Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe

MIT Engineer, Ethernet Inventor, 3Com Founder, Polaris Partner & Advisory Director Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF)

Bob Metcalfe is a high-tech venture capitalist at Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham, Mass. He serves on the boards of Polaris-backed startups including Ember, Narad, Paratek, and SiCortex. In 1973, he invented Ethernet at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. In 1979, he founded 3Com Corp. and took it public in 1984. Metcalfe graduated from MIT, got his PhD from Harvard, taught at Stanford and Cambridge, and was elected in 1997 to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2003 he was appointed to serve as Advisory Director to the MEF board. He received the National Medal of Technology in 2005 and is a Life Trustee of MIT.

Michael Tighe

Chairman of the Board and Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
Director of Strategy and Market Intelligence, Verizonbusiness

Mike is the Director of Strategy and Market Intelligence for Verizon's Enterprise Solutions Group In this role he leads the product strategy & development for Verizon's Ethernet, IP-VPN, & Internet Services portfolio in support of its Enterprise Advance initiative. This project will drive $500M in new revenue during 2005.

In his 18 years in the communications and networking industry, Mike has been instrumental in bringing Fast Packet, IP, Metro Ethernet, and CPE products and services to the marketplace.

Mike has held a variety of positions within Verizon including: Fast Packet Product Management, Group Manager Data Services, & Director of Data Strategy. From 1999-2003 Mike was involved with several early stage networking and IT services companies where he held VP Marketing and Chief Operating Officer Positions.

Mr. Tighe is well known in the industry through speaking engagements on IP-VPN and Ethernet and is frequently quoted in industry trade journals and analyst publications. He holds a bachelors degree in Marketing from Wittenberg University and an MBA from the University of North Texas.

Craig Easley

VP, Treasurer and Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
Associate Vice President of Marketing, Actelis Networks

Craig Easley has 17 years of experience in the information technology and telecommunications industries. He currently holds the position of Associate Vice President of Marketing with Actelis Networks, where he is responsible for developing the marketing strategy and positioning the company's products in the Carrier Ethernet access market. He also holds leadership positions within industry standards organizations and forums including the IEEE and Metro Ethernet Forum. Prior to joining Actelis Networks, he has held a number of executive positions with some innovative telecommunications companies, including Nortel and Extreme Networks. His professional success is based upon the knowledge acquired from his advanced degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration. He attended the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.

As the Associate Vice President of Marketing at Actelis Networks, Mr. Easley manages the development and execution of the strategic marketing plan to support the company's business with telecommunication service providers. As visible evidence of his leadership in the service provider market, Mr. Easley has served for three years as a member of the Metro Ethernet Forum's Board of Directors. He is also contributing to the development of standards for Metro Ethernet in the IEEE 802.1 Task Force. Mr. Easley was an active leader of the IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) project, and was the founding President of the EFM Alliance. Prior to joining Actelis Networks, Mr. Easley has held executive positions with some of the industry's most successful companies including Extreme Networks, Nortel Networks, Bay Networks, and Network General Corporation. This experience has given him expertise in both the technical and business aspects of the data networking and information technology industries. He is a recognized public speaker within the industry and a well-published writer able to persuasively articulate his views and opinions.

Mark Whalley

VP, Director, Co-Chair of MEF Marketing Commitee
Senior Product Manager, Agilent Technologies

Mark Whalley has 20 years technical, marketing and management experience in various sectors of the telecom industry. He is presently a Senior Product Manager, at the Data Networks Division of Agilent Technologies, based in Melbourne Australia. He holds various responsibilies on the N2X Test and Measurement product line and owns related technology and marketing strategy issues.

He has been actively involved as an MEF office-holder since the formation of the MEF in 2001. Mark holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. Electrical Engineering from University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA from the University of Canterbury, in New Zealand.

Bob Klessig

At Cisco, Bob Klessig leads the definition of Metro Ethernet Services and Architecture. Before joining Cisco, Bob was a founder of Telseon, a competitive Metro Ethernet Service Provider. Prior to that he was with 3Com, where he developed and helped execute the corporate ATM strategy. While with 3Com he was the lead representative to the ATM Forum Technical Committee where he focused on standards for data networking with ATM. His ATM Forum activities included serving as Vice Chair of the Technical Committee and as Project Director for ATM over xDSL standards. Before joining 3Com, Bob was at Bellcore and Bell Laboratories. While at Bellcore he led the conception, design, and specification of Switched Multi-megabit Data Service (SMDS), the first high-speed metropolitan area data service. His Bellcore responsibilities also included leading the RBOC participation and serving as Vice Chair in the IEEE 802.6 committee that wrote the IEEE Standard for Metropolitan Area Networks.

Bob represented Telseon in the founding of the MEF and served on the Board of Directors until October 2001 and then again beginning August 2003. Since the inception of the MEF, he has been a Vice President of the Metro Ethernet Forum, Co-Chair of the Technical Committee, and Chair of the Services Area of the Technical Committee.

Danny Cote

Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
Orange Business Services –France Telecom Group
Head of Network Solutions Business Unit

Danny COTE has been named Head of the Network Solutions Business Unit of Orange Business Services, (Enterprise Division of the France Telecom Group), on September 2005. In this position, he is in charge of the marketing and product management for the France Telecom Group domestic and international Data & IP Business, (€ 3 bn revenues in 2005).

He started his career in 1985 as System Engineer for Nortel Networks in Montreal, before moving to an Account Manager position in Sales with Telesat Canada. In 1991, Danny joined France Telecom FCR, where he was in charge of sales management and product developent of France Telecom Voice Solutions on the European market. In 1996, he was named Vice President Voice Services for Global One, then Senior Vice President Data & IP in 2000.

In November 2002, Danny joined Cegetel as Chief Marketing Officer. In May 2004, he was named Managing Director of the Consumer Division of Cegetel, where he led the rapid development of Cegegetel Consumer Division on the broadband market in France.

A native of Canada, Danny received his a bachelor degrees in Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal. He also has an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France; and he has been a member of the INSEAD MBA admission committee.for the past 7 years.

Danny was elected on the Board of the Metropolitan Ethernet Forum in July 2006.

Eric Puetz

Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
Executive Director, Broadband Switching, SBC Laboratories, Inc.

Eric Puetz is the Executive Director of the Broadband Switching group at SBC Labs, responsible for Metro Ethernet and IP Core Routing Technologies. Eric joined SBC Labs in 1994, with responsibility for evaluating Frame Relay and ATM switches. Eric has extensive knowledge in operations and maintenance of Central Office transmission equipment such as digital subscriber loop carrier, optical transport, and digital cross-connect systems. Eric was previously a senior member of technical staff at AT&T Network Systems responsible for providing technical support services on digital transmission systems to all AT&T organizations, operating telephone companies, and private network customers. He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis MO in 1979.

Eric Puetz's organization is responsible for broadband network element requirements and approval for use testing for SBC. His group is actively working on Ethernet switching product development and IP Core routing technologies at SBC. Late last year, SBC launched Phase 1 of its switched Metro Ethernet product, OPT-E-MANSM. His group is currently working on the Phase 2 OPT-E-MANSM product. SBC Labs members have been active in the MEF, IEEE, EFM and IETF standards groups related to metro Ethernet. Eric and members of his team are contributors to "Virtual Private LAN Services over MPLS", draft-ietf-l2vpn-vpls-ldp-03.txt.

Mr. Puetz has been a member of the MEF since its inception.

Nan Chen

President and Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
Vice President of Product Management and Marketing, Strix Systems

Nan Chen is the Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Strix Systems (www.StrixSystems.com), the leading provider of wireless Ethernet mesh equipments enabling rapid networking without wires for 100% reach-ability and mobility of Internet. Mr. Chen is also the President of the Metro Ethernet Forum (www.MetroEthernetForum.org), a worldwide standards organization for Carrier-class Ethernet networks and services.

Before Strix, Nan Chen was the Vice President of Marketing at Atrica Inc., where he successfully drove Ethernet's metro vision in the industry and its wide adoption in carriers' networks worldwide

Prior to joining Atrica, Mr. Chen was the Director of Product Management and Product Marketing at Force10 Networks while serving as a founding Board of Director of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Alliance (10 GEA).

Mr. Chen also spent four years at Nortel/Bay Networks/SynOptics. While serving as a Director of Technology at Nortel Technology Center, Mr. Chen drove Nortel 10 Gigabit Ethernet strategy, and served as a founding member of IEEE 802.3ae Task Force for development of 10 Gigabit Ethernet standards.

Mr. Chen and his companies received over 20 significant industry accolades and awards, including multiple Best Marketing Awards. Mr. Chen holds two MS degrees and a BS degree. In his past life, he was a record holder in pole vault at Beijing University.

Paul Bottorff

VP, Secretary, Director
Director, Switching Architecture, Nortel Networks

For the last 20 years Paul Bottorff has been a technologist and visionary of the data networking industry. Starting in the early 1980s with the development the first Ethernet products at Bridge Communications, Inc., Paul went on to advance state-of- the-art technology by working on the development and standardization of FDDI, ATM, and 10 GE WAN. Paul is the inventor of 10 GE WAN and has for the past three years carried the banner of LAN/WAN integration at the IEEE standards committees.
Paul is the Director of Switching Architecture at Nortel ATI Division. He is a member of the IEEE and participant in the IEEE 802.1 committee. He received his BS from University of Wisconsin Madison and holds of three patents. Paul serves as VP, Co-Chair of the MEF Technical Committee and member of the MEF Board.

Daniel Bar-Lev

VP, Director & Co-Chair of MEF Marketing Committee
SVP, Business Development and Co-Founder, Resolute Networks

Daniel brings twelve years of technical, marketing and management experience in the field of networking solutions. As an executive manager at Resolute since co-founding the company in 1999, Daniel has been responsible for all the company's marketing activities, as well as creating the sales team and raising finance for the company. In addition, Daniel has been actively developing the emerging pseudo-wire circuit emulation market.
Prior to Resolute, Daniel was at RAD Data Communications where he was responsible for product management and sales of a variety of systems and silicon products. Daniel's career also includes over a decade of engineering and business positions in the defence industry.

He graduated with a B.Sc. Hons. in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Bristol in the UK.

Daniel has been active in the MEF since 2003 on the marketing side of the CES working group, as co-chair of the Economics committee, and most recently as Marketing co-chair.

Alireza Mahmoodshahi

Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
CTO, COLT

Dr. Mahmoodshahi joined COLT in April 2005 to head up the Innovation, Products and Systems division. He is responsible for the development and introduction of new products and services and managing the existing product portfolio. He is also responsible for driving the development and the management of the COLT's information technology.

Dr Mahmoodshahi was previously with KVH Co., Ltd. Japan where he was Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer. He led the development of high speed Ethernet and multi-service platform in the country enabling KVH to be the first carrier to launch this product in Japan helping to transform the company from a start-up operation to a recognised telecoms brand.

Prior to joining KVH in 2001, he held a number of senior positions during a 17 year career at AT&T, including spending 10 years with AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked on a number of ground breaking technologies. His career at AT&T culminated in the role of Vice President of IP Technology & Business Development for the Technology Sector at Concert, the global joint venture between AT&T and BT.

Dr Mahmoodshahi has recently been appointed to the Governing Board of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). He has a Ph. D. in electrical engineering from the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and served as US chairman for the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee (CCITT) and the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) in support of global ISDN standards over VSAT.

Matt Squire

Director, Metro Ethernet Forum
Chief Technology Officer, Hatteras Networks

Matt Squire serves as Chief Technology Officer for Hatteras Networks (www.hatterasnetworks.com), a leading provider of Ethernet-over-copper access solutions for Metro Ethernet networks. Dr. Squire has more than 15 years of experience in developing and promoting Ethernet standards and technologies. Most recently, Matt chaired the IEEE 802.3ah OAM Subtaskforce, and was a board member of the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance (EFMA).

In addition to his leadership at the Metro Ethernet Forum, Matt continues to serve an active role in the IEEE, ATIS, and ITU, with emphasis on how to utilize and deliver Ethernet in the access market. In addition to his standards activity, Matt is also a frequent speaker and author, constantly discussing and promoting the benefits of Ethernet deployments and technologies.

Matt holds a BA in Mathematics and a PhD in Computer Science & Mathematics. He has accumulated more than 20 patents in telecommunications over his career at IBM, Bay Networks, Nortel, WindWire, and Hatteras Networks.