Cable Modem 'Father' to Grant Grants

Rouzbeh Yassini puts his think tank to work in the name of broadband

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

April 10, 2008

1 Min Read
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Rouzbeh Yassini, known in some circles as the "father of the cable modem," has completed the submission process and selected an advisory board made up of cable engineering royalty for a new $200,000 broadband research grant program. (See Yassini Revs Up Grant Program.)

The program will offer four post-graduate projects per year. The first will be granted on Sept. 10, 2008. The deadline for the short-form app is July 4. Submission materials and guidelines are available at the YAS Broadband Ventures Website.

Grant winners will participate in a six-week training session at the $10 million Yassini Broadband Knowledge Center in Boston, followed by a nine-month mentoring and collaboration cycle with visiting students and other members of the center. At the end, the grant winners will present their research at an annual "Broadband Summit" (location and date are still TBD). (See Yassini's New Gig.)

But obtaining the grants won't be easy. Candidates will have to win approval of cable folk who have agreed to aid in the evaluation process:

  • Chris Bowick, CTO, Cox Communications Inc. ;

  • Marwan Fawaz, CTO, Charter Communications Inc. ;

  • Dave Fellows, executive fellow (and former CTO), Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK);

  • Mike Hayashi, executive vice president, advanced engineering, Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC);

  • Wilt Hildenbrand, former executive vice president and CTO, Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC);

  • Balan Nair, CTO, Liberty Global Inc. (Nasdaq: LBTY); and

  • Dermot O’Carroll, senior vice president, network engineering and operations, Rogers Communications Inc. (Toronto: RCI).

Nomi Bergman, EVP of strategy and development for Advance Newhouse Communications, the parent of Bright House Networks , also has signed on as an adviser. Fellows is chairing the advisory board.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News

About the Author

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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