The people behind the innovation
We finish off our week of focusing on Nortel R&D here on Buzzboard by taking a look at some of the people that make it happen. Nortel has ~12,000 R&D professionals around he world. These are the people behind scenes that drive the innovation engine for Nortel, and help account for Nortel’s more than 3,750 issued U.S. patents and 1,750 in other countries worldwide.
As Tony Pirih mentioned our recent conversation about Nortel’s R&D transformation, “you can’t execute without great people.” To better recognize these people, John Roese and the R&D team recently created the Technical Fellowship of Nortel Program to recognize and highlight the company’s top innovators. The designation of Nortel Technical Fellow is a prestigious and lifetime honor that will be given to up to five individuals annually.
The 2007 Nortel Fellows, (L-R) Kim Roberts, Alan Graves, Simon Brueckheimer, Al Javed, Peter Ashwood-Smith and Wen Tong
Last summer, Nortel named its 2007 winners, the first group of Fellows who have passionately championed a number of revolutionary technologies and become part of the company’s network of valued experts.
Nortel’s 2007 Nortel Fellows are Peter Ashwood-Smith, Simon Brueckheimer, Alan Graves, Kim Roberts, and Wen Tong. Combined, these five individuals hold more than 200 patents, with more than 300 pending, many of which are already generating substantial revenue for Nortel through cross-licensing agreements. Nortel also honored Al Javed - a long-time pioneer of wireless technologies and retired Nortel veteran - with the designation of 2007 Fellow Emeritus.
Keep reading below for biographies and details on how each of these Nortel innovators have contributed to the company’s technology efforts. Full disclosure that I have plagiarized some of this content from this Nortel article that my teammate Wendy Herman recently wrote.
