11/06/00 : Key Technology Experts
from Hughes, USSB, TRW, & HSA Join WildBlue Management Team
Internet Satellite Company Recruits Specialists in Satellite Operations,
Satellite Business Development, Satellite Antennae Design and Information
Systems
DENVER, November 6, 2000 - WildBlue (www.WildBlue.com) announced
today that it has named four new director-level employees to help
the company in its efforts to establish an affordable satellite-based
broadband Internet service. Joining the satellite Internet company
are director of satellite uplink/downlink gateways, Joe Ducey; director
of satellite programs, Remberto Martin; director of subscriber antenna
and transceiver development, Ken Westall; and director of information
systems, David Novick.
Ducey comes to WildBlue with more than 18 years
of experience in the field of communications systems at U.S. Satellite
Broadcasting (USSB), TRW and Northrop. As WildBlue's director of satellite
uplink/downlink gateways, Ducey will manage all aspects of the design
and construction of WildBlue's gateways to the Internet. These facilities
will receive and transmit data to the satellites, provide content
caching and centralized services (e-mail, web hosting, etc.), and
house the intelligent processing that manages the sharing of bandwidth
across multiple customers.
As senior VP of operations at USSB, Ducey
reported directly to the CEO, overseeing all aspects of network control
operations, broadcast technology development, traffic management,
technology strategy and capital budgeting. He was involved in every
phase of USSB's development, from the design of the first DBS spacecraft
and uplink facilities, to its growth into a billion dollar company.
Prior to USSB, he worked at TRW and Northrop on several advanced technology
projects, including proposals for communications packages on the International
Space Station, NASA's Ka-band Advanced Communications Technology Satellite
(ACTS) and the U.S. Air Force's next generation stealth aircraft.
Ducey received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees
in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Martin comes to WildBlue with more than 17 years of experience in
the field of satellite development at Hughes and TRW. As WildBlue's
director of satellite programs, Martin will manage the development
of all WildBlue Ka-band satellites. WildBlue's first satellite, which
is currently being built by Space Systems/Loral, Inc, is expected
to launch in the first quarter of 2002.
Martin most recently worked
at Hughes Network Systems where he was senior director and key advisor
to senior management for the Spaceway Business Development Group.
He has worked on Ka-band satellite systems at Hughes for close to
five years. Martin received his Bachelor of Science and Master of
Science degrees in electrical engineering from Northrop University
and Stanford University, respectively.
As director of subscriber antenna
and transceiver development, Westall will lead the effort to develop
an affordable satellite dish that can transmit and receive data, a
key component of WildBlue's broadband Internet service. He will be
responsible for directing the design and manufacture of the satellite
dish, including the design and development, vendor selection, production
and continual product improvement.
Westall joins the company from
TRW, where he held a variety of positions, most recently as the Astrolink
Ka-band Antenna Product Manager. Westall won the TRW Chairman's Award
for Innovation twice, once for the design of the Milstar MDR Nulling
Antenna and once for the Milstar spot beam antenna, which are both
operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. He received his Bachelor
of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of
Colorado and his Master's degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Southern California.
"As we continue to expand our operations,
it has become increasingly important to find the right talent to lead
our efforts in erecting our uplink/downlink gateways to the Internet,
managing satellite development, designing a low-cost satellite dish,
and building the information systems," said WildBlue president and
CEO Thomas Moore. "We expect these four individuals to make significant
contributions to our management team."
At WildBlue, Novick will be
responsible for building the company's customer care systems (including
customer service, provisioning and billing) and business information
systems. State-of-the-art systems are a crucial element of WildBlue's
commitment to exceptional customer satisfaction.
Prior to joining
WildBlue, Novick held positions as project manager and functional
analyst at High Speed Access Corporation and as a senior consultant,
business solutions architecture in the Telecom and Media Group at
Cap Gemini America. He has served major clients including U S WEST,
Sprint, Bell Atlantic, and Illuminet on a range of customer care,
billing, order management and provisioning projects. Novick graduated
from Drake University and also received a Master's degree in International
Management from the American Graduate School of International Management,
Thunderbird and his juris doctorate from Gonzaga University School
of Law.
