Allen Shumate
President & CEO
Combined Conditional Access Development and Support, CCAD
CCAD, LLC is a joint venture between Comcast Communications, Inc. and Motorola, Inc.
CCAD’s charter is to drive the development of conditional access and control systems for use by Comcast and other MSOs in managing and delivering content through their networks.
Allen has been involved in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years in various engineering
development, management and business development capacities. Allen had key involvement at General Instrument in the early development of the conditional access system used in the VideoCipher, DigiCipher satellite television systems and the early DigiCable television systems, all of which remain secure to this day. This security system became the basis for the MediaCipher conditional access system currently in wide use within the cable industry.
Since leaving General Instrument, Allen has held various positions driving development
of telecommunication systems and supporting
business development efforts in the VSAT,
Cellular Telephone and DSL business segments.
Most recently, Allen was Vice President
of Engineering for Kyocera Wireless Corporation,
responsible for software, electrical, and
mechanical engineering development for
Kyocera’s CDMA handsets.
Allen
holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in
Applied Physics from the University of
California, San Diego.
Mark DePietro
V.P.
Strategy
Motorola, Connected Home Solutions
Mark DePietro joined General Instrument in 1994, and was initially responsible for building the System Engineering organization and creating the system design for GI’s first digital video system. He now serves as VP of Product Management at Motorola’s Home Connected Business Unit.
Prior to joining GI, Mr. DePietro founded Creative Engineering, a firm that successfully developed and deployed the world’s first interactive video entertainment systems for commercial aviation. CEU products are now widely deployed on International flights. The most recognizable product is called AERIS, a system that shows passengers flight progress against a background map.
Prior to founding CEU, Mr. DePietro was employed at Sierra Cybernetics, a small firm in Southern California. At Sierra, Mark successfully diversified their business base, lessening their dependence on a single large military contract.
Before Sierra, Mr. DePietro served as a Systems Engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company, where he did design work in the areas of radar signal processing , spread spectrum communications, and video processing systems used in high-performance aircraft testing. He was awarded a Howard Hughes fellowship.
Mr. DePietro began his career at the Rome Air Development Center, where he contributed to the development of computer systems that were used to automatically analyze multi-spectral aerial reconnaissance imagery.
Mr. DePietro holds a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MSEE and EEE from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from Villanova University. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma.
Geoff Roman
Corporate
Vice President, Strategy & Business
Development
Connected Home Solutions, Motorola, Inc.
Geoff Roman is a corporate vice president
of strategy and business development for Motorola Connected Home Solutions.
In this role, Roman identifies and leverages strategic opportunities
across Motorola Connected Home as well as Motorola, Inc., and focuses
on technology-sharing initiatives.
Prior to that position, Roman was corporate vice president
and director, strategy for Networks Sector developing strategic programs
spanning Motorola’s broadband, wireless infrastructure and CGISS businesses.
Prior to Motorola's merger with General
Instrument, he was executive vice president for General Instrument
Corporation. In this position, Roman managed the Company's worldwide
sales, service, customer support and advanced development functions.
Previously, Roman was senior vice president
and general manager of the Telecommunications strategic business
unit responsible for developing and marketing the Company's SURFboardÒ
cable modems. His previous assignments were as senior vice president
of strategic planning for GI's Communications Division, vice president
of marketing for the Distribution Systems Division and vice president
of marketing and engineering for the RF Systems Division.
Before joining General Instrument in
1982, Roman was a group leader with the MITRE Corporation where
he was principal in the design and implementation of local area
networks for a number of government facilities. Roman's career began
with the New York Telephone Company where he worked in the area
of outside plant engineering including the company's leaseback cable
systems.
Roman is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute with both a master's and bachelor's degree in electrical
engineering. He is the author of many papers addressing various
aspects of local area networks and cable television.
Gary Traver
Senior Vice President & COO
Comcast Cable
Gary Traver is Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Media Center. In this position, Traver is responsible for overall management of the CMC business.
Traver, a 20-year broadcasting veteran, also served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of CMC since its acquisition by Comcast in the Fall of 2002. Prior to the acquisition, he was Senior Vice President of Video Services for CMC, formerly AT&T Digital Media Centers, since joining the company in 1999.
Traver was Vice President of Broadcast and Network Operations for PRIMESTAR before joining AT&T Digital Media Centers. In that role, he was responsible for creation, operation and management of a direct broadcast satellite network providing video, audio, and data services for more than 2.3 million customers. While at PRIMESTAR, he directed company efforts to introduce the world's first-fully digital consumer service. His team received an EMMY award for his pioneering work in digital television.
Traver has been in the broadcast industry since 1983. In addition to his PRIMESTAR post, he has held senior-level assignments in the development of satellite television with Skyband, Inc., and Comsat Satellite Television. He has expertise in software engineering, broadcast network operations, conditional access, encryption and information technology.
He holds a B.S. in Social Sciences and an A.S. in Accounting from Truman State University (formerly Northeast Missouri State University) in Kirksville, Mo., and graduated cum laude. Traver is actively involved in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, the Society of Cable Television Engineers and the NCTA Technology Committee. Traver also serves on the Board of Directors for the Denver Children’s Home and is a member of SES AMERICOM’s Customer Advisory Board.
Denver-based Comcast Media Center (CMC), a business unit of Comcast Cable, provides a Total Content Solution for cable system operators and members of the content community, including television programming networks, independent producers and advertisers. CMC’s products include its HITS all-digital platform of over 200 linear digital video and audio services; an Advertising Distribution Network ( ADN) for centrally managing cross channel promotions and advertising; and a video on demand ( VOD) platform serving over 15 million VOD-enabled cable households. The CMC also provides a full spectrum of content production, management and distribution services, including channel origination, transcoding, hosting, storage and IP multicasting, for traditional and new media platforms. |
Bridget Kimball
Vice President
CCAD, San Diego, CA
She is responsible for the engineering and development of conditional access and security software and hardware for end-user devices and infrastructure equipment.
Prior to CCAD, Bridget was a Senior Manager in Conditional Access Engineering at Motorola. In this position she was responsible for system engineering and architecture for conditional access products deployed in digital cable and satellite systems.
She has fifteen years of experience in MPEG-based content delivery systems, including digital rights management and PVRs, IP data networking, and satellite communications.
Bridget has given several presentations on conditional access topics for industry professional groups and trade shows. She has also worked with the local Society of Women Engineers student chapters, participating in student panel discussions and was the featured speaker at the 2004 UCSD/USD/SDSU Evening with Industry event.
She is a board member of the San Diego chapter of Women in Telecommunications and Cable, member of Society of Women Engineers, IEEE, SCTE, and has been an adjunct faculty member in the San Diego Community College District.
Bridget holds an MSEE from University of Southern California, and a BSEE, Summa Cum Laude, from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
John E. Burke
Corporate Vice President & General
Manager
Motorola, Inc. Connected Home Solutions
John Burke is Motorola Corporate Vice President
and General Manager, Connected Home Solutions. Mr. Burke leads the Digital
Video Solutions group, which is the world’s leading supplier of digital
video set-tops, content access and management software and solutions
for cable, satellite and telecom providers.
Mr. Burke previously served as the corporate vice president
and general manager of Motorola’s Consumer Entertainment Solutions
group. In this role, Burke was responsible for the business, which
enabled operators to meet consumer demand for new applications, such
as video telephony, wireless home networking and streaming audio.
Prior to this role, Burke served as vice president and general manager
of the Cable Modem Group within the IP Network Systems business unit
of Motorola Broadband.
Mr. Burke has been with the Company for over 19 years,
serving in positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, business
development, product management and finance.Mr. Burke holds a master’s degree in business administration
from St. Joseph's University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration
from The Ohio State University.
Gary Henson
Vice President CCAD, Horsham, PA
He leads the engineering
and development of conditional access software for the cable head-end
infrastructure equipment.
Prior to CCAD, Gary was Senior Director of
Software Engineering at Motorola. In this position he was responsible
for software
engineering and architecture for conditional
access products deployed in digital cable.
He has over seven years
of experience in digital
video engineering leadership, including
adapting the conditional access system to the international DVB market.Gary
has an extensive and varied background in software
and systems engineering. Prior to joining
the cable industry, he was employed with General Electric for thirteen
years leading the systems
and software engineering teams developing
and deploying e-commerce applications and systems to Fortune 100 companies.
Gary has served on the
board of directors for United Way and various non-profit agencies
over
the years, and served as the leader of
the United Way funds allocation committee
for three of those years, reviewing agency budgets
and funding requestsGary holds a BS in
Computer Science from Kentucky State University,
and attended the University of Kentucky Graduate School
of Business.
Tony G. Werner
Chief Technology Officer
Comcast Cable
Tony Werner is Comcast Cable’s Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. In this role he is responsible for developing and guiding the company’s technology strategy and evolving network architecture, including supporting next-generation consumer systems and technologies, infrastructure and engineering, network integration and management tools and technical standards.
Mr. Werner most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Liberty Global, Inc., in Englewood, CO, leading the company’s global strategy for video, voice and data services. Werner has more than 25 years of engineering and technical management experience, having held senior management positions with Qwest Communications, Aurora Networks, TeleCommunications, Inc. (TCI)/AT&T Broadband, Rogers Communications, Inc., and RCA Cablevision Systems.
A graduate of Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, MN, with a degree in Telecommunications, Werner resides in Philadelphia.
Neil Heller
Sr. Vice President, Quality Assurance & Joint Venture Ops.
Comcast Cable
Neil Heller serves as Senior Vice President, Quality Assurance & Joint Venture Operations for Comcast Cable. In this role, Neil is responsible for managing the integration and operation of new business enterprises that offer flexible platforms for adding new digital cable products and applications. In this capacity, he oversees the operations for several Comcast-managed joint ventures and strategic alliances.
Neil also has been given the responsibility of forming the Quality Assurance and Testing Group for Comcast Cable. This is a newly formed group within the Comcast organization. Comcast is actively developing a host of new products for its customers. The quality Assurance and Testing group is chartered with helping bring these new products to customers more quickly than ever before while insuring the highest possible quality.
Prior to joining Comcast, Neil practiced law, focusing on corporate and business related matters. He was a founder and served as Chief Executive Officer for TVSM. TVSM published the Cable Guide, at the time the 8th largest circulated magazine in the U.S. with a circulation of 5 million copies per month and Total TV a weekly magazine with a circulation of 1 million copies a week. TVSM was sold to Newscorp, publisher of TV Guide in 1999. Neil was a founder and Chairman of Katalyst, LLC which provided business advisory and investment banking services for venture capital backed companies. He also supplied strategic and business advisory services to media and broadband companies for the Heller Group.
Neil serves on the Advisory Council for American University School of Communication, is a member of the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), is a member of the Society of Cable Television Engineers (SCTE) and has been inducted into the Cable Television Pioneers Association.
Neil holds a B.A. in Political Science from American University in Washington, D.C. and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, PA. He resides in Lower Gwynedd, PA.
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