March 7, 2014

At the ONF member workdays, held March 6-7, 2014, ONF recognized its top contributors from each technical working group. On behalf of ONF, thanks to everyone for all your hard work!

Outstanding Technical Contributor Awards

betts-malcomMalcolm Betts, ZTE Corporation
Outstanding Technical Contributor, Architecture and Framework
Malcolm was very active in the development of the detailed SDN Architecture document in the Architecture and Framework WG. Malcolm’s depth of experience, particularly in information modeling, has repeatedly helped to anchor the architecture work to reality.

 

doron-ehudEhud Doron, Radware
Outstanding Technical Contributor, L4-L7 Discussion Group
Ehud has been making excellent technical contributions to several areas of the L4-L7 Discussion Group. Leveraging technology from the Radware SDN controlled Anti-DoS initiative, Ehud has led the development of use cases of L4-L7 service control and requirements. He has been contributing actively to the identification and development of OpenFlow® extensions needed for L4-L7 services. He has also made great contributions to the “L4-L7 Services Control and Detailed Requirements”, currently under development.

shaikh-aneesAnees Shaikh, Google
Outstanding Technical Contributor, Config & Mgmt
Anees did an outstanding job in gathering the requirements, working both within as well as outside of the group, and addressing the review comments to get the OF-Config 1.2 specification on time. Anees has been unofficially acting as the editor for OF-Config where he was responsible for defining the scope of OF-Config 1.2 and making sure all the work was getting incorporated into the spec. In addition, he was also responsible for cleanup in the spec – moving yang out of the doc into a separate file for easy consumption. Owing to all of these contributions to the Configuration and Management WG, we strongly feel that Anees is the choice for “MVP award”.

Mukhtiar Shaikh, Brocade
Outstanding Technical Contributor, Migration
In addition to being a regular and active participant in the Migration WG discussions, Mukhtiar has made valuable contributions to the group’s various work items, and he has volunteered several times to initiate and/or drive new activities in collaboration with other members.

zarny-myoMyo Zarny, Goldman Sachs
Outstanding Technical Contributor, L4-L7 Discussion Group
Myo deserves recognition for outstanding contributions to the “L4-L7 Services Control and Detailed Requirement”, currently under development. Coming from enterprise data centers and network operations, Myo has brought in the firsthand knowledge of L4-L7 service functions currently being used by enterprises. Myo participated in almost every conference call of the L4-L7 Discussion Group. Not only has Myo presented the informative technical materials, but Myo has also made great contributions to the requirement document. Myo has demonstrated very strong technology leadership in shaping the work done by the L4-L7 Discussion Group.

Min (Amy) Ye, Huawei Technologies
Outstanding Technical Contributor, Wireless and Mobile
Amy has shown lots of initiative by stepping up to the plate to accomplish a number of tasks. She has submitted many technical contributions and has worked in the Wireless Backhaul Project Team to help reach consensus.

Outstanding Initiative Awards

cankaya-hakkiHakki Cankaya, Fujitsu
Outstanding Initiative, Migration
Since the inception of the Migration WG, Hakki has demonstrated a strong sense of initiative and pro-activeness. In particular, he has made valuable contributions, taken ownership of several work items, facilitated group discussions, and volunteered many times to help with various activities.

damouny-nabilNabil Damouny, Netronome
Outstanding Initiative, MEC
Nabil has served as vice chair of the Market Education Committee, and has served to advance the relationship between ONF and ETSI/NFV in tangible ways. He is especially commended, along with the leadership of Netronome, for their contribution (in both equipment and configuration) in an early demonstration Proof of Concept of native OpenFlow® for the TMForum event last year. Thanks, Nabil!

dolin-robRob Dolin, Microsoft
Outstanding Initiative, Northbound Interfaces
Rob has quickly proven to be one of the pillars of our recently chartered work group. His enthusiasm, winning attitude and volunteerism stand out amongst our varied participants, and he brings excellent organizational, workgroup management, meeting management and technical skills to our weekly calls and face to face meetings. Every interaction is a positive one, every deliverable is an A+ in content, effort and timeliness. Every Workgroup needs a Rob (not this one – we’re keeping him) to bring order to chaos.

dunbar-lindaLinda Dunbar, Huawei
Outstanding Initiative, Architecture and Framework
Linda has done great work in starting, driving and maintaining the work on how to improve OpenFlow® with respect to Layer 4-7 services. She started on her own back in June 2013, and a small group of interested people from the ArchWG quickly formed around her, soon after creating a regular subgroup call. Linda organized a pre-meeting before the Fall 2013 member workdays, bringing together the experts from Extensibility, Architecture, and the L4-7 subgroup. Subsequently, the subgroup was recognized as an official ONF discussion group, where Linda is still leading the effort.

Xiaobo Long, Goldman Sachs
Outstanding Initiative, Wireless and Mobile
Xiaobo is leading the Enterprise Unified Access project team and is doing an excellent job keeping the project moving. She listens to everyone’s input and incorporates the necessary components into technical contributions. Xiaobo is also very good at setting priorities and meeting commitments.

moberg-carlCarl Moberg, Tail-F Systems
Outstanding Initiative, Forwarding Abstractions
Carl worked repeatedly as a liaison between the CMWG and FAWG to understand the requirements for “Negotiating NDMs” within the OF-Config1.2 / NETCONF framework. Carl developed the Yang model changes needed, and persevered until the FAWG folks were confident that the design was able to do what was required. Carl also wrote (and rewrote, and revised) documentation text for both working groups. We could not have done the NDM negotiation scheme without Carl’s huge help.

sadler-jonathanJonathan Sadler, Coriant
Outstanding Initiative, Optical Transport
Jonathan has taken the initiative to be co-liaison between our group and the Extensibility Working Group to bring knowledge of Extensibility experience with OpenFlow® extension back to our Working Group and guide the formal procedure of submitting issues and proposals from our group into the Extensibility WG. In addition, he has led the technical effort to define proposals in the areas of neighbor discovery and match/action extensions for optical transport.

sethuram-karthikKarthik Sethuram, NEC
Outstanding Initiative, Optical Transport
Karthik has taken the initiative to be co-liaison between our group and the Extensibility Working Group. He brings knowledge of Extensibility and experience with OpenFlow® extension back to our Working Group and guides the formal procedure of submitting issues and proposals from our group intothe Extensibility WG. In addition, he has led the technical effort to define proposals in the areas of port attributes and extensions for optical transport.

Outstanding Leadership Awards

kolias-christosChristos Kolias, Orange
Outstanding Leadership, Wireless and Mobile
Christos has been a whirlwind of activity on behalf of the liaison between ONF and ETSI/NFV, and his work directly contributed to the formal signing of the liaison Agreement between the two organizations, scheduled to be formally commemorated later this month in France. One of the key enablers in the formation of the Wireless Mobility WG at ONF, Christos was the first leader of the discussion group and led it toward charter approval. For his tireless leadership and genuine contribution to ONF, and for epitomizing what “open” is all about, we commend Christos.

schneider-fabianFabian Schneider, NEC
Outstanding Leadership, Architecture and Framework.
Fabian led the work at NEC, inspiring his company to be the first company to have its products certified conformant under the new ONF OpenFlow® Conformance Program. Fabian has also worked tirelessly to help spin off the new NBI working group, and has graciously and tenaciously taken up the WG chair responsibilities for the Architecture and Framework WG, leading a committed team to outline the architectural blueprints for SDN and OpenFlow® for the benefit of not only ONF, but SDN technologists worldwide. Danke, Fabian.

Outstanding Contributor Awards

bhalgat-ashAsh Bhalgat and Vasily Suvorov of Luxoft
Outstanding Contributors, nominated by Rick Bauer for Conformance Testing Efforts
Ash and Vasily and the Luxoft team provided the testing services for the ONF OpenFlow® Driver competition. Entirely on their own initiative, they created the 20 tests cases for the three finalist entries for both 1.0 and 1.3 conformance testing. The Luxoft team, led by Ash and Vasily, donated hundreds of hours of programming, testing, and reporting time over the Christmas holiday season to meet the requirements for the testing competition, and provided a thorough briefing to the judges of the competition.

erickson-davidDavid Erickson, (Stanford, Forward Networks, and in-between)
Outstanding Contributor
One of the truly unsung heroes in the entire history of ONF has been David Erickson. Starting from his days as a graduate student at Stanford, through earning his PhD while assembling a solid body of software development, particularly in OpenFlow-related tools, David quietly offered to help construct the technical support infrastructure of ONF. From his creation of the software repository at ONF, serving as a key consultant and judge in the ONF OpenFlow® Driver Competition, to his guidance on software development and management, and to his overall concern that ONF be the place where good work is done to promote an open ecosystem, David has set a high bar for enthusiasm, solid achievement without thought of recognition, and genuine concern for the good of our entire movement. As he received his doctorate last year and is moving into the industry in many capacities this year, it seemed the appropriate time to honor one who has quietly and without fanfare done so much for our organization.

Michael McBride, Ericsson
Outstanding Contributor, Market Education Committee
Since joining the MEC over a year ago, Mike has been a significant contributor to the MEC, currently leading the Data Center project team. Mike successfully edited the Security Solution Brief published last October, and upon completion, Mike immediately guided his team to initiate the Migration solution brief, (in conjunction with the Migration Working Group), which is progressing towards completion. 

Mike has also been a willing and effective speaker on behalf of the ONF, willing to travel to remote events, sometimes on short notice. He grasps the importance of the ‘Greater Good’, frequently advocating the industry’s interests to promote SDN.

We are pleased to recognize Mike for his initiative, collaborative work style, and hard work that has invigorated the Data Center team that he leads, along with his ongoing contributions to the MEC and ONF at large.

Tina Tsou, Huawei
Outstanding Contributor, NBI
Tina has been a frequent and steady contributor to ONF since 17 days after our launch three years ago. She was instrumental in bringing Huawei into ONF (and into the Plugfests) and has been a voice of relevance for OpenFlow. I’m not sure there is a working group to which Tina has not contributed, for everything from support for IPv6 in the early days of Extensibility to tunneling in Config to – perish the thought – Hybrid. She began contributing to our work on Northbound Interfaces in April 2012 and was a key author of the NBI Working Group charter. Her tireless contributions to the Architecture WG led very naturally to her selection as Vice Chair of the NBI WG. She hosted and was a key participant and presenter at the ONF NBI Leadership Roundtable event last November. She has also been a key supporter of the L4-7 activities. Tina has represented ONF to our liaisons, as recently she presented a major technology and programs update on ONF and SDN in the ITU-T JCA-SDN section. In so many ways, Tina is an asset to ONF.

Toshal Dadhwala, Ixia
Outstanding Contributor, Testing & Interoperability 
Toshal has been a consistent contributor in the Testing & Interop working group and has made strong contributions across our three primary objectives. Toshal has participated in the Plugfests and helped to coordinate efforts and identify vendor issues through testing. He has also worked on both the v1.0 and v1.3 conformance programs contributing test cases and participating in the reviews. Toshal’s biggest contribution has come in the way of leading the efforts on the first benchmarking specification for Flow-Table Capacity. This specification is expected to be finalized and published this quarter. Toshal has taken great initiative with building out the performance benchmarking capabilities for ONF, and is duly recongized for his significant contributions.