Maj. Dr. Eng. Mohamed Alahbabi is an Information Communication Technology advisor at the Center of Excellence & Development UAE. He obtained his 1st Degree from USA, MSc & PhD from UK in 2005 and has published more than 22 publications in laser and fiber optics technology.

He has been heavily involved for the last three years in a major UAE Satellite program (Yahsat). He is also following closely emerging concepts and technologies, e.g. NCW/NEC and emerging ICT technologies (NGN, SDR, SOTM). Dr Alahbabi has great interest in academia and R&D, he is in charge of the Think Tank project in center of excellence & development and has an active role in ITU-R and IPv6 UAE Task Force.

Dr Mohamed Alabhabi has memberships in many professional associations and has received different awards for his distinguished academic performance and for his contribution to ICT in UAE.

Tareq Al Hosani is the Chief Executive Officer at Yahsat, the first multipurpose satellite communications system to be launched in the Middle East and Africa. The company is based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Tareq’s key responsibilities include setting and overseeing the implementation of the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. He also provides direction and leadership to the achievement Yahsat’s philosophy and mission. Prior to achieving the position of CEO, Tareq was previously the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director, Corporate Strategy and Business Development and Deputy Chief Technical Officer.

Before joining Yahsat, Tareq was a senior flight test engineer at the UAE Flight Test & Development Center (FT & DC). Employed there for nine years, Tareq conducted and participated in several sophisticated research and development programs; he also held the position of Head of Integration.

Tareq was trained for two years at Dassault Aviation Test Center Istres, France, where he headed the UAE test team, and conducted part of flight test activities for the M2000-9. He has also held a number of positions at Al Dhafra Air Base, UAE.

Tareq holds a master’s degree in electronics and communication engineering from Pierre et Marie Curry, Paris, France, and bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics from Parks College Saint Louis University, St. Louis, USA. He also graduated the IMD Accelerated Executive Development program in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Tim Shroyer is the Chief Technology Officer of General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies.  In this capacity he is responsible for oversight of the engineering and technology for the largest manufacturer of satellite earth station equipment in the world.  Since beginning his career as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, where he was a shipboard Communications Officer and Watch Officer with the DISA, Mr. Shroyer has been active in the satellite communications industry for more than 20 years.  He has been with General Dynamics and its predecessors for more than 10 years, having managed Satellite Communications System design, development, and installations on every continent around the globe.  Prior to joining General Dynamics, Mr. Shroyer was the President of Benecia Communciations, a satellite earth station equipment manufacturer.  At Stanford Telecom he was the Program Manager of the DSCS Control System and managed the development and fielding of satellite network monitoring and control systems.

Gerard Donelan
Vice President, Public Sector Projects
SES

Gerard brings more than 30 years experience in satellite and governmental communications. With SES since 2003, his expertise ranges  from commercial broadcast and communications services, public sector projects, crisis communications, UAV connectivity, hosted payloads and satellite programmes.

Gerard spent 14 years in the British military followed by 11 years in various satellite positions for NATO whilst based in Norfolk, Virginia on the International Staff of the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT). His responsibilities encompassed NATO Satcom, crypto, land and maritime communications and providing interoperable communications to national systems. He received several commendations from NATO for the work he undertook during this time.

As an engaged industry representative he is an appreciated speaker at military conferences, National Defence Universities and a contributor in NATO working groups. Gerard has published papers on the use of satellite communications in enabling Network Centricity and C4ISR.

Baugh founded Northern Sky Research in 2000 to provide market research on domestic and international high-speed networks to vendors and carriers worldwide. With a specialization in satellites and wireless technology, Mr. Baugh directs all Northern Sky Research multi-client research reports and single-client consulting projects. He has participated in a number of individual client studies, performing research and market analysis on specific topics for clients in the telecommunications industry. Topics include broadband satellite networks, wireless standards and service rollout, cable networks, pricing and strategic analyses, partnership identification and market validation through detailed forecasts and trend analyses.

Before forming Northern Sky Research, Mr. Baugh served as Senior Analyst for Pioneer Consulting. Prior to Pioneer, Mr. Baugh was an International Trade Specialist and Economist for the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, DC. While at the Department of Commerce, Mr. Baugh was a recipient of the Charles F. Meissner Memorial Award for his work on trade negotiations in the International Trade Administration.

Mr. Baugh also has extensive legislative and analytical experience from his work for the Committee on International Relations and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, both in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Baugh holds a Bachelor's Degree from Westminster College and a Master's Degree in International Economics from The George Washington University.

David Moss is Thuraya’s Director Government Services and has over 35 years experience in the Telecommunications and Satellite Communications industry.

David holds a Masters degree from University College London in Telecommunications Engineering, and is experienced in providing reliable mission critical communications having served with the UK Ministry of Defence for over 20 years. During his time with the MoD his roles included providing engineering support and maintaining encrypted data links and mainframe computer systems at the Nato HQ in UK. He was transferred on promotion to Germany where he was responsible for maintenance and support of the Defence fixed telecom network and satellite data links, during this role he successfully managed the expansion of the network significantly below budget. His time with the MoD culminated with him being appointed Head of Satellite Communications support for the Royal Navy before moving into the commercial world. In this final role with the UK MoD David devised and led the first Satcom PFI initiative specifically for the Royal Navy. This program made significant financial savings for the RN and proved so successful it was expanded to include the Army and Airforce.
 
After leaving the MoD David turned his MSc dissertation work into a product for his employer that was adopted by many of the worlds major navy’s for primary satellite communications including the US Navy, US Coast Guard, UK MoD, Dutch Navy, Australian Defence Force, Canadian Navy and the New Zealand Defence Force. David worked closely with all of these organisations leading the contract negotiations and service role out. David has now been with Thuraya for 3 years and looks after Government and Defence business development in Europe Middle East and Asia. During his time with Thuraya David has led several major initiatives including the implementation of the netted comms product and development of the Thuraya Aero solutions.

Shawkat Ahmed is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Yahsat, an Abu Dhabi based Satellite Communications Company. Yahsat is the first multipurpose satellite communication system to be launched in the Middle East and Africa.

Shawkat also serves as the Chairman of YahLive, the new UAE-based satellite broadcasting venture between satellite operators SES ASTRA and Yahsat.

In his role as the CCO of Yahsat Shawkat drives the overall formulation, approval, and execution of the marketing plan of Yahsat.  He is responsible for customer and sales strategy and looks after strategic alliances including identification of partners. Additionally, he oversees the financial interface between business development activities and budget forecasts.
 
Prior to Yahsat, Shawkat was Manager, Marketing & Sales at Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company where he played a key role in setting up the Dubai Branch office in 2003. He has managed international distribution channels of Thuraya in Africa, Middle East & South Asia. He also supervised the overall management of the offices and led his team to exceed sales targets and achieve results.

Before Thuraya, Shawkat was the Business Development Officer for Telstra V-Comm in India, a leading Australian-owned satellite communications provider. In this position he was instrumental in developing the Telstra V-Comm’s customer base across the region.

Shawkat holds a master’s degree in business administration with specialization in Marketing and Management Information Systems.

Koen Willems starts his career in 1998 in the speech technology company Lernout&Hauspie, as project manager in the Consulting & Services division. More recently he joins Toshiba as a Product Marketing Manager for the Benelux and later for the European market. In a total of 6 years Koen contributes to all major Toshiba Retail IT product releases.

Mr. Willems is at present Strategic Marketing Director for government and IP products at Newtec, a Belgium-based specialist in satellite communications.

Koen holds a degree in English & Scandinavian Languages (University Ghent, Belgium, 1997) and completed a Master in Marketing Management program at the Vlekho Business School in Brussels (1998). He acquires a Six Sigma Black Belt for product development and process improvement in 2006.

Mr. Leslie Klein is the co- founder, President and CEO of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.
C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. was founded in 1997 with the intent of designing and developing a system capable of delivering high speed Internet over satellite into vehicles and transportable structures.  With the rapidly growing demand for Internet services world wide and with no technology available to make it transportable C-COM designes, developes manufactures and sells its proprietary iNetVu® mobile Satellite Antenna Systems which make it possible to deliver high speed Internet services, voice over IP and video over satellite into locations where no terrestrial infrastructure exists.

Mr. Klein is an Electrical (Professional) Engineer with MBA and Ph.D. degrees.
 Dr. Klein was employed by such notable corporations as Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Control Data Corporation, and Nortel Networks. He has been involved in the high-technology business over the past 35 years and has been a founder of a number of successful technology companies.
 
In 2000, C-COM went public on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSXV: CMI) and raised additional funding, which allowed the company to finish the development of its satellite based iNetVu®   mobile Antenna Systems. In parallel, Hughes Network Systems, Inc. (HNS), now called HughesNet announced one of the first satellite based high-speed two-way Internet connection services in North America, oriented towards the consumer and small business sector. In the same year C-COM has become a Value Added reseller of HNS and has launched the first HNS based two-way high speed Internet service in Canada which it continues to operate to this day. C-COM has adapted the iNetVu® mobile to work seamlessly with the HNS hardware and many other commercially available satellite modems.

In May of 2003 the first iNetVu® mobile systems started shipping worldwide. Today the antenna systems are being sold worldwide to many satellite operators, their resellers, government agencies, emergency and police forces, the military as well as oil, gas an exploration companies. There are over 4000 iNetVu®   mobile antennas deployed on all continents.

C-COM is  continuing to develop new and improved mobile solution that allow high-speed two-way satellite based Internet, voice over IP and video (SNG and DSNG for TV transmission) delivery into vehicles practically anywhere in the world using virtually any providers modems and services.

C-COM is also an 2 way satellite based Internet service provider using Hughes and iDirect technology and supports close to 1000 fixed satellite subscribers generating recurring revenues covering North and Central America.

Hugues Lancrenon has more than 20 years experience in satellite communication engineering.

Since 2003 he is involved in satellite French program SYRACUSE3 Prime Contractor in Thales Defense and Security, in system performances and ground segment engineering. He has been responsible for satellite X band man pack network development and integration, had managed military submarine terminals and airborne terminals studies as well as EHF band performances studies. He is currently in charge of large satcom project activities.

Prior to Thales Defense and Security, Hugues Lancrenon joined in 1997 Alcatel Space Industry. He was participating to Ground segment design of civil satellite telecommunication program either dedicated to Rural Telephony access for Asian market or African market or civil satellite program oriented to internet access.

At THOMSON-CSF, Telecommunication Division, Hugues Lancrenon has been responsible for the development of the French X-band man-pack in the years 90th and previously managed the development and the integration of satellite modem including spread spectrum capability and with embedded crypto.

Hugues Lancrenon holds a Master’s Degree in Telecom Systems from Paris University.

Mr. Deaver joined SES in August 2011 and serves as Vice President, Market Development USG.  In this position, Mr. Deaver leads the management of all U.S Government programs and provides direct support to the Corporate Development organization in their quest to find innovative ways to use commercial communication satellites to meet the needs of our U.S. Government customers.
Prior to assuming this position Mr. Deaver led the hosted payload programs for SES Government Solutions since January 2008.  In this position, Mr. Deaver also served as the Program manager and eventually the Program Executive for the Commercially Hosted Infra-red Payload (CHIRP) program.

Prior to joining SES, Mr. Deaver served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, attaining the rank of Lt Colonel.  His most recent military assignment was as Deputy Chief, Space Control Architecture Division, National Security Space Office where he directed the development of a long-term architecture for the Department of Defense’s space control capabilities.  Before this assignment, Mr. Deaver was the Chief of the Space Control and Force Application Branch for the Undersecretary of the Air Force, where he led the Air Force policy team on three National Security Policy Directives signed by President Bush.

Mr. Deaver was the commander and operations officer of an overseas space surveillance system responsible for tracking and maintaining orbits of thousands of satellites and orbiting debris.  He served at U.S. Space Command developing contingency and operational plans for the employment of classified space control capabilities.  In previous assignments, Mr. Deaver gained experience in simulation and modeling, space system intelligence and space system operations.

Martin Jarrold has worked for GVF for more than 10 years, having been appointed GVF Chief of International Programme Development in June 2001.  His particular responsibilities include outreach to the member organisations of the GVF and for the further development of the profile of the Forum within the satellite communications industry, and across the global telecommunications policy and regulatory community.  This extends to the development and delivery of programmes focused on extending the understanding of, and promoting the use of, satellite-based communications in various key end-user vertical markets.  Mr. Jarrold is Chairman of the GVF Oil & Gas Communications Conference Series, and of the GVF Broadband Maritime Conference Series, which combined have produced 18 conferences in Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, and South America (as at end-2011).  The Oil & Gas Communications Series is expanding into the Angola market in 2012.  Mr. Jarrold is also Co-Chairman of the GVF Maritime Satcom Forum.

Mr. Jarrold is a frequent contributor to various telecommunications and other industry publications.  In addition he regularly chairs and contributes to a wide variety of telecommunications conferences, symposia, and workshops around the world.

Previously, Mr. Jarrold was Commissioning Editor and Head of Research for Space Business International magazine.  His earlier career was predominantly in teaching and writing.  He holds an honours degree in History and Politics.

Nikolaus Faller  is the Vice-President International Sales and Marketing Middle East and Africa of Astrium. He is also Vice-Chairman of the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC.  Until 2010, as Chief Operating Officer he contributed to the first 10 years of the start-up Geo-Information-Service company Infoterra GmbH. In this role he was preparing the world wide business of the German remote sensing satellite TerraSAR-X with a focus on Asia, Europe and the Americas. He is a Telecommunications Engineer by education and is working more than 20 years within the today EADS group.

As Director of Government Services for the Inmarsat Global Xpress™ (GX) programme, Gordon has responsibility for the strategic positioning and development of Inmarsat’s future Ka-Band business in the Government and Military sectors in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

During a successful early career in the UK Royal Air Force as a Communications Electronics Engineering Officer, Gordon had responsibility for the management and development of military voice and data communications from HF through to SHF, including a 2 year tour as the Commanding Officer of the NATO Satcom Ground Terminal and Network Control Centre in the UK.   Gordon then spent 3 years in the field of telecoms regulatory affairs, representing the interests of UK telecoms companies in Europe with European Commission and CEPT working groups.

In 1995 Gordon moved to Serco, the global support services company, where he held a number of senior Government-focused business development and operations appointments over an 8 year period, including 2 years as Operations Director for Serco Aerospace and 4 years in the Middle East as Director of Business Development. In 2004 Gordon transferred to a venture capital company where he set up and ran a technology start-up business, before moving to Inmarsat at the end of 2006, where he was responsible for the business development of Inmarsat’s L-band services in the Government and Military sectors until mid 2010, when took up his current appointment with the GX programme.

Dr. Tanvir Ahmad is Product Development Manager for Defence & Security at EADS Astrium Ltd. Tanvir has responsibility for military hosted payloads, business development covering research & development, product planning and associated technical management.

Tanvir has over 16 years of experience on military satellite communication systems. He is renowned in the military Satcom community as an expert on military payloads. He was the technical customer responsible for military payloads and associated ground segments on Skynet 4 and Skynet 5.

Prior to joining EADS Astrium, Tanvir worked at QinetiQ, as a civil servant and technical advisor to UK MOD for 11 years.  He was technical leader and customer for Military Payloads, Milsatcom management segment and microwave electronic development. Tanvir has published widely in the field of milsatcom and microwave electronics.

Tanvir holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (BEng Hons), PhD in Microwave Electronics and Master in Business Administration (MBA). He is listed in Who’s Who and is charted member of IET and Association of Project Management.

Rashed Al Ghafri is the General Manager of YahService, the managed services business entity of Yahsat.

Yahsat is the first multipurpose satellite communication system to be launched in the Middle East and Africa. The company is based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

In his current role Rashed heads all YahService business activities which include business development for managed services in the UAE and key regional markets of Yahsat.

Prior to the new position, Rashed was a senior manager for business development at Yahsat where he efficiently handled military and government clients and reported directly to the Chief Commercial Officer.

Before Yahsat, Rashed was with the UAE Air Forces for almost seventeen years and held numerous leadership positions, notably the Head of Security and Monitoring Section, Head of Network Management Center for Fiber Optic Network and the Head of Fiber Optic Section.

Rashed holds a master’s degree in computer engineering from Yarmouk University, Jordan and bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Miami, USA.

Nabil Ben Soussia is the managing Director of Safa Telecom Abu Dhabi, an Abu Dhabi based Satellite Service Provider. Safa Telecom Abu Dhabi is a part of the group IEC Telecom a Gold Inmarsat & Thuraya service provider, Iridium & Global star service provider and an international service provider for the Abu Dhabi based satellite company Yahsat.

Nabil also serves as the CTO of IEC Telecom Group, the French group based in Paris, Bristol, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Pointe noire in Congo

In his role as the Managing Director of Safa Telecom Abu Dhabi Nabil drives the overall formulation, approval, and execution of the business development plan of Safa Telecom Abu Dhabi.  He is responsible for customer and sales strategy for the development of vertical markets Government & Security, Media and Oil & Gas in the GCC in general and Abu Dhabi especially.
 
Prior to Safa Telecom Abu Dhabi, Nabil was Director of Technology & Operations, at Safa Telecom Dubai where he played a key role in developing solutions around MSS data equipment.
 
Nabil holds a master’s degree in satellite communication systems from the French Higher Institute of Aerospace and the High School of Telecommunication in Bretagne. Also holds an engineering degree in Telecommunication from the State University of Telecommunication of St-Petersburg.

John Yates has over 23 years of experience in the commercial space sector.  After having held key satellite project management positions at SES-Astra and Inmarsat he now works as a freelance consultant providing expert advice and interim management for companies, organisations and governments world-wide in the commercial satellite telecommunications sector. He is also a Policy Advisor to the UK Parliamentary Space Committee, Chairman of the IET Space Committee and was a member of the UK Government Space Innovation and Growth Team.
 
He is currently providing expert advice to the UK Technology Strategy Board’s programme for the funding and development of strategic satellite technologies in the UK.

Mr. Provencher's professional experience spans several fields and decades in the telecommunications industry. He has been involved with antenna engineering, satellilte communications, marketing and executive management with several prestigious companies.
At Harris Corporation (1981-1987), Mr. Provencher served as Senior Engineer and Program Manager on a large U.S. government contracts for communications involving all branches of the DoD. He oversaw the delivery of mobile ground equipment on a large DoD program to IBM Federal Systems Division for integration into the final contract deliverable.
Mr. Provencher then moved to IBM (1988-1990) in the field of U.S. military ground mobile communications systems. He served in the capacity of Senior Systems Engineer while delivering mobile ground terminal systems to the USAF Space Division.

Mr. Provencher joined Andrew Corporation (1990-1996), a major global supplier of telecommunications equipment where he became a Vice President and served as General Manager of Andrew Kintec. Subsequently he joined Comtech Telecommunications Corp. and was involved with the development and production of satellite communications antennas with Comtech Antennas (1996-1998).

Mr. Provencher is co-founder and President of TracStar Systems, Inc., dba Cobham Satcom Land Systems where he serves as General Manager His duties include overall operations management for the company. Cobham Satcom Land Systems is involved in engineering, manufacturing and distribution of mobile satellite communications products and services. Customers include the US and foreign governments including the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense as well as State and Local public safety and law enforcement agencies. Commercially TracStar products serve the oil and gas, insurance, broadcast and other market sectors. Tracstar was acquired by Cobham, PLC in September of 2005.

Cobham Satcom Land Systems is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, USA.

TracStar's products allow video, voice and data, land mobile radio and other network communications in remote, mobile and distressed environments.

Mr. Provencher graduated from the University of Central Florida with an engineering degree in 1981. He now holds a courtesy faculty positon at UCF. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Global VSAT Forum.

Currently the Director of New Business Solutions at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (SSC), Robert Cleave leads a group that is focused on developing adjacent and horizontal business opportunities while managing a portfolio of technologies for licensing or spinning out new or existing companies.

Previously, Robert was Director of Business Development for the Global Communications Systems Line of Business at SSC, responsible for $1.5B in annual sales related to satellite communication networks. He led all strategic planning, managed engineering product development and new business pursuit activities. He also successfully rebranded the organization to reflect evolving business models by core customers.

From 1994 through 2003, Mr. Cleave was employed by Space Systems/Loral, starting as a Communications System Engineer and later becoming Managing Director of New Business Ventures. Two of the four companies he created remain operational. His last position was the Founder and Vice President for Business Development / Strategic Planning for XTAR, an international joint venture focused on providing X-band services to government agencies.

From 1987 through 1994, Mr. Cleave was employed by Rockwell International Space Systems Division (now Boeing), where he worked as an engineer on a variety of programs for the Air Force and NASA. He became their youngest Chief Systems Engineer in company history, and went on to create an innovative public-private partnership with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

Robert has one patent and has published over 20 papers on various technical and business topics. He graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University and a Masters Certificate in Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California. He serves on several non-profit boards, including the newly created Hosted Payload Alliance.