January 9, 2009 - The WiMAX Forum® today announced two executive team appointments, including Dr. Roger Marks as vice president of technology standards and XJ Wang as senior director of marketing. With the addition of Marks and Wang to the management team, the WiMAX Forum organization adds to the team leading its drive to ensure global adoption of WiMAX as the broadband solution of choice for 4G among the growing worldwide ecosystem of operators and technology suppliers. "The WiMAX Forum as the industry organization representing the WiMAX global ecosystem seized the opportunity to fortify our team with two seasoned and respected industry leaders with the necessary experience to establish synergies with our technical, standards and marketing efforts," said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. "Heralded by many as the father of the IEEE 802.16 wireless standard, Roger brings unparalleled experience in wireless standards and technical specification development and leading collaboration efforts with global technical standards organizations. Roger's first impact will be accelerating the time to market of 802.16m specifications, working hand in hand with our WiMAX Forum technical working groups addressing this critical area during our next member conference in Orlando next month." As the vice president of technology standards, Dr. Marks will be pivotal to the development of key technical specifications in conjunction with standards development organizations around the world. He will lead the WiMAX Forum Technical Coordination Committee (TCC) to evolve the WiMAX standards roadmap, ensuring that WiMAX remains the leading technology for Mobile Broadband Internet. Marks joins the WiMAX Forum from NextWave Wireless, where he served as senior vice president of industry relations for over two years, following 17 years with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. He initiated the IEEE 802.16 Working Group in 1998 and has chaired the group since then, while serving on the IEEE 802 Executive Committee. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and served as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for seven years. Author of more than 90 publications, Dr. Marks has received a number of professional awards including the 2006 IEEE-SA International Award, the 2003 Individual Governmental Vision Award from the Wireless Communications Association, and the 1995 IEEE Technical Field Award in measurement technology. Dr. Marks earned an A.B. in physics from Princeton University, an M.S.E.E. from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Yale University. "We are also proud to announce the appointment of XJ Wang, who is a globally recognized and well-respected wireless industry expert to help lead our marketing efforts," Resnick added. "Through his tenure as one of the foremost wireless industry analysts, XJ brings to our organization extensive knowledge and experience working with mobile operators and the entire wireless supplier value chain." In his role as senior director of marketing communications, Wang will oversee the WiMAX Forum's global marketing strategy and execution, and chair the WiMAX Forum's Marketing Working Group (MWG), which comprises member companies' marketing leaders. He will develop long term strategic marketing plans that support the WiMAX Forum vision and core objectives. Wang joined the WiMAX Forum from The Yankee Group where he was the vice president of Asia-Pacific Research and Enabling Technology. In his latest role with Yankee Group, Wang lead a team of analysts that investigated market and service opportunities and technology connectivity trends in the Asia-Pacific region. Over his 18 year-career, he held other positions at Ovum Ltd., Comverse, and other Chinese companies. Wang is a recognized expert in 3G, WiMAX, mobile advertisement, personalization and recommendation, and mobile value-added services. He has engaged with leading telecom operators and has been a key program designer and speaker at global WiMAX events. Wang has also provided go-to-market strategy, partnership strategy and due diligence service in the Chinese telecom market. While at Yankee Group, his research focus included market and technology trends and their impact on the business models for both operators and vendors. Wang received his M.S.C.S. from Boston University, his M.S.E.E. from Northeastern University, and his B.S.E.E. from Chongqing University of Post and Telecom, China.
About the WiMAX Forum®
The WiMAX Forum® is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon the harmonized IEEE 802.16e/ETSI HiperMAN standard. A WiMAX Forum goal is to accelerate the introduction of these systems into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. Along these lines, the WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. Through the WiMAX Forum Congress Events Series of global trade shows and events, the WiMAX Forum is committed to furthering education, training and collaboration to expand the reach of the WiMAX ecosystem. For more information, visit the trade show link at www.wimaxforum.org. "WiMAX Forum," the WiMAX Forum logo and the WiMAX Forum Certified logo are registered trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. "WiMAX," "Mobile WiMAX," "Fixed WiMAX," "WiMAX Certified," and "WiMAX Forum Certified" are trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. Third-party trademarks contained in this document are the property of their respective owners.