Meet 2020 MANRS Fellows

2020 Research Fellows

Alfred Arouna joined Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering (jointly owned by Simula Research Laboratory and Oslo Metropolitan University) in September 2019. He is currently working at The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications as research engineer for the GAIA project. His focus areas are Interdomain routing, network security, DNS and Internet measurements. Prior to working at Simula, Alfred has worked for over 10 years in the ISP industry, first as developer and then as systems and network administrator.

Dr. Bahaa Al-Musawi is a lecturer at the University of Kufa, Iraq. He received the B.E./M.E. degree in 2003/2005 from the University of Technology, Iraq and the PhD degree in 2018 from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. He is the manager of Computers and IT Consultant Bureau (ICB) at the Information Technology Research and Development Center. Dr. Al-Musawi has led a project titled “Rapid Detection of BGP Anomalies” funded by APNIC Internet Operations Research Grant under the ISIF Asia 2016 grant scheme. He was a research assistant within the project titled “Enterprise Network Routing Security” funded by DATA61, 2018. His research interests include network and routing security, and Internet of Things. He has published in the network and routing security as well as image processing.

Ben Scott made the decision to enter research and academia after a career the spanned government and corporate sectors. This career encompassed many broad areas of risk, governance and security. He has a BSc from the University of Queensland (UQ), MSC (Cybersecurity) from Edith Cowan University and is a PhD Candidate (Cybersecurity). He is also currently completing his CCNA (Cisco) Instructor training and works as a Cybersecurity lecturer with Southern Cross University.

Augusto Luciano Mathurin, Lyris IT

Argentinian Information Systems Engineer. Teacher at Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Santa Fe, co-founder of Virtuágora and CTO of Lyris IT. Internet Society’s 25 under 25 awardee.

2020 Virtual/Online Training Fellows

Hiba Eltigani is a network engineer with more than 10 years experience in the field of networks and Internet. She worked as an IP analyst at AFRINIC, and was the leader of the team managing SUDATEL’s core IP network. She also worked as regulatory affairs professional in both MTN and Zain, ensuring compliance with related policies and regulations.

Hiba is a founding member of Sudan Network Operators Group “SdNOG” and serves as a member of its executive committee since 2014. Hiba is very enthusiastic about technology, education and knowledge sharing. She believes in community working together to grow, develop and prosper.

Carmen Denis Polanco has a degree in Computer Science and 26 years of experience in network interconnection technologies, IT infrastructure, and the Internet. She is currently the project director of the IXP Yucatan, and coordinator of the Center for Women in Technology in Mexico.

Her work with the Internet started in 1994 as a Fellow at the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY), where she worked until April 2019. Currently, she works on Internet development topics such as IPv6, Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), Mutually Agree Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) and DNSSEC with associations from Mexico as well as groups in the Latin American and Caribbean community like the Internet Society, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC),NIC Mexico (NICMX), Network Operators Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNOG), Group of Network Operators in Mexico (MEXNOG), Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES) and the University Corporation for Internet Development (CUDI).

Zobair Khan
Specialty in Internet Infrastructure, DWDM, SDH, GPON. Working experience with Cisco, Juniper, Huawei, Infinera, Tejas, LS Cable etc vendors.

Has been working in Fiber@Home since 2010. Started career with Transmission Network. Worked with Huawei, Tejas SDH boxes. Deployed over 30 SDH boxes all over Bangladesh. Commissioned the links and leaded the operation & maintenance.

Then started working with GPON Technology with FTTH & FTTB architecture. Was involved with the planning, deployment and commissioning phase. Worked with LS Cable and Huawei GPON systems. Established the GPON network of Fiber@Home in Niketon & Motijheel. Also maintained the network for over 1 year.
Was involved from the very beginning of the International Internet Gateway (IIG) & International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) network of Fiber@Home. Established Dhaka – Benapole ITC backbone with Huawei DWDM.

Was involved with the IIG & ITC core IP network implementation. Established the network in dual stack mode from day one. Also dealt with the regulatory affairs for IIG & ITC network. Capacity planning, upstream coordination and troubleshooting was the major responsibility at Fiber@Home.

Started to work in Transmission network again from 2017 to deploy DWDM Optical ASON network all over Bangladesh with all 100G labmdas and building a network of capacity 2.8 Tbps. Completed deploying optical ASON all over Bangladesh with 41 Nodes with all 100G channel capacity.

Also actively takes part in different NOGs and technical conferences. Voluntarily involvement in bdNOG from the very beginning.

Muzamer Mohd Azalan is a network engineer with 10 years of working experienced in managing the core network for one of the biggest ISP in Malaysia.

He is currently the Manager of Network Service IP Operation for Telekom Malaysia.

His core interests are in Routing Protocols, IGP, BGP, MPLS and emerging network technologies.

Among the project which he lead was Remote Trigger Blackhole, CGNAT, VCPE, CORE Network Integration and Global Deployment.

Muzamer also shares his knowledge and experience as a volunteer community trainer for APNIC.

Lia Solis Montaño obtained a degree in Systems Engineering from the Military School of Engineering (La Paz, Bolivia), specializing in Internet, DNS, IP Services, content and Infrastructure. Also has a diploma in “Higher Teacher Education”.

Certifications: Certified IT Manager CITM, CERTIFIED DATA CENTER FACILITIES OPERATIONS MANAGER CDFM, CERTIFIED DATA CENTER SPECIALIST CDCS. To date, she is also responsible for managing security incidents reported at ISP level. More than fifteen years of experience working in the field of the Internet. Currently working as a Core Professional in Bolivia’s major telecommunications company, ENTEL S.A. Instructor in two versions of the ISOC MANRS course.

Michelle Opiyo has over ten years of experience in the Network Services Provider Industry. She attained her BSc in electronic and computer engineering from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology. Michelle currently serves as a Senior Network Engineer at Workonline Communications where she focuses on extending world class connectivity across the continent with innovative technical solutions.

Prior to joining Workonline, she served in various capacities at the national research and education network of Kenya (KENET) where she operated the core network and delivered tailor-made solutions to top Universities and Research Institutions.

Her core skills are in network design, implementation and operation, capacity building and community development. She is passionate about developing the African Internet connectivity landscape, as well as developing the abilities of engineers on the continent. To this end, Michelle Opiyo volunteers as a trainer for various regional technical forums and network operator groups (NOGs) where she trains and mentors engineers.

Ram Krishna Pariyar, Subisu Cablenet Pvt Ltd

Ram Krishna Pariyar is an ICANN SSR2 Review Team Member. Professionally he is working at Subisu Cablenet Pvt.ltd as Senior Network Engineer L3 R&D since 2008. Before joining Subisu, he was working at Prime College as Cisco Academy Instructor and System administrator around 6 Years. 

He has around seventeen years of operational and academic experience. He has expertise in advanced Routing, Switching and Routing Security, MPLS Network Design and Deployment, Routing Security and RPKI Deployment in different vendors like Cisco, Juniper etc. Advanced knowledge & skills in prepare, plan, design, implement, operate and optimized ISP/NSP Network.

He has also served as ISOC Chapter Training coordinator.

2020 Policy Analyst Fellows

Paola Perez, Center for Women in Technology

Paola is Venezuelan Computer Systems Engineer – MSc educated Cyber Security and she has been collaborating as a Subject Matter Expert with different organizations: Interpol, GSMA, Internet Society, LACNIC, Google, ICANN, OAS-Cyber, LAC ISP vendors, etc.

Paola works as a Cyber-Security Engineer. In 2019 she won FRIDA (Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in LAC) initiative as a part of the management team with the Center for Women in Technology (CWT). Extensive expertise in successfully delivering high-profile improvement projects following best methodologies in Community Networks, IoT, Internet Infrastructure, Digital Transformation, Internet Policy advisor for governments, Cyber-security management, Internet Governance, child and technology, gender and cybercrime.

With an impeccable track record of well-honed communication skills, she cultivates relationships with stakeholders and motivates colleagues to implement complex solutions to deliver objectives effectively. She was the first female chair on the Internet Policy Development Process in LACNIC for two years, was involved with Internet Society Venezuelan Chapter as a vice-president for two years. Also actively takes part in different technical conferences as a speaker. Voluntarily involvement in Cyber-security/ security groups worldwide.

Sami Salih, Saudi Telecom Company, STC

Dr. Sami Salih, is an ICT Regulation Expert with more than fifteen years of engagements in ICT sector with STC (Saudi Telecommunications Company), TPRA (the Sudanese telecommunications regulatory authority) and SudREN (the Sudanese NERN).

Sami is an active participant and contributor to various national, regional and international foras including SDIPv6TF, SDNOG, AFRINIC, ITU, ICANN, ASREN, and UbuntuNet Alliance, to name a few. Along with teaching and instructing in academic undergraduate and postgraduate levels.