Yasser Syed PhD
President
Dr. Yasser Syed is a Comcast Distinguished Architect whose work focuses on developing and implementing next-generation video technologies and workflows. He works for Comcast’s Advanced Technology team which is part of the VIPER Architecture Group in the Technology Product Xperience (“TPX”) Department of Comcast Cable.
Dr. Syed has contributed substantial content and effort to many video standards-related areas over the decades. Currently, he chairs the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) Working Group #7 (WG7) on DASH/Adaptive Streaming and also leads its Advanced Coding Technologies group which created the High Dynamic Range (HDR) application constraint specifications for the cable industry.
He served as lead editor for the [August 2020] issue of ITU-T H-Series|ISO-IEC TR 23091-4 CICP-Usage, which details video signal type code points. Previously, he led the pioneering CableLabs VoD Metadata Project. Dr. Syed is an active member of the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG), the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP Industry Forum (DASH-IF), the Common Media Application Format (CMAF) group, and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE.)Over his distinguished career, Dr. Syed has served in technical leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard, ATEME, Texas Instruments, Bosch Telecom, Motorola, and Cable Television Laboratories/CableLabs.
Michael Zink
Board Member
As Vice President of Home Entertainment Strategic Technical Partnerships for LG Electronics (LGE), Michael Zink is responsible for partnering with the creative community, technology providers, and industry groups to help guide LGE’s product planning group in ensuring that its home entertainment products provide the best canvas for bringing incredible stories to life.
Prior to joining LGE, Michael worked at Warner Bros. for the past decade, most recently as Vice President of Emerging & Creative Technologies, responsible for exploring emerging technologies to enhance WB’s storytelling capabilities across different platforms. Before that, Michael worked at Technicolor for over 10 years, leading Technology Strategy initiatives and launching production efforts around various new distribution formats. Earlier in his career, he worked for several media production facilities in Germany. Michael also participates in several industry associations and currently serves on the Board of the UltraHD Forum and as Education Vice President for SMPTE. He was also the President & Chairman of the UHD Alliance for over 6 years and responsible for launching the ‘Filmmaker Mode’ initiative.
Sam Matheny
Vice President
Sam Matheny is Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the National Association of Broadcasters. With over 25 years of experience in the broadcast and data networking industries, including earning a patent for inventing mobile and interactive DTV technologies, Sam leads NAB’s technology team in its efforts to promote innovation and propel broadcast technology into the future. He also provides overall leadership for PILOT as well as NAB’s TV, Radio, and Digital Technology Committees.
Matheny is a member of the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. He serves on the board of governors for the National Wireless Safety Alliance, the board of the Ultra HD Forum, and the board of visitors for East Carolina University. He has served as an advisor to numerous startup and technology companies and is currently engaged with Reveal Mobile, a location-based advertising technology company, and Haystack TV, a personalized OTT headline news channel. He has previously served on the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Integrated Public Alert Warning System Network Advisory Council (IPAWS NAC), and on the board of directors for the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), where he was Chairman of the specialist group on the next generation of digital television.
Before joining NAB, Sam served as Vice President of Policy and Innovation for Capitol Broadcasting Company where he focused on strategic media applications, mobile wireless content delivery, smart TV, and helped secure multiple patents for broadcast Internet distribution. He has also held management positions with mobile development, satellite, digital television, web development, and interactive video companies.
Sam holds a B.S. in Communications from East Carolina University, a M.S. in Technology Management from North Carolina State University, and a certificate for artificial intelligence and business strategy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2007, he was named an American Marshall Memorial Fellow.Sam lives with his wife in Washington, D.C. and has two adult sons.
Bill Redmann
Secretary
Bill began his career mixing technology and entertainment obtaining a Masters Degree in Engineering at UCLA while building practical electronic props for Battlestar Galactica (the original) and Buck Rogers (not the original).
He has twice been Director of Technology at Walt Disney Imagineering, developing and fielding theme park VR and ride systems, including Indiana Jones at Disneyland Park. His role at InterDigital is Director of Standards, Immersive Media Technologies, unchanged through the acquisition by InterDigital of Technicolor’s R&D business unit.
Bill has 65 issued U.S. patents in fields including: Virtual Reality, Online Media Production, Distributed Network Streaming Media Systems, 3D Displays, Online Communities, Content Distribution to Mobile Devices, Wearables, Travel Planning, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, Driving Safety, and Digital Cinema. He is also a SMPTE Fellow.
Pete Sellar
Treasurer
As Senior Director, Strategy & Standards, Pete represents Xperi in a number of national and international standards and industry alliances including the Ultra HD Forum, ATSC and SMPTE. Prior to his role in Xperi, Pete was Associate Director at the DTG (Digital TV group) in the UK, leading all activity within Broadcast, Hybrid and Advanced AV, and was Editor-in-Chief of the D-Book, the UK specification for DTT. Before this Pete began his career at the BBC before running technical operations for Freesat, the UK FTA satellite platform.
Thierry Fautier
Past President
As Vice President of Video Strategy at Harmonic, Thierry Fautier is in charge of defining and driving the execution of Harmonic’s long-term video business strategy. Fautier is involved in many industry initiatives such as DVB (mABR, Targeted Advertisement, UHD DASH, next-generation codec). He co-chairs the VR Study Group of the Streaming Video Alliance and contributed to creating the VR Industry Forum.
Fautier’s previous experience at Harmonic includes leadership positions in Solutions Marketing, where his area of responsibility covered Harmonic’s major markets, including broadcast, cable, telco, DTH, and OTT, as well as multiscreen initiatives.
Before joining Harmonic, he was Vice President of Marketing for Vsofts and held various positions at Philips in Research, Engineering, and Marketing. Fautier was one of Philips’s primary drivers in creating MPEG technology and the development of the first MPEG-2 STB system-on-chip solutions. An experienced speaker, he has presented at leading industry conferences throughout the world.
Pat Griffis
Past President
As Executive Director, Technology Strategy at Dolby Laboratories, Patrick Griffis is charged with helping define future technology strategy for the company which includes identifying and tracking key technical trends, performing technical due diligence, and supporting advanced technology initiatives for the company.
Before joining Dolby, Pat spent 10 years at Microsoft leading global digital media standards strategy, including adoption of the Digital Living Network Alliance as a baseline media sharing standard in Windows 7 and standardization of Windows Media Video technology as an international SMPTE standard. Prior to Microsoft, Pat spent 15 years at Panasonic in senior management positions, including Vice President of Strategic Product Development at Panasonic Broadcast.
Pat started his career at RCA, earning eight patents in TV product design. Pat has served two terms as President of the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society. A SMPTE Fellow, he serves on the SMPTE Executive Committee as Vice President, Education. He serves on the Board of the UHD Forum and is Dolby’s Board alternate in the UHD Alliance as well as Chair of the Compliance and Certification Working Group.
Pat is member of the IBC Council, an industry executive advisory group as well as the Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Pat holds a BSEE degree from Tufts University and an MSEE from Purdue University.
