Committed to connecting the world

Biographies

Jim Alfred Vice President, Certicom Corp, BlackBerry Jim Alfred is Vice President of Certicom Corp, a subsidiary of BlackBerry Ltd., and a member of the BlackBerry Technology Solutions business unit. Jim is responsible for all Certicom commercial activities. He has been involved with embedded technology and the move to smart, connected devices for over 25 years. His team at Certicom is helping manufacturers and service providers protect their content, devices and applications with government approved security – from cryptography libraries and security protocols to end-to-end security solutions for global silicon manufacturing and managed PKI services for device manufacturers. Lessons learned from work in securing diverse systems such as bandwidth and resource constrained devices in the smart grid and more the increasingly powerful devices in the mobile ecosystem are directly applicable to securing the changing automotive architecture landscape. Prior to Certicom, Jim co-founded UK Broadband Ltd., a wireless broadband start-up sold to Pacific Century Cyber Works. Before that he was responsible for Wind River Systems broadband product strategy where his remit included wired and wireless networking such as cable, DSL, Bluetooth, WiFi and mobile technologies. Jim is a Sloan Fellow from London Business School, where he earned an MSc. in Business. Jim earned his MSc. in engineering from Stanford University and his BSc. in engineering from Purdue University.
Lee Baldwin Director of Data Intelligence, AutonomouStuff Lee Baldwin is Director of Data Intelligence at AutonomouStuff. He is responsible for creating and implementing a data intelligence strategy that aligns with the AutonomouStuff mission and values. Baldwin attended the University of Iowa where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems with a Computer Science minor. He worked as a mainframe applications developer for Anderson Consulting and an engineering manager in mining automation at Caterpillar.
Joe Barkai Chairman, SAE Vehicle IOT Commitee Joe Barkai is an industry analyst and consultant, public speaker, blogger, and the author of The Outcome Economy: How the Industrial Internet of Things is Transforming Every Business. With more than 30 years of experience in a broad range of industrial sectors, Joe’s focus is on researching, forecasting and the strategic application of technology innovation in the automotive space. As the Chairman of the Automotive IoT program at SAE International, the world’s largest organization of automotive engineers, Joe has a unique perspective on emerging technologies and business models in connected cars, autonomous driving, and mobility of the future. He works with auto manufacturers and suppliers, technology vendors, and system integrators to guide investments in vehicle telematics, infotainment and self-driving technologies, and formulate the commensurate business development strategies. Previously, as Vice President of Research at IDC, a leading global market research firm, Joe led global research for over 8 years across a broad spectrum of industries, including automotive, industrial equipment, aerospace, construction, medical devices and high-tech. His automotive and heavy equipment clients include DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, John Deere, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota. He appeared on CNN and was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CIO Magazine, and numerous industry publications.
Pete Bigelow Senior Reporter, Automotive News Pete Bigelow is a senior reporter at the Automotive News, where he covers automated vehicles, connected cars, and the future of mobility. He is a Rutgers University graduate and Michigan resident.
Tim Cavanaugh Emerging Technology Developer, SAE International Tim Cavanaugh has been working in the auto industry his entire life. Actually, he was born into it with a Dad who was a Five Star Chrysler Dealer in the little town of Monmouth, Illinois (Home of Wyatt Earp and Ronald Reagan). By the age of nine Tim had already geared his go-kart to run 55 MPH. He got most of his practical engineering knowledge before he was 15 years old from three Master Technicians in his Dad's shop. After 25 years at General Motors, Tim launched over 30 vehicles and received two Chairman's Awards. One for connecting OnStar to the Electronic Control Module (ECM) in order to feed vehicle health data to a webserver and then onto a smart phone. And another for a flawless vehicle launch on the Chevrolet HHR. Tim also wrote the requirements a year before California required “Hands Free" calling. Tim developed and deployed the first WiFi integrated into vehicles in the Chevrolets and Cadillacs. He was known for quick development of new options. While executive director, Tim's team of four combined divisions of BAE Systems developed what they called a Military Version of OnStar on Prognostic Steroids and Predictive Maintenance which also won a Chairman's Award. For two years Tim worked for US Congress as a military advisor for our boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. SAE International called to ask if Tim would run electronics events globally. The Connect2Car Brand was created to educate automotive and aerospace engineers on the attributes of Connected, Autonomous and Automated Vehicles along with IoT/Cloud based technologies. Tim likes to fly. He has a daughter Catherine at the US Air Force Academy who is already a pilot and a son Tom who wants to replace Jimmy Fallon when he retires from the Tonight Show. Tim has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from St. Edward's University in Austin.
Phil Celestini Senior Vice President, Chief Security and Risk Officer, Syniverse Phil Celestini leads security and risk management across Syniverse, including adopting new technologies and building industry awareness of critical threats and opportunities arising from such areas as the internet of things and 5G. With a career spanning more than 35 years across government, law enforcement, and the military, Mr. Celestini brings executive leadership experience in security, risk, and compliance. From 1992 to 2018, he served as Special Agent in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he was most recently Special Agent in Charge in Washington, D.C., and also served as the FBI’s senior representative to the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. Previously, he served as an intelligence operations officer in the U.S. Air Force. He received his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds a master’s degree in public safety leadership.
Mike Dosenbach Site Lead & Senior Engineering Manager, Daimler Mike Dosenbach is the Site Lead and Senior Engineering Manager for the MBRDNA Digital Hub in Seattle, which focuses on Software Development and Cloud Computing for Mercedes-Benz connected vehicles. After over 23 years of software engineering and management experience, Dosenbach has led the Seattle Hub since 2017 and is focused on driving the cloud technologies and new computing paradigms at Daimler. Dosenbach honors particular cultural values as open communication, teamwork, diversity, and individual empowerment, all aligned with the ethos of building “The Best or Nothing.” Prior to joining Daimler in 2017, Dosenbach served as a Senior Software Development Manager at Amazon for eight years, managing teams and projects worldwide. He also served in senior application and engineering management roles at Symetra and Okta. Dosenbach holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an MBA from Michigan State at the Eli Broad College of Business. He resides in Seattle with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children.
Nakul Duggal Vice President, Product Management Qualcomm Technologies, Inc Nakul Duggal serves as vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. where he is responsible for Qualcomm's automotive strategy, automotive semiconductor and software portfolio, ecosystem development and customer relationships. Duggal's responsibilities include focused development expansion into connected car and autonomous driving, oversight over product management, roadmap execution, customer focused business development, and applications engineering. Duggal has worked in Qualcomm Automotive since 2011 and most recently, has been instrumental in building the automotive portfolio including the Snapdragon Automotive infotainment solutions. He joined Qualcomm in 1995 as an engineer focused on the company's commercial base station and infrastructure business. Over the course of his career, he has held engineering and management positions in the development and commercialization of CDMA, UMTS and LTE technologies. He led the Open Market Handset (OMH) initiative, an industry-wide effort to expand CDMA device distribution into the open market. Duggal holds a BSEE degree from M.S. University, India and a master's degree in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.
Michael Elkabas Principal Technology Architect, Telus, Michael brings over 15+ years of Wireless technology experience, several generations of evolution into his role as Principal Technology Architect. Overall, Michael has had an extensive history at TELUS, developing several generations of wireless technologies, including IDEN,CDMA 1xRTT/1xEV-DO, 3G HSPA, 4G LTE. Currently Michael is leading 5G, IoT and Connected Car Architecture and Services. Throughout this time, Michael has been acting as an experienced technical lead developing and implementing end-to-end solutions to complex business networking and communications problems for new and existing services. Michael lead the architecture development and design of Canadas’ first virtualized IoT Reference Architecture which enables TELUS to explore new class of customers who are looking for private LTE network or dedicated enterprise networks with high security and flexibility, an early intro to 5G Network Slicing. In addition, Michael has lead the first Canadian Reference Architecture for Connected Cars, a multi-operator GSMA based solution to position TELUS to have broader share in the connected car market and in doing so demonstrated thought leadership in leading technology architecture including solutions that address domestic connected car market, Global OEMs and Solution Providers, and Global MNO Hub providers for Connected Car. Michael has a background in Computer Science Application and a variety of industry certifications, in addition represents TELUS in a variety of standard based organizations: Lead for TELUS in TOPS ATIS Council 3GPP SA Lead for TELUS 5GAA TELUS lead
Mark Flolid CEO/Chairman and Founder, Global Weather Corp. Mark has 30 years of experience in founding and growing high tech companies. He was chairman/co-founder of Advanced Radar Corporation, a University Corporation of Atmospheric Research Foundation technology transfer company. Mark also co-founded SignalSoft Corporation (IPO in 2001), a telecommunication technology company that developed the off-switch foundation for location based services in the wireless network. Prior to that, he was SVP Marketing and Sales for Intrado (IPO 1999), the industry leader for mission-critical E9-1-1 systems and services. He holds a BA and MS in Economics from The University of Texas.
Faye Francy Executive Director, Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Auto-ISAC) This position serves the global automotive industry through the analysis and sharing of trusted and timely cyber threat information about existing or potential cyber-related threats and vulnerabilities for on-road vehicle electronics and associated networks. The ED is actively engaged with private-sector stakeholders, partners and government agencies to facilitate information sharing and strengthen the industry's capability and capacity to detect, prevent, respond to, and mitigate disruptions related to the connected vehicle and supporting infrastructure. The responsibilities include developing, maintaining and executing a Strategic Plan that outlines strategic and operational priorities for the automotive industry. Build and maintains key relationships with Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Information Systems Officers (CISOs), Product Development leadership, and other executives across the automotive industry responsible for securing vehicles and connected infrastructure. The Auto-ISAC is a non-profit organization operating in Washington, D.C. Previously Ms. Francy was the Aviation ISAC Executive Director. She held numerous leadership positions at Boeing, including Cyber ONE Leader, Director Enterprise Technologies, Phantom Works and Air Traffic Management. Ms. Francy has a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry and Mathematics and Masters in Forensic Chemistry Faye is anAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Associate Fellow, former Research Advisory Board Member for Embry Riddle, and DC Analyst’s Roundtable Membership Chair.
Ro Gupta CEO & Co-founder, Camera Ro Gupta is the CEO and Cofounder of CARMERA, the street-level intelligence platform specializing in high-definition mapping for autonomous vehicle localization, perception and path planning. Before CARMERA, he created data products and helped grow web discussion network, Disqus, to 2 billion users. Prior to that, he held business development roles at Disney, and strategic advisory roles for Fortune 500s and NGOs in the US, South America and Africa. Ro majored in operations research engineering and began working on autonomous transit, neural networks and computer vision at Princeton in the 1990s. He lives in New York with his family.
Karl Heimer Owner/Principal, Heimer & Associates, LLC Karl Heimer is the owner/principal of Heimer & Associates, LLC, a consulting company. He is currently Senior Technical Advisor for Cybersecurity to Michigan’s MEDC Auto Office and the Michigan Defense Center; he also sits on the DHS Government Vehicle Fleet Managers’ Cybersecurity Steering Committee, the Advisory Board of Walsh College’s automotive cybersecurity program, Advisory Board Member of the SAE new journal of Transportation Cybersecurity and Privacy, as well as serving on the board of several start-up companies. He is a chapter author for Cybersecurity for Commercial Vehicles (ISBN: 9780-7680-9257-8). Karl founded the CyberAuto Challenge (now the SAE CyberAuto Challenge) while at Battelle and is also the co-founder (with Dr. Jeremy Daily, University of Tulsa) of the CyberTruck Challenge – both events sharing the goal of developing transportation cybersecurity skills in the next generation workforce and helping to forge mentor-protégé relationships between these students and industry experts. Karl’s experience includes Sr. Research Director for Cybersecurity at Battelle where he started a commercial vehicle cybersecurity practice while simultaneously managing the global enterprise’s incident response to a critical network security requirement. Within the Department of Defense community, as both a contractor (at Sparta, Lockheed-Martin, and ACS-Defense) and a uniformed service member, he ran projects ranging from developing provably secure mobile communications platforms, creating secure architectures, managing special tool development activities, being a red team member, and managing cyber-forensics.
Jane Hoffer Chief Business Officer, Veniam Jane Hoffer is the Chief Business Officer of Veniam. She is responsible for developing the global business strategy and for defining the direction for Veniam in connected vehicle and smart city initiatives. Under her leadership the company has seen tremendous growth and expanded its footprint in North America and Europe. Prior to joining Veniam, Hoffer has spent her career in various entrepreneurial endeavors, beginning as Founder and CEO of Prescient Applied Intelligence, a supply chain technology company that went public in 2004. She was also the Founder/CEO of BrainRewards, where she led the team that delivered the first educational game platform to connect grandparents and their elementary school aged grandchildren. Most recently Hoffer has served as COO of littleBits Electronics, an award winning platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks empowering everyone to create inventions and President and COO of Heartwork, a modern office furniture manufacturer for creative companies. Hoffer has been recognized for her leadership excellence, being named a Woman of Distinction by The National Association of Women Business Owners, a Finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year® award program, Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, as well as one of the Best 50 Women in Pennsylvania. Additionally, she has been a featured speaker on technology, supply chain and entrepreneurial topics at a variety of industry conferences. Ms. Hoffer is a summa cum laude Graduate of Texas A&M University, holding a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering.
Syed Zaeem Hosain CTO/ Founder, Aeris Syed is responsible for the architecture and future direction of Aeris’ Internet of Things (IoT) networks, development programs, and technology strategy. He joined Aeris in 1996 as vice president of engineering, and a member of the founding executive team of Aeris. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the semiconductor, computer, and telecommunications industries, including product development, architecture design, and technical management. Syed is the author of “The Definitive Guide: The Internet of Things for Business,” third edition. Prior to joining Aeris, he held senior engineering and management positions at Analog Devices, Cypress Semiconductor, CAD National, and ESS Technology. He has presented papers and participated on panel sessions at conferences on machine-to-machine (M2M) networks, Internet of Things (IoT) applications, and cellular technologies for M2M and IoT. He currently serves as chair of the IoT M2M Council, chair of the International Forum on ANSI-41 Standards Technology (IFAST), chair of the Global M2M Realization Forum (GM2MRF), and is a member of the Board of the Mobility Development Group (MDG). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
Bilel Jamoussi Chief, Study Groups Department, ITU Tunisian born, Dr. Bilel Jamoussi is Chief of the Study Groups Department of ITU Standardization Bureau in Geneva Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been leading the bureau’s standards making activities into a new era characterized by rapid convergence and the need for increased collaboration with vertical sectors and partnership between developed and developing countries. Prior to 2010, Jamoussi worked for a Telecommunication equipment and solutions provider for 15 years in Canada and then in the United States where he held several leadership positions and was granted 22 US patents in diverse areas including packet, optical, wireless, and quality of service. He holds a BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English and speaks some Spanish and German.
Brian J. Keller Director, IoT Solutions Group, AT&T Brian is Director Member of Technical Staff of AT&T's IoT Solutions group. He leads a team that focuses on developing mobile network based solutions for connected cars, smart cities, user experience, fleet solutions, mobile edge computing, 5G network, autonomous vehicles, global connectivity/device management, and IoT for first responders. Brian is a business and technology leader who has participated in several major technical and business transformations throughout his career. He has lead teams of over 100+ geographically with budgets that have exceeded $100M. He has been an entrepreneur, adviser, public speaker, and published author. He has mentored and couched many people inside and outside of AT&T. His career at AT&T has allowed him to lead teams and budgets that have delivered products and services into the mobility product portfolio (e.g. iPhone/iPad, Blackberry, Wireless Emergency Alerts, LTE Network, Lab creation/elimination). He has supported numerous merger and transformation initiatives over the past decade. He founded, grew and sold a technology firm. Transformed a failing branch for a medium sized consulting practice. He has worked with and supported private equity investors in business assessments and has run startup portfolio firms of theirs. His current work work is in the area of the Internet of Things leveraging AT&T's Global Scale and innovation. This includes driving micro service based solutions, service component architectures, virtualization and cloud based technology. His core strengths are: intellect, insight, leadership, strategic planning, financial acumen, collaboration, communication, team development, complex problem/issue resolution, technical depth and drive for results. His mission is to be a positive influence on his teams, his company and anyone else that he has the opportunity to engage with. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Masters of Business Administration from Hofstra University. He is active in the community with a particular focus on small group leadership. Brian lives in Alpharetta, GA with his wife Kim and there three children Adam, Grant and Mackenzie.
Rick Kreifeldt Executive Director, eSync Alliance & President, Motoforza Inc Rick Kreifeldt is the Executive Director of the eSync Alliance and President of Motoforza Inc, a strategy and technology focused consultancy. As Executive Director of the eSync Alliance he serves as both operational management and as an advisor to the Alliance Board. He has been involved with connected product development and the automotive industry for over 25 years. Previously he was the Vice President of Research and Innovation at Harman International, leading corporate-wide advanced technology development. Kreifeldt was also the President/Chairman of the AVnu Alliance, building that organization from inception to 80+ members. Rick has 27 patents in the areas of networking protocols, system design and DSP algorithms. Kreifeldt graduated Cum Laude from Utah State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
Nathan Kundtz CEO/President, Kymetacorp Nathan Kundtz, M.S.’08, Ph.D. ’09, is the founder, CEO and President of Kymeta Corporation. He earned his M.S. in electrical engineering and his Ph.D. in physics at Duke, where he is an adjunct assistant professor of electrical engineering. His work in metamaterials at Duke led to his recruitment at Intellectual Ventures in Bellevue, Washington, where he pioneered the application of metamaterial technologies in electronic beam-forming applications. Dr. Kundtz’ success at Intellectual Ventures ultimately led to the spinout of Kymeta Corporation in August 2012. Kymeta has successfully commercialized the world’s first metamaterials-based antenna for satellite communications. Kymeta has won innovative technology awards from Seattle Business Magazine, Puget Sound Business Journal, and was named to Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies List and 10 Most Innovative Companies in Space. The company has also been recognized as a Fierce 15 Most Interesting Startups in Technology, an SSPI Rising Five, a CNBC Disruptor, a FiReStarter by Strategic News Network, and a top 50 MIT Technology Review Disruptive Company. For his work at Kymeta Dr. Kundtz has been recognized as a 2016 LinkedIn Next Wave professional, earned the 2016 2b AHEAD Innovators Award, and the Frost & Sullivan 2016 New Product Innovation Award.
Roger C. Lanctot Director, Strategy Analytics Roger C. Lanctot is director of automotive connected mobility for Strategy Analytics. Roger has been with Strategy Analytics for 10 years as part of his 30 years’ experience in market analysis and consulting. Roger advises auto makers, wireless carriers and suppliers across the full spectrum of connected car technologies. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a frequent speaker and blogger on connected car technologies and strategies.
Jun ( Harry) Li Chair, ITU-T FG Vehicular Multimedia, TIAA Jun Li is Secretary General of TIAA (Telematics industry Application Alliance), Senior Engineer. He has 20 years of experience in the field of Mobile and Satellite, has a deep understanding of the mobile communication and satellite broadcasting technology, and have participated and chaired the TD-LTE standard, industrialization and internationalization, mainly at present responsible for “Internet plus” satellite mobile broadcasting network integration terminal standards and industrialization. He serves as deputy secretary general of TIAA of China, is also the team leader of vehicle digital multimedia workgroup of TIAA, take charge in the construction of China's vehicle digital multimedia Eco-system.
Chuck Link President/CTO, M2MD Technologies, Inc Mr. Link is founder and Chief Technology Officer for M2MD Technologies, Inc. a new company focused on securely and efficiently connecting machines to mobile devices. M2MD has developed an M2M connectivity solution for LTE and GSM based devices that allows the device to remain in a very low “always ready” state, while enabling instant incoming connections, and an IoT security technology utilizing the SIM card that minimizes data consumption for the TLS handshake while using industry standard security solutions. Along with the security focus, M2MD has developed a patented telematics enrollment platform and a patented “smart phone as a key” technology. Previously, Mr. Link was Chief Technology Officer and a co-founder of Hughes Telematics in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Hughes Telematics from its inception and Verizon Telematics, Inc. (VZT) after Verizon acquired Hughes Telematics in 2012. As CTO, Mr. Link was responsible for the technology foundation of the company and focused on vehicle connectivity, network architecture and strategy for the OEM telematics offerings of the company. Mr. Link was responsible for specifying the architecture for VZT’s service rollout for Mercedes and Volkswagen vehicles in North America. This architecture is the first full implementation of a system that leverages best-in-class service and content providers while maintaining OEM autonomy. The architecture is designed to support multiple OEMs across several continents with a consistent offering and scalable infrastructure. Hughes Telematics/VZT began offering service to Mercedes vehicles in November 2009, and Volkswagen vehicles in August 2013. From 2010 to 2015, Mr. Link led the successful technology rollout of OEM services for Mercedes and Volkswagen in China. Prior to his involvement in the telematics industry, Mr. Link spent 19 years in various engineering roles developing products and services for the U.S. wireless/cellular industry, leading to over 80 patents with nearly 50 additional pending patents. Most notable of the developments was the wireless message waiting indicator network (“MWI”), initially serving Bellsouth in the mid-1990’s, and later delivering over a billion MWI notifications per month for AT&T. Other notable systems or services architected and developed by Mr. Link include the first North American USSD based information system, a unified wireless-wireline voice mail service, a point-of-sale system that automatically “programmed” handsets and a call forwarding system that automatically forwards cellular calls to an associated landline. Along with a colleague from Daimler, Mr. Link conceived the embedded M2M Form Factor (MFF) SIM device that is a cornerstone of the eSIM and the embedded connectivity solutions used by the automobile industry. Mr. Link resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Susan. Both his daughter and son are engineers, currently working in the telecommunications industry.
Jim Misener Senior Director, Technical Standards, Qualcomm Jim Misener is Senior Director, Technical Standards, leading automotive and transportation standards activities for Qualcomm, with expanded role to include development and executing strategies to establish cellular V2X ecosystems and foster global deployment. This ecosystem shift includes adaptation of ITS standards and application protocols, compliance and certification, trade association strategy and industry/government acceptance. In addition to his role with Transportation Safety Advancement Group (TSAG), Jim is a 5GAA Board member, an ITS California Board member, the SAE C-V2X Technical Committee Chair, an active member of IEEE 1609 Working Group, on the US TAG for ISO TC204 and active in the Transportation Research Board. Jim also serves as an Advisory Council member to the Carnegie Mellon University/University of Pennsylvania Transportation Center, Technologies for Safe and Efficient Transportation. Jim was early pioneer in vehicle-highway automation and vehicle safety communication at the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) at UC Berkeley, beginning in the mid 1990s. He has served as the PATH Executive Director, Executive Advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton, and an independent consultant with clients ranging from Silicon Valley startups, the automotive industry and Federal and State government agencies. Jim holds BS and MS degrees from UCLA and USC.
Kevin Mull Director of sales, Connected Mobility Solutions Kevin Mull is director of sales, connected mobility solutions for Bosch in North America. In this role he is responsible for developing and executing commercial relationships related to mobility services and solutions including connected parking, E-mobility, retrofit telematics, and other emerging mobility platforms. His role also includes mobility start-up engagement and partner activities with other business incubation and acceleration entities. Since joining Bosch in 1992, Mull has held numerous leadership positions within the Automotive Aftermarket division. His previous position, was leader of the connected cloud services business portfolio in North America, including sales and marketing, product management, engineering and operations. Prior to that, he started and led the EV charging infrastructure business, and has held various other business development and general management roles in both OEM and independent aftermarket business units that focused on products, solutions and services for vehicle diagnostics, service and training. Mull earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He lives in Detroit and is an active volunteer in Special Olympics Michigan and Big Brothers Big Sisters Detroit.
Paul B. Najarian Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Dept of State Paul Najarian is a Foreign Affairs Officer in the office of International Communications & Information Policy within State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. He is actively engaged in all 3 sectors of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); but mainly serves as U.S. Head-of-Delegation to ITU’s standardization activities on Cybersecurity, as well as international regulatory activities on terrestrial radiocommunications. Mr. Najarian is the liaison rapporteur between ITU-R and the ITU’s Collaboration on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Communication standards; and has been involved with ITU-R activities dating back to 1985. From 1996 to 2006, Paul Najarian was the Director of Telecommunications and Standards for the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS) as a federal advisory body to the U.S. Department of Transportation. His main responsibilities included the spectrum allocation in the 5850 – 5925 Mhz for Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), the assignment of the “511” telephone number for traveler information services, and several ITS public safety programs such as Next Generation 911. Mr. Najarian also served as international secretariat, as well as U.S. TAG administrator, for ISO/TC 204 on ITS. Mr. Najarian began his professional career in 1985 as a systems analyst for the Air Force and the Department of Defense on satellite communications networks. His first interaction with the ITU was to analyze the impact of WARC-85 on the U.S. geostationary satellites; and has remained regularly active in domestic preparations for the ITU-R, the WARCs and the WRCs. By 1992, his career gradually transferred to Land Mobile communications, including VLF/LF propagation. From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Najarian was a technical and operational analyst as part of the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) inspection teams. This activity provided a broader exposure to UN activities, including the IAEA and UNDP. Since 1995, Mr. Najarian has been a regular participant in ITU-R activities and the WRCs, but mainly in Study Group 5 (formerly SG 8 as well as the activities of the JRG 8A-9B), as well as a number of activities in the ITU-T related to the collaboration among standards organizations including the Fully Networked Car. This was followed by the Dept. of Commerce / National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), from 2006 to 2009; and at the U.S. State Department since 2009.Mr. Najarian has authored many technical and regulatory papers on ITS radiocommunications, public safety, and land mobile communications. In 1998 and 1999, he served as President of the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC), which groups more than 22 organizations representing the frequency managers, manufacturers, systems integrators, and end-users of land mobile and public safety communications, before the FCC.Mr. Najarian holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia, as well as a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the George Washington University (in Washington, DC) with a specialization in Finance and the Management of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Manuela Papadopol Co-founder, Sansea Consulting Manuela Papadopol is the co-founder and managing director of Sansea consulting, a global management and marketing consulting firm. She helps companies identify, articulate and implement strategic solutions in the automotive and technology industries. She serves as an advisory board member for Automobility Los Angeles Auto Show and Udacity. As an avid advocate of gender diversity and equality, Papadopol is an active member of Women in Automotive Technology, an organization created to connect, educate and drive the future of the automotive industry. Papadopol also holds a patent in voice-activated acquisition of nonlocal content. She was named a 2016 Woman Worth Watching by Diversity Journal and featured in Connected World Magazine’s “Women of IoT Marketing” 2016. Prior to starting her own business, Papadopol served as global business development lead at Elektrobit, a leader in automotive software. Prior to that she established the global marketing organization at Microsoft automotive. She began her business career in public relations and marketing at BMW in 1996 moving to Mercedes-Benz as a public relations manager in 2000. Fluent in German, Spanish, English and Romanian, she holds a degree in marketing management from the Romanian-American University in Bucharest and a post-graduate degree in public relations and business development from the University of Washington.
Raj Paul Regional Industry Business Leader, Microsoft Raj Paul serves as Microsoft’s Regional Automotive Industry Business Leader for the Americas region. He has responsibility for developing Microsoft’s Automotive Industry solutions portfolio, including joint solutions with key partners. He is a passionate advocate of the connected world. With nearly 20 years of experience in the Automotive industry, he has been involved in the evolution of vehicle connectivity – creating the in-vehicle innovations and infrastructure to connect owners and OEMs with their vehicles and with each other. Through his efforts in Telematics and Infotainment, he has helped create new Automotive experiences, new ways of connecting with customers and platforms that fuel Intelligence (the “sixth sense”).
Ravi Puvvala President/CEO, Savari With 20+ years of experience in the telecommunications industry, including leading positions at Nokia and Qualcomm Atheros, Ravi is the founder of Savari and a visionary of the future of mobility. He serves as an advisory member to transportation institutes and government bodies.
Ivo Rook Senior Vice President, Internet of Things Ivo Rook is Senior Vice President of Internet of Things. The Internet of things is changing the way people live, businesses operate and society evolveS. Sprint is bringing this technology at the fingerstips of large enterprises,small and medium businesses, the public sector, federal government and consumers. Sprint IoT services are simple, secure and highly scalable. Sprint IoT services work on all networks and offer solutions that are easy to configure and manage. Before joining Sprint, Ivo was the CEO of Vodafone Internet of Things. Ivo also worked for an Executive Vice President for BT and Deutsche Telekom, leading their enterprise sales and large deal organizations. A Dutch national, fluent in 4 languagues, Ivo has 20 years of telecommunications experience in wireline and wireless services around the globe. Ivo was featured as Dutch export talent in Managemenet Team and published books on Information and Strategic management and continues to give guest lectures at the University of St Gallen and the Erasmus University. Ivo has a degree from the Erasmus University in Business Administration and a major in Information Management.
Lisa Joy Rosner CMO, Otonomo Lisa Joy Rosner is an award-winning and patented executive with over 20 years of experience marketing big data and analytics solutions at both public and start-up technology companies. Currently the CMO at Otonomo, an automotive data services platform, Lisa Joy is driving global development of the company’s marketplace. Previously, Rosner served as CMO at Neustar, leading a major brand transformation as the company entered into the security and marketing data services markets. Prior to that, she launched social intelligence company, NetBase, where she worked with five of the top 10 CPGs as they adopted a new approach to real-time marketing. Additionally, Lisa Joy served as Vice President of Marketing at MyBuys (sold to Magnetic) and Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at BroadVision Inc. Ms. Rosner also held positions at data warehousing companies Brio (sold to Hyperion), DecisionPoint (sold to Teradata), and started her career at Oracle Corporation. Lisa Joy was named a 2013 “Silicon Valley Woman of Influence,” 2014 B2B Marketer of the Year by the Sage Group and Wall Street Journal and was a Top 100 Women in Marketing honoree by Brand Innovators in 2015. She has been a guest lecturer at the Hass School of Business, the Tuck School of Business and Stanford University. Lisa Joy has a bachelor’s degree (sum cum laude) in English Literature from the University of Maryland. She currently sits on the marketing advisory board of Mintigo, The Big Flip, Fyber, and PLAE Shoes, the board of trustees for UC Merced and is the mother of four young children.
Russ Shields Chair, CITS/Ygomi LLC Russ Shields is Chair of Ygomi LLC. Businesses that Mr. Shields has founded or led include Shields Enterprises International, Cellular Business Systems, Inc. (later Convergys), Navigation Technologies (later Navteq, now HERE), and the current Ygomi companies – SEI, Connexis, and ArrayComm. Mr. Shields is Chair of the Collaboration on ITS Communication Standards of the ITU, the UN specialized agency for information and communications technology (ICT). He is also a member of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board, a U.S. Presidential advisory committee. Mr. Shields is a member of the ITS World Congress Board of Directors. He was the first U.S. member of the ITS World Congress Hall of Fame. Mr. Shields was also among the inaugural members of ITS America’s Hall of Fame. Mr. Shields is an SAE Fellow and a recipient of the SAE‑Delco Electronics ITS Award. In 2008, Mr. Shields received the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award in Entrepreneurship. In 2013, the Hotchkiss School awarded Mr. Shields its Alumni Award.
Yaniv Sulkes VP Business Development and Marketing, Autotalks Yaniv brings to Autotalks over 15 years of experience in developing, productizing, marketing and selling innovative communication products. Prior to Autotalks, Yaniv spent a decade serving in various positions at Allot Communications, mainly in product management and marketing. In his last role as the Associate VP of Marketing, he was responsible for Allot’s marketing strategy and execution. Prior to Allot, Yaniv managed a large-scale project at the Electronic Research Department, a top research and development unit of the Israeli Defense Forces. Yaniv holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering & Management and an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University.
Kaname Tokita Chief Engineer, Honda R&D Co Education: March 1987 Tokyo University, Department of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Master’s course graduation, subject of numerical fluid dynamics Company and specialty: April 1987 Honda R&D Co. Ltd. Employee. 2007 Chief engineer, Electrical system design/test department - Power train control system design/test engineer - 06M/Y EU5D CIVIC electrical system test project leader - 09M/Y US4D/2D CIVIC electrical system design project leader Field of specialty: Vehicle control system design/test, Vehicle communication system design/test ISO & IEC expert: 2010 ISO TC22 SC3 JWG V2G CI expert, 2014 ISO TC22 SC31 data communication expert HOD of Japan, 2015 ISO TC22 SC31 JWG1 V2G CI PT2(ISO 15118-2) project leader, 2018 ISO TC22 SC31 WG8 convener / ISO 23239 project leader, IEC TC22 stabilized power supply, IEC TC69 electric vehicle, IEC TC57 smart grid expert.
Geoffrey Wood Business Development Director, North America, Automotive Cybersecurity Business Unit, HARMAN Geoff Wood is Business Development Director, North America, Automotive Cybersecurity Business Unit at HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. HARMAN designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, cyber security solutions, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions and services supporting the Internet of Things. Geoff brings more than 20 years of experience of senior management roles, leading sales and engineering teams, working in the automotive industry. Geoff is responsible for the business and commercial activities of HARMAN’s automotive cybersecurity portfolio in North America since 2016. Prior to joining HARMAN, Geoff served as Director of Sales for Atmel’s Automotive Business in the Americas and as Global Sales Director at Freescale Semiconductor covering large strategic accounts. His experience also includes leadership and engineering roles while working for International Rectifier, Mitsubishi Semiconductor and the US Navy. Geoff holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from Grand Valley State University.
Jovan Zagajac Ford Motor Company, 5GAA Board Jovan is the Connected Vehicle Technology Manager in the Mobility organization of Ford Motor Company where he is responsible for the identification and adoption of technologies enabling connected vehicle products and services. In this role Jovan is focused on ensuring that Ford proactively monitors, implements and deploys technologies that deliver compelling customer experiences and services. He is currently leading the company V2X efforts in collaboration with industry partners. He is also a 5G Automotive Association Board member where he helps the association to advance relevant automotive use cases, requirements and business models.