TEST Talks 2021

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber optic space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense. 

Dr. Ana González is currently R&D Manager at EPIC (European Photonics Industry Consortium). Her role is to understand the technology developed by EPIC members and to identify potential collaboration opportunities between them. She also participates in different EC initiatives such Pilot Lines in Photonics, where she contributes to business development and marketing strategy. Her expertise lies in the development of optical systems and research into applications such as sensing and datacom. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and her PhD degree from the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2). 

David J. Rodgers is a seasoned Test and Measurement (T&M) professional with wide-ranging experience in serial communications protocol and interconnect validation, and a focus on Ethernet network and Fibre Channel fabric solutions where he has been defining, designing, deploying and marketing a broad range of high-speed serial analysis T&M products for SANs and LANs. David has 35+ years industry experience in bringing new computer technologies to market with a wide-ranging background in business, program management and product development of serial protocol T&M solutions. He is an original member of the USB Implementers Forum and one of the pioneer marketers of USB protocol analyzers. David represents EXFO for high-speed interconnect test technologies including Ethernet and Fibre Channel in various protocol industry groups such as IEEE, T10/T11 standards bodies, the Ethernet Alliance and the Fibre Channel Industry Association.

Francois Menard is the CTO of AEPONYX inc. He has worked extensively in wired, wireless and optical fiber telecommunication networks over a career spanning more than 25 years. Mr. Menard is the architect of over twenty-five optical communications technology patents and patent applications that combine integrated photonics with micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS). He is the representative of AEPONYX in standards bodies such as ITU and IEEE and leads strategic technological developments. 

Faisal Dada is a Principal Architect & Director in the Wired and Wireless Group at Xilinx, where he manages strategic and technical engagements with customers and service providers. He has more than 20 years’ experience working in different capacities in the industry. At Xilinx, he is responsible for the Optical Transport and Access global markets and works closely with product planning teams to define next-generation products. His responsibilities at Xilinx include publishing papers, speaking at conferences and working with standards bodies. 

Steve Jia is a Distinguished Technologist on Optical Technologies at CableLabs, focusing on future optical access network architectures and emerging broadband wired and wireless converged technologies. Dr. Jia has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers, 1 book and 4 book chapters, he holds 50 US and foreign patents. Dr. Jia has been the Technical Lead of CableLabs’ point-to-point coherent optics specifications. He has a Ph.D. degree in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA.

Luis M. Contreras (http://lmcontreras.com/) has been working for Telefónica in the I+D / Telefónica CTIO unit since August 2011. His projects include 5G, SDN, virtualization, transport networks and their interaction with cloud and distributed services, as well as interconnection topics. He previously worked for Alcatel and Orange. 

Luis is actively involved in research and innovation activities, with 70+ papers published by relevant journals, magazines and conferences. He speaks regularly at high-profile academic and industry events. Luis has participated in projects funded by the EU and the ESA. He is currently working on the EU H2020 projects 5GROWTH and 5G-EVE, and the EU-TW 5G-DIVE. In the standardization arena, he is an active contributor to IETF (authoring five RFCs), O-RAN, ETSI, ITU-T and ONF. 

Luis earned a Telecom Engineering (M.Sc.) degree at the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid (1997). He also holds an M. Sc. in Telematics from the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (2010) where he also lectures part-time. 

Harpinder Matharu manages the strategic and technical marketing team at Xilinix. His current focus area is 5G NR, Telco Cloud, Mobile Edge Compute, Converged Access and AI/ML applications for wired and wireless networks. He has more than 30 years of experience working in different capacities within the communications industry. 

Christopher Tutt (Chris) has been the program manager for the CS® and SN® Fiber Optic Interconnect solutions at Senko Advanced Components, Inc. for the last 3 years with responsibility for developing and promoting product growth for this new technology.  Chris has over 30 years’ experience in the Interconnect industry and related technologies. He holds 4 patents related to Interconnects and has published one technical paper. Chris is a veteran of the US Navy where he received his training in computer and radar technology.

In his spare time, Chris enjoys spending time with his family, watching baseball, and playing with the family dog.

Shon Schmidt is the founder and CEO of Maple Leaf Photonics, a start-up focused on developing technology and tools that accelerate the commercialization of integrated photonic systems. While his career has focused on hardware and software product development, Shon also authored numerous patents and publications in the fields of novel microprocessor circuits, computer security and lab-on-chip diagnostic sensors for personalized healthcare. Shon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. He currently resides in Seattle with his wife, Cambria, and their three sons.

Raphaël Dubé-Demers received a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec in 2012, where he joined the Centre d’optique, photonique et laser (COPL) and received a Masters degree in electrical engineering. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering. In the Photonics Group, he specialized in the modeling, development and testing of resonant SOI modulators. In 2019, after more than 2 years as technical lead at Ciena, Raphael cofounded EHVA Inc. with Professor Wei Shi. 

Antonio has spent the last 24 years looking at optical technologies for telecommunications from different angles: production engineering , product development, systems design. He’s currently with Ericsson in Italy as a system manager and technologist. 

• Joined Elliot Scientific in 1998
• Position: Senior Sales Engineer
• Responsibilities: Sales and technical support for products in our Components Group
• Previous positions: GEC Marconi Avionics
• Academic background: BSc (Hons) in Physics
• Professional qualifications: CPhys, MInstP

Simon is responsible for our Components Group, offering products to the research community from over 25 different suppliers, including our own alignment and micro-positioning products. In addition to the university research groups and associated collaborative hubs such as the UK National Quantum Technology Hub, we also have established accounts with larger research organizations such as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), National Physical Laboratory, Atomic Weapons Establishment, and Fraunhofer UK. Simon has also managed our largest OEM account for a number of years, involving the design and supply of fibre optic-based products, with many of these handled through a Kanban ordering process. With a broad range of products from optics, fibres and micro-positioners to some of our newer product lines such as microscopy light sources, Simon engages customers across multidisciplinary research areas.

Sebastian received his degree in Electrical Engineering from the Dresden University of Applied Science. He has held various positions in R&D, application support and product management in the semiconductor test industry. Currently he is responsible for probe systems product marketing at MPI Corporation and with specialization in silicon photonics testing. 

Stéphane Chabot se unió por primera vez a EXFO como gerente de línea de productos en 1998 y en 2001 fue ascendido a gerente de línea de productos del mercado de proveedores de servicios de red. En la actualidad, como vicepresidente de desarrollo de negocios de campo, Stéphane es responsable de maximizar el crecimiento de EXFO en el mercado de campos, específicamente en pruebas de fibra, transporte y 5G. Desde 2019 hasta 2022, Stéphane fue vicepresidente de pruebas y mediciones y responsable de las unidades de negocio de óptica/física, transporte de alta velocidad, y transmisión de datos y producción, diseño e investigación. Desde 2006 hasta 2019, fue director de la unidad de negocios de óptica de EXFO. En esa función, Stéphane lideró el equipo principal en su responsabilidad de desarrollar el negocio óptico mundial y la estrategia, desarrollando y manteniendo la hoja de ruta y la visión de la familia de productos, desarrollando y controlando el mercadeo anual, asegurando los planes de salida al mercado, desarrollando nuevos mercados, proporcionando actualizaciones clave de vigilancia del mercado y de la competencia, analizando el rendimiento y las métricas de la línea de productos, proporcionando una evaluación comparativa periódica y desarrollando asociaciones/fabricantes de equipos originales (Original Equipment Manufacturer, OEM)/adquisiciones dentro de la familia de la línea de productos. Stéphane tuvo un gran éxito como director de la unidad de negocios de óptica, duplicando sus ingresos anuales a más de $120 millones y aumentando la cuota mundial de EXFO en el mercado de soluciones ópticas portátiles al 38 %. Su liderazgo ha sido decisivo en muchas aplicaciones clave de alcance mundial, como la fibra hasta el hogar. Antes de trabajar en EXFO, Stéphane fue oficial de telecomunicaciones en las Fuerzas Armadas canadienses desde 1992 hasta 1998. Tiene una licenciatura en ciencias espaciales del Real Colegio Militar de Canadá y un diplomado en administración de empresas de la Universidad Laval de Quebec.

Sophie Legault is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Sophie currently holds the position of Director Product Management - Network Deployment and Operations business unit.

With a solid background that spans service providers, network equipment manufacturers and test and measurement, she is well-equipped to manage complex projects and lead teams towards success. Her current role involves overseeing the development and execution of product and solution strategies and working closely with cross-functional teams to drive innovation and growth. She is also responsible for leading strategic planning initiatives and has spoken at multiple industry events.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal and an MBA from École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Montreal.

Leo Lin has 20+ years of experience in the telecom and IT sectors. He currently holds the position of Director – NEMs Manufacturing Design & Research at EXFO. Prior to that, Leo has held various leadership roles in product management, sales & marketing and engineering at Finisar, QXP, Wistron, EZconn and Chorum and led multidisciplinary teams to launch over 16 new product families for data centers, wireless, DWDM transport and FTTx. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from University of Toronto and a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal.

Jean-Marie Vilain brings to EXFO more than thirty years of extensive experience in optical transport networks, signal integrity testing and protocol network testing. His past experience also led him to work with major telecom accounts in Americas, EMEA and Asia, and to develop a deep expertise in technical marketing, competitive analysis and sales strategy. Jean-Marie Vilain holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from École de technologie supérieure de Montréal.

François Couny is Product Line Manager for EXFO Optics. He started his career in 2001 as a Test & Measurement engineer at Blaze Photonics, a start-up company specialized in Photonic Crystal Fibre and completed his Ph.D. in Photonics in 2008 at the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Material at the University of Bath (UK). He went on to join Yenista Optics in 2010 with a focus on developing tuneable laser sources and spectral solutions, including an Optical Spectrum Analyzer and also an optical component tester adapted to photonic integrated circuits characterization. Since 2015, François has been PLM for Yenista Optics, now part of EXFO as EXFO Optics.

Guillaume Lavallee is a product line manager at EXFO, the communications industry’s test, monitoring and analytics experts. He oversees the optical products in the Installation and Maintenance division. He has more than 15 years of experience in telecom test and measurement, related technologies and best practices. Guillaume has a bachelor’s degree in Physics Engineering, specialized in Optics, as well as an MBA from Canada’s University Laval.