WCA Center Stage

Bio Tom Sawanobori

Thomas (Tom) Sawanobori is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for CTIA. the wireless trade association. He is responsible for technology and technical matters concerning spectrum, network evolution to 5G, cybersecurity and other technical areas. He has over 20 years of technology planning, network engineering and operational experience for Verizon, including leading Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network launch and rollout.

Bio Prakash Sangram

Prakash Sangam is the founder and principal of Tantra Analyst LLC. With over 20 years of international experience in engineering, marketing, and business development, he has contributed to the advancement of cutting-edge wireless technologies and products, including 5G, 4G, IoT, Wi-Fi, CV2X, and cloud/edge services. Prakash has held key engineering and marketing positions at leading wireless companies such as Qualcomm, Ericsson, and AT&T

Bio Henry Huang

Henry just joined Micron Ventures, a $300 million corporate VC fund investing in cutting-edge startups partnering with them to achieve success. Prior to Micron Ventures, Henry had been an investment director with TDK Ventures, the CVC arm of Japanese TDK Corporation. Henry had extensive experience in technology development, engineering operation, product management and technical sales in both Silicon Valley startups (NextG Networks, 3TEN8 and Tarana Wireless) and Fortune 500 company (AT&T).

Mark Bagley – Managing Director – Woodside Capital Partners

Mark is the managing director of Woodside Capital Partners. This global independent investment bank provides strategic and financial advisory to leading technology companies, primarily in mergers and acquisitions, equity capital raising, and acquisitions in the middle market and emerging growth companies. Previously headed up Strategic Global Partnerships for BT for 15 years based in Silicon Valley. This role involved finding, qualifying, and then managing partners and alliances in Silicon Valley relevant to BT’s wide range of markets in consumer & business retail & wholesale markets in the UK and IT and vertical solutions for multinationals globally in around 200 countries.

Lisa Oshima, Founder and Managing Consultant, Socialize Mobilize 

Lisa Oshima (Lisa Whelan) is the Managing Consultant atSocialize Mobilize, which provides strategy, business development, mobile user acquisition, and developer marketing expertise to clients. 

Previously, Lisa worked for PA Consulting Group in London, engaging European clients on strategy, business, and technology integration projects, and Nokia Inc. in Silicon Valley.  Lisa writes about trends in social media and mobile/web / TV convergence on the Socialize Mobilize blog and Twitter.  Lisa is an accredited investor and invests in mobile start-ups.  She holds an MSc from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and a BA from Boston College. 

Bio Tytus Stempniewicz

Pre-seed, seed investor focused on AI/ML, infra, deep tech.

Bio Laura Swan

Laura Swan is a seasoned investor and technology executive with experience in identifying and nurturing 

promising startups. As a General Partner at Silicon Catalyst Ventures and an active angel investor with Silicon Catalyst Angels and Sand Hill Angels, Laura leverages her deep understanding of the technology landscape to guide and support early-stage companies. 

Laura’s career began at the forefront of the networking revolution, where she played a role in the development and deployment of some of the very first switches and routers. This hands-on experience provided her with an invaluable foundation in engineering development processes, from functional specification and system architecture design to testing and deployment. 

Bio Henry Xue

As a Silicon Valley-based venture investor with a deep technical background, Mr. Hong Xue invests in innovative technology startups with focuses on Big Data and Cloud Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, FinTech and Blockchain, Internet of Things and HealthTech. Some of his portfolio companies include CyberFend (acquired by Akamai), Virtriod (acquired by Magic Leap), NeuroVasc (acquired), ObEN, ScaleFlux, CaiCloud, Citcon, Directly, Skymind, LeanFM, Oculii, VisualThreat, Sentieon, Apostel etc.

Bio Marcel Verheijen

As a Global Business Developer in Breakthrough Technology, Marcel has accumulated over two decades of experience in (digital) marketing, start-ups, go-to-market (GTM), and access-to-market (A2M) strategies. Additionally, he co-founded “Amplify Now Global,” a platform designed to accelerate the growth of start and scaleups. Marcel’s analytical thinking skills enable him to excel at converting complex problems into solutions. He is a team-oriented motivator who takes a hands-on approach to leadership. Furthermore, Marcel is an expert in innovation, and his passion for leading and motivating teams helps him to develop strong interpersonal relationships.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelverheyen/
Marcel has served on the WCA Board since 2020. 
Email: marcel.verheijen@wca.org 

Bio Huib Lubbers

Entrepreneur in retail, consultancy, and smart shopping data. own footfall counters in shopping streets and is a specialist in service retailing. Retail consultant and researcher. business, location and footfall research, strategy and distribution planning, formula development, design management, managing retail teams, building stores, consumer-based research, and location-based research.  Specialties: retail strategy, formula development, location strategy. Consumer and market research, data scientist, real estate consultant, and concept builder.

Bio Dick Berkelder

twenty years of experience in Marketing, Communications & Sales in several industries: Telecom, ICT, Hospitals & Health care Specialties: Marketing, Communications, PR & Sales 

Bio Alex Smit

Highly committed, results-driven leader with a strong record in developing and deploying strategies to grow revenues, expand corporate footprint and increase overall profitability. With 20 years of international experience, I have held several senior positions at innovative companies in the ICT, Utilities and Fintech sectors. Successfully built, led and restructured organizations, consistently achieving and maintaining excellent results in complex and highly competitive environments. Combining exceptional analytical and teambuilding skills, I bring people, technology and resources together in a way that drives digital transformation and allows businesses to accelerate ahead of the competition. 

Email: alex.smit@wca.org 

Bill Reichert – Partner – Pegasus Tech Ventures 

Bill Reichert is a Partner at Pegasus Tech Ventures, a $2 billion global venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley and offices worldwide. Bill focuses on deep technology investments, including AI, quantum computing, next-generation chips, materials science, and medical technology. He is also the Chief Evangelist of Startup World Cup, the largest and richest venture capital competition on the planet, with over $1.5 million in cash prizes, including a $1 million grand prize. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/billreichert/

Tricia Salinero – Managing Partner – Stout 

Tricia has completed ~100 technology mergers and acquisitions valued at $4 billion over her 20+ years in technology. She has represented companies that sold to Google, Microsoft, Red Hat, Oracle, American Greetings, and Autodesk.   

Tricia received a BA degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from California State University, East Bay, with an emphasis in organizational development.

http://linkedin.com/in/triciasalinero

Bio: Joe Madden

Joe leads a team of industry experts that guides the mobile industry in development of 5G, Edge Cloud, IoT, and now 6G. We provide deep technical analysis and use hard-nosed economic estimates to make accurate predictions about future technological direction.  

By tracking mobile traffic density trends, Joe accurately predicted the rise of small cells four years before it happened. I was the only analyst with accurate predictions for 5G, including FWA success and slow IoT adoption, as early as 2014. More recently (2019), Joe was able to predict accurately how ORAN would be adopted narrowly in the 5G cycle. 

Bio Chris King

Chris is an accomplished sales and channel development team leader focused on the customer journey, acquisition strategy, operational efficiency, and post-sale service evolution. For over 20 years, he has led and closed large, complex sales opportunities. Chris’ experience in Product Marketing, Technical Sales, Sales, and Sales Management, a forward-thinking leadership style, attention to detail, curiosity, and a strategic mindset deliver growth and long-term value for customers.

Email: chris.king@newracom.com

Bio Walt Maclay

Founded in 1979, Walt spearheaded Voler Systems, a division of Strawberry Tree, Inc. The company excels in medical devices, consumer products, sensors, motion control, and wireless communication. Voler Systems produces wearable, home health, and IoT devices, adhering to FDA 21CFR 820.30 and ISO 13485:2003 standards. Their technical expertise encompasses wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and WiFi, diverse sensors, sensor signal conditioning, energy conservation, FPGA and CPLD programming, embedded system architecture, various communication protocols, and software development on Linux and Windows platforms.

Bio Colin Constable

Accomplished, results-driven technology leader with extensive experience providing strategic vision and leadership in large Enterprise companies and innovative startups. Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to meet critical infrastructure needs. Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders. Manage alliances and partnerships with large and small organizations. Maintain outstanding vendor relationships.

Colin possess strong global experience in EMEA, APAC, and North America regions. Confident public speaker with extensive experience presenting at key industry events and technical briefings. Groundbreaking executive known for outstanding leadership skills and integrity.

Bio Zeki Gunay

Zeki is Founder and CEO of CRATUS. For 20+ years he has been a senior in business and technical leadership in commercializing Energy Storage, Battery, IoT, sensors, sensing systems, AI and machine learning technologies. Managing a global business with three product lines.
CRATUS provides Engineering Innovation solutions in hardware and software for IoT Technology:
Sensors and Sensing Systems, Battery and Energy Management, Electrification, Machine Vision, Machine Learning, Operational Intelligence, Real-Time Location Services. CRATUS offers consulting services for UI/UX development for software, electromechanical hardware and industrial designs for products. The nature of these services are oriented towards achieving business goals by placing the emphasis on usability and users of the products.

Email: zeki@cratustech.com

Bio Jeff Yen

As a trained physicist, Dr. Jeff Yen has a strong entrepreneurial mindset that made him embark on the journey of business and co-found a company that is developing wireless power technology. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics and astrophysics at UC Berkeley and Ph.D. in physics at Stanford University. He is a co-author of multiple IEEE papers and a co-inventor for 30 patents worldwide.

Bio Jeremy Tole

Jeremy is Leader of Research and Development, Product Line Management, and Open Innovation directing teams of up to 30 people with $80M+ in revenue responsibility, for global companies with 5,000+ employees and $2B+ in revenues in Industrial Automation, Semiconductors, Wireless, Computer Hardware, and Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing. 

Jeremy Vice President of Research and Development at Azbil North America R&D 

www.linkedin.com/in/jeremytole/ 
Jeremy has served on the WCA Board since 2016. 
Email: Jeremy.tole@wca.org Mobile: +1-408-431-6397 

Bio Paul Hoekstra

Paul is leading the TNL U.S.A. Mobility Business Unit, a Technolution subsidiary and engages with municipalities and public transit agencies to solve their hardest problems. As proven in San Francisco where they reduced public transit delay on red by 72.5%, reduced CO2 emissions by 26.1%, and build all the processes, roles & responsibilities, and technology, to deploy to potentially hundreds of intersections.  

As a strategy execution consultant who specializes in helping transportation agencies, he helps realize high-impact improvements to the safety and experience of the people in the streets and in the public transit vehicles.  

Paul is a regular speaker at conferences and webinars. He holds a Master of Science degree from Twente University, The Netherlands. 

www.linkedin.com/in/paulhoekstra
Email: paul.hoekstra@tnl.group  

Bio Pui San Tam

Pui San Tam is a manager with a strong background in international community building and a passion for innovation. She leads projects focused on driving entrepreneurship and innovation in the technology sector. Based in San Francisco, she has served as a consultant to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Fluent in three languages — Dutch, Chinese and English — she has successfully delivered projects for some of the world’s leading private and public organizations, spanning multiple areas such as startups, scale-ups and cross-Atlantic entrepreneurship in general. She is skilled at organizing fact-finding and trade missions, and she plays a crucial role in organizing events and moderating seminars as a panelist on topics in emerging technologies, including climate and sustainability. She is known for her excellent communication and collaboration skills and her passion for teamwork. Pui San is committed to driving positive change through her projects at Amplify. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/puisantam/
Email: puisan@schoolab.network 

Bio Andy Do

Andy Do is the Founder and President of Embedded Works and a Board Member of the Wireless Communications Alliance (WCA.org) his focus area is wireless IoT technologies. Mr. Do has over 20 years of wireless industry experience, with an emphasis on GPS, WiFi, Cellular, and LPWAN radios and applications. He has launched several IoT brands, including TrackingForLess and SensorWorks. He holds bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and music from Santa Clara University. He has held management positions at Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, and Proxim.

Andy has served on the WCA Board since 2020. 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andytdo/
Email: andy.do@wca.org 

Bio Tom Hunt

Tom is a successful entrepreneur who has launched and grown products and companies in highly competitive and emerging markets.  Experienced in sales, business development, go-to-market strategy, and execution as a general manager. Tom presently serves as the Managing General Partner of Axcellex, LLC. This strategic consulting firm assists technology firms in overcoming significant business obstacles, seizing new market possibilities, and achieving tangible outcomes.

www.linkedin.com/in/tom-hunt-b403/  
Tom has served on the WCA Board since 2018. 
Email: tom.hunt@wca.org 
Mobile: +1-408-205-0313