global Management.
Robert Pepper, Facebook (USA)
Biography: Robert Pepper is Head of Global Connectivity Policy and Planning helping lead Facebook’s connectivity and technology policy activities focusing on global, regional and national infrastructure and connectivity including new technology development, deployment and adoption and policy/regulation promoting investment and innovation. In this role, he works with policymakers and industry players to develop strategies to make the Internet more inclusive. Pepper previously was Cisco’s Vice President for Global Technology Policy helping governments develop national digital strategies, address wireless and spectrum policy, the Internet of Things, security, privacy and Internet governance.
Pepper was Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy and Chief of Policy Development at the FCC for 16 years beginning in 1989 where he led teams designing and implementing the first U.S. spectrum auctions, developing policies promoting the development of the Internet, implementing telecommunications legislation, and planning for the transition to digital television. He also has led the Office of Policy and Development at NTIA.
His academic appointments included faculty positions at the Universities of Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and as a research affiliate at Harvard University. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society and the board of the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute and is a member of advisory boards at Columbia University and Michigan State University. He is a member of the UK’s OFCOM Spectrum Advisory Board has chaired the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy and has served on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Spectrum Management Advisory. Pepper received his BA. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Opening Plenary and Closing Session
Talk Title: Opening Plenary.
Abstract: This session will include an overview of the ComFutures 2020 program, background on the summit series, recognition of the event sponsors and invitation to join in their activities. It will also describe logistics for the day’s event.
Dr. Doug Zuckerman, IEEE Future Directions (USA)
Biography: Doug Zuckerman has been an active IEEE volunteer for 20+ years and currently within IEEE serves on the Future Directions Committee and recently had served on the OpenFog Consortium Board as an IEEE representative. He had previously served as IEEE Communications Society President and on the IEEE Board of Directors, in addition to other high-level leadership positions in conferences, publications and membership, IEEE Technical Activities Board and IEEE Board of Directors. He received his BS, MS and PhD degrees from Columbia University (USA) and is an IEEE Life Fellow. His professional experiences at Bell Labs and Telcordia Technologies span the operations, management and engineering of emerging communications technologies, networks and applications. His work heavily influenced standards for management of telecommunications networks. Earlier in his career, with a background in electromagnetics, he contributed to a) AT&T’s millimeter waveguide transmission system, b) design of satellite antennas and systems, c) maintenance requirements and standards for digital radio systems, d) operations planning and systems engineering for digital networks, systems and services and e) optical network interoperability and standardization. His interest in recent years has focused on cloud/fog/edge computing and networking, big data, digital reality and other emerging technologies. Currently, he is a consultant for Perspecta Labs (Applied Communications Sciences).