Management Team

Senior Leadership

Steven Waszak, President and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Waszak has over 20 years’ experience in the networking and communications industries successfully leading high growth businesses to drive market expansion and improved business performance. With extensive experience in sales leadership, business operations, global supply-chain management, strategic partnerships and business planning, Steve has consistently created value for shareholders and partners by delivering innovative solutions to global, market-leading communications and networking customers to enable their business growth. Prior to joining BTI, Steve was CFO and COO at Zetera Corporation, a network storage technology company. Previously, Steve served as Vice President of Sales Operations with Ciena following the acquisition of Internet Photonics, where he held the position of CFO and COO. Steve was also the Founder, CFO and COO of SONOMA Systems (acquired by Nortel), and CFO of Retix. Steve started his career with Deloitte.

Peter Allen, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Peter Allen is a highly respected financial executive with more than 25 years experience in a career that has seen him lead the finance organizations of a broad range of Canadian private and public corporations. Prior to joining BTI, Peter was CFO of Allen Vanguard Corporation where he recapitalized the company during the global financial crisis. Peter was also previously Executive Vice President and CFO of Export Development Canada (EDC). During his tenure, EDC grew from $17 billion to $90 billion in annual business volume and was six times awarded the Auditor General of Canada's Award for Excellence in Annual Reporting. Peter is a Fellow of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants and has been twice nominated as Canada’s CFO Of The Year.

Dr. Robert Keys, Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Robert Keys brings over 20 years of communications engineering and leadership experience to his role as Chief Technology Officer. Prior to joining BTI Systems, Robert served as Chief Engineer for Bookham (now Oclaro), defining the company's technical roadmap and strategic investment requirements. Prior to Bookham, Robert held various influential roles in the development organization at Nortel, where he was responsible for the successful development and delivery of multiple optical products to market. Robert is a well-known authority in the optical industry, and is a frequently sought-after speaker. He has more than 12 patents granted in the area of optical communications. Robert has a Ph.D & M.Sc in Electronics and Electrical Engineering and a B.Sc in Physics from the University of Glasgow.

Paul Crann, Senior Vice President of Product Management and Business Development

Paul Crann is a senior business leader with 20 years of operational experience, having served in a variety of management roles in the data networking, wireless and video solutions industries, including most recently as Senior Vice President of Product Management with BigBand Networks. Paul has worked extensively with service providers throughout his career with both start-ups and F500 companies, addressing the needs of the fixed mobile convergence and WiMAX industries. Paul has previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Avici Systems, a core IP/ MPLS routing provider. He has also held senior product management and market development positions with Lucent Technologies and Ascend Communications. His earlier experience includes Omnipoint, an early PCS wireless service provider, PRTM as a management consultant, and the U.S. Navy where he served as a Submarine Officer. Paul holds a master's in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Villanova University.

Sally Bament, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing

Sally Bament is an accomplished 20-year marketing veteran in the networking, telecommunications and clean-tech industries, with extensive operational and strategic leadership experience ranging from small startups to large cap market leaders. Sally joined BTI from Boston-Power, where she led the company's marketing initiatives in the advanced lithium-ion battery industry. Previously, she led marketing and product management at a number of venture-backed networking startups, including Convergent Networks and BlueNote Networks. She also served as Vice President of Product Management at Bay Networks and previously Wellfleet, where she was responsible for the company’s service provider and enterprise routing products, contributing revenues in excess of $600M annually. Sally has also held senior-level management positions with Motorola and British Petroleum. She holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of York, England.

Tom Nolette, Senior Vice President of Global Operations

Tom Nolette is an accomplished operations and supply chain executive bringing over 25 years of global operations experience across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Services and Support, Quality Systems, Program Management and Technical Operations. Prior to joining BTI, Tom was Vice President of Operations and Client Services for Crossbeam Systems where he was responsible for Operations, Manufacturing, Quality and Customer Support. Prior to Crossbeam, Tom served in leadership roles at Seranoa Networks, MCK Communications and also served in a number of executive management positions for Motorola. Tom holds a BSME from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA Certificate in the Technology Managers Program from Babson College.

Franca Marinelli, Senior Vice President of Organizational Development

Franca Marinelli is an accomplished executive with more than 25 years experience in the development and successful execution of organizational and human resources strategies. Franca has held senior and executive roles in the human resources management field including recruiting, compensation and benefits, corporate and employee development, employee relations, strategic development, and mergers and acquisitions in multinational companies. Franca’s previous experience includes executive leadership positions with St. Joseph Communications, Catena Networks and DRS Technologies. Franca holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology and Industrial Relations from the University of Ottawa.

Chandra Pandey, Vice President, Platform Solutions

Chandra Pandey is an accomplished networking industry leader with nearly 20 years of experience designing ASICs, carrier grade systems, and network architectures and solutions. Chandra joined BTI from Juniper Networks where he led the global Solutions Engineering and Architecture team working with service providers, large enterprise and data center customers, in addition to OEM partners. Chandra has extensive management experience with Ciena/IPI, Ascend/Lucent, 3Com/US Robotics, and IBM. Chandra holds a BS in Electronics Engineering from K.N.I.T, Sultanpur, India; an MBA in High Tech and Finance from Northeastern University and Executive Leadership training from Cornell University.

Regional Sales Leadership

Peter Dale, Senior Vice President of Sales, Americas

Peter Dale has over 20 years experience in sales, marketing and business development in the telecommunications and data networking industries. As Senior Vice President of Sales for the Americas, Peter manages BTI’s channel and customer development efforts. Prior to BTI, Peter served as Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Optovia Corporation. Previously, Peter was in a sales leadership role with Ciena, responsible for the enterprise and cable markets. He joined Ciena through the acquisition of Internet Photonics in 2004, where he served as Vice President of the Cable Business Unit. Throughout his career Peter has held sales leadership positions at Narad Networks, Spring Tide Networks, Lucent Technologies and Bay Networks. Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Fahim Sheikh, Vice President of Sales, Asia Pacific

Fahim Sheikh brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in R&D, business development, and sales in the networking and telecommunications industries. Fahim manages BTI’s sales team, offices, and overall APAC business strategy, and has been instrumental in global business development in Canada, EMEA and APAC. Prior to BTI, Fahim held senior business and R&D positions within Accelight Networks, Metera Networks and Nortel Networks. Fahim holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

Jim Crum, Vice President of Sales, Europe, Middle East & Africa

Jim Crum is a seasoned professional with over 23 years experience in sales and engineering leadership in the networking industry, leading international teams to deliver strategic business value to telecommunications operators throughout EMEA. Jim leads BTI’s sales and business development efforts across the EMEA region. Jim previously served as Director of European Sales at Tellabs, providing intelligent networking solutions and professional services to both fixed and wireless carriers. Prior to Tellabs, Jim held software engineering positions with CASE Communications, one of the early public networking companies, and technical sales roles with Cognito, an innovative UK mobile data services provider. Jim holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland.