Small Cell and DAS Workshop Speakers

Shaun Cohen has over 25 years of industry and consulting experience, combining operational and financial expertise to deliver outstanding results. He has managed finance and accounting teams, both as a CFO and as a project consultant to improve reporting, cost analysis and accounting compliance. He has led acquisitions, turnarounds, due diligence efforts, and deal negotiations. Prior to joining Pace Harmon, a boutique consulting firm focused on sourcing and IT strategy, he was the Chief Financial Officer for a national home inspection company and the Chief Financial Officer of a VoIP service provider. Shaun has led dozens of strategic sourcing transactions across a broad spectrum of materials, services and equipment. He has had leadership roles in several large scale network and backhaul build-outs in the US.

Bill Cune is the Vice President of Commercial Technology in Corning’s industry-leading wireless networking and distributed antenna system business within Corning Optical Communications sector. In this role, Cune is responsible for identifying and collaborating with key external groups and future customers to further understand and evaluate potential opportunities within the wireless marketplace. This includes leading the development of the business case and value proposition for new products and programs through early stages of innovation and product conceptualization. Cune’s wide-ranging industry expertise enables him to provide a broad perspective from which to evaluate new trends in the market and in technology.

Cune joined Corning in 2010, as the IDAS Program Director, to lead all aspects of Corning’s entry into the wireless distributed antenna business. As an experienced wireless leader, Cune brought a keen understanding of the market and the requirements to be successful in this business. His leadership resulted in improvements in the solution as well as a clear understanding of the capabilities required to create a winning market position. His leadership ultimately led to the Corning acquisition of MobileAccess Networks.

Prior to joining Corning, Cune gained 25 years of experience in the wireless communications industry including 9 years in sales, professional services, and technology leadership at MobileAccess. Before that, Cune held various roles at Hughes Electronics in international sales and marketing of cellular and satellite communications networks. His perspective was further enhanced through several years of representing Hughes Electronics’ interests on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Cune started his wireless career at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis designing complex communication, navigation, and identification systems for advanced fighter aircraft and missile systems.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla and a Master of Business Administration degree in general management and international business from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. He holds patents in the area of wireless communications systems.

Allen Dixon is a 25-year veteran of the telecommunication industry. Allen joined Henkels & McCoy, Inc., (H&M) in May 2015 as an account executive within the H&M NetWorks division, a premier national integrator of DAS, small cell, and WiFi solutions. As an account executive, Allen works with national enterprise corporations, integrators, and low-voltage contractors on DAS, infrastructure, wireless, professional services, voice, and data center projects.

Prior to joining H&M, Allen held and led a number of significant management positions such as; National Channel Development Manager at Corning MobileAccess, and Global Business Development Manager at Corning Cable Systems.

Allen is a strong advocate of the role of standards in telecom and has participated in the ATM Forum, Fibre Channel, IEEE, and TIA. Allen is the Chairman of the HetNet Forum, and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. Additional credits include Anitsubmarine Warfare Office/Combat Information Center Officer, United States Navy. Allen served on the USS Semmes (DDG-18), Charleston, South Carolina, and completed two tours of duty in Persian Gulf (1986, 1988).

Ed Donelan has been involved in the electrical, communications and data processing industry for over 35 years. As President of Telecom Infrastructure Corp, the company he founded in 1986, his company continues to serve Fortune 1000 companies as a specialist in designing and implementing information technology and DAS systems nationwide. Currently, Ed is a past President of BICSI and has served on the board for 10 years. During the four years as Regional Director, Ed provided over 3,700 members in the North East region with leadership to improve communications and promote BICSI and its members. During Ed’s tenure as President he has provided excellent leadership during the worst economic recession in modern history for both his company and for BICSI. As a result of his leadership both companies continue to grow and prosper. He is also the winner of the prestigious Harry J. Pfister Award for excellence in telecommunications.

Phil Goldstein is the editor of FierceWireless, and is the primary contact for the publication. He also oversees FierceWireless:Europe. Prior to joining FierceMarkets, he was the managing editor of The Daily Free Press, the independent student newspaper at Boston University, as well as an intern for The Times of London. He gets excited about the latest smartphone launches, but is also an avid lover of the New York Yankees, poetry, photography, traveling and escaping humidity.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of ZenFi Networks, Ray applies proven industry management expertise to deliver cutting-edge communication network solutions to the market. Ray oversees all aspects of business operations, effectively leading a team of experts to solve industry challenges created by the proliferation of mobile data. In addition to Ray’s role at ZenFi, he is also a Founding Partner of Metro Network Services, LLC, a company focused on network planning, engineering, deployment and maintenance.

Ray is an Information Technology industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience managing teams to design, build and operate complex, high-capacity networks for large enterprises, financial firms and telecommunications service providers. Prior to ZenFi and Metro|NS, Ray served as President and CEO of Lexent Metro Connect, LLC from 2007 to its successful sale in December 2010 to Lightower Fiber Networks. Ray was also the Co-Founder of Realtech Systems Corp., an enterprise network integration and professional services firm, where he served as President and CEO. Ray received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the State University of New York at Albany in 1985.

Tim O'Brien is the Technical Marketing Manager for Bird Technologies. He has worked for Bird for 13 years and currently serves as a subject matter expert on DAS as well as Product Manager for the company's DeltaNode DAS products. He has been involved the design of DAS and in-building coverage systems for 13 years. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and currently serves as chair of TIA's TR8.11 Antenna Systems subcommittee and the signal boosters workgroup.

For over 19 years, Mario Simard has worked in the high-tech industry, namely in optics and telecommunication. With EXFO for over 10 years, he has developed valuable expertise in FTTH, FTTA and DAS testing. His recent areas of concentration revolve specifically around optical time-domain reflectometry and assisting customers in how to test their fiber networks. This experience has been the basis for Mr. Simard’s latest work on the development of dedicated Fronthaul testing methods and procedures. Mario holds a university degree in mechanical engineering from Université Laval, in Quebec City.

Dr. Rikin Thakker is one of the co-founders of RF Academics - an initiative started by a group of elite professors to cater to industry's need of quality education at corporate speed. Along with teaching, he is also responsible for training, content and business development activities for RF Academics. Dr. Thakker is also a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). He has over 15 years of experience in the field of cellular and wireless communications. He has helped design, deploy and maintain cell sites with 3G and 4G technologies for major cellular operators in the United States. Before joining the university full time, he was working for CommScope as an Engineering Manager for their Active Wireless Products group.

Dr. Thakker earned his M.S. in Telecommunications from UMCP and his Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the George Washington University. His research tried to validate the "spectrum scarcity" notion by modeling the wireless ecosystem using System Dynamics techniques. His research interests include efficient spectrum management techniques, interference analysis and optimal allocation of spectrum, design of cell sites by employing co-siting techniques, in-building wireless capacity and coverage optimization, and system dynamics.

Dr. Thakker has designed several graduate level courses related to Cellular Network Infrastructure, Wi-Fi Technologies and DAS/Small Cells for the Masters in Telecommunication program at UMCP. He received Instructor of the Year award for the program in 2014. He also serves on the Editorial Review Board for the International Journal of System Dynamics Application (IJSDA).

Greg Weiner has over 14 years of industry and consulting experience with a strong emphasis on sourcing/outsourcing and the telecom industry. He was previously a Vice President of Strategy and Business Development with Mobilitie, a wireless infrastructure owner with tower and fiber assets across the country. Prior to Mobilitie he was a co-founder and CIO of Pace Harmon, a boutique consultancy focused primarily on supply chain and strategic sourcing. Greg has led dozens of strategic sourcing and outsourcing transactions and negotiated multiple lease agreements (cell towers) and amendments. He has had leadership roles in several large scale network buildouts in the US as well as in countries across South America. He has also conducted numerous IT and Network outsourcing initiatives across multiple industries.

Mr. Wiest has over 30 years of experience in telecom, wireless networks and tower companies. Doug joined EdgeConneX as an Executive Vice President of Wireless Services in October 2010. Prior to EdgeConneX, Doug was President and CEO of Lightower from July of 2002 until 2009. The business began as a startup under the ownership of National Grid (NYSE:NGG), a UK-based utility company. Before engaging in the Lightower opportunity, Doug was the COO of American Tower (NYSE:AMT), the largest tower owner and operator globally. Doug managed the tower, services and manufacturing divisions as well as IT development. Doug has also held executive operating positions at Nextel, McCaw Communications and Pacific Telesis, a Regional Bell Operating Company acquired by AT&T. Doug has an MBA from the Marriott Business School at Brigham Young University, an MS in Telecommunication from Golden Gate University and a BS in Psychology from Brigham Young University.

James Zik is the Director of Product Marketing Manager for PCTEL, RF Solutions. He has over 20 years of industry experience in the telecommunication industry having managed key engineering, project management and product management functions at leading telecommunications organizations including Ciena, Mintera (now part of Oclaro), Corvis/Broadwing (now part of Level 3), and Acterna (now part of JDSU). At PCTEL, James currently manages test and measurement products used for optimizing and testing cellular networks including Small Cell and DAS Radio Access Networks. He holds several patents, has authored various articles, co-authored a book, participates in webinars and serves as a presenter and panel discussion member at numerous cellular and DAS conferences. Jim holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc in Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison.