MEET THE JUDGES

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Randy Segal, Co-head of Space and Satellite Group, Partner Hogan Lovell

Randy is a partner at Hogan Lovells in areas of telecommunications, satellite and transactional practice. Previously she was Senior Chief Legal Executive serving as key business and legal adviser to Board of Directors and senior management, for both public and non-public companies. She has extensive complex transactional experience both domestically and internationally. Highly developed negotiating, interpersonal and communicative skills to drive successful results in challenging and sophisticated business environments.  She earned a B.S. and M.S. in collective bargaining and arbitration from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.  She was also Vice President and Senior Counsel and Secretary at Skyterra.  Her specialties are  ​Mergers & Acquisitions, Complex Commercial Contracts, Strategic Joint Ventures, Satellite Transactions, Telecommunications, International Transactions, and Corporate Compliance. Click here to learn more about Randy!​

 

Dr. Diana Gamzina, Founder and CEO, Elve

Dr. Diana Gamzina is the founder and CEO of Elve, an innovative company at the forefront of millimeter wave technology.

Dr. Gamzina is responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of Elve, guiding the company in its mission to innovate and deliver advanced amplifier solutions for ground and space communications, imaging, radar, energy, and defense markets. Dr. Gamzina has been instrumental in positioning Elve as a key player in state-of-the-art technologies that enable growth of commercial telecom markets and support deployments essential for national security applications.

Prior to Elve, Dr. Gamzina was a staff scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for five years and a development engineer at the UC Davis millimeter-wave research group for over eight years. She has led research and development programs in micro to nano scale as well as additive manufacturing techniques, multiscale multifunctional materials synthesis, and thermo-mechanical design and analysis for development of compact high frequency and high-power RF sources.

Dr. Gamzina earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has received the Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, and holds thirteen patents related to the manufacture of vacuum electronic devices. Click here to learn more about Diana!​​

Chris Quilty, Founder, Quilty Space

Chris Quilty is the founder and a partner of Quilty Space, which is an independent boutique offering subscription research, strategic advisory, and investment banking services across all aspects of the Satellite & Space industry. Prior to establishing Quilty Analytics (now Quilty Space) in 2016, Chris served as a sell side research analyst with Raymond James for 20 years, publishing hundreds of company-specific, macro, sector, and thematic research reports on the industrial, defense, space, wireless, and communications industries. Chris is widely-acknowledged as the leading Wall Street analyst on the Satellite & Space sector and has participated in 30+ capital markets transactions over the past five years valued at over $2.5 billion. Chris received a BS degree in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1989 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1994. Click here to learn more about Chris!

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Antonio Franchi, Head of 5G/6G NTN Programme Office, European Space Agency (ESA)

Antonio Franchi works at the European Space Agency as the Head of 5G/6G NTN Programme Office in the Telecommunications & Integrated Applications Directorate.​ Antonio has over 30 years of experience in the satellite telecommunications industry. Prior to ESA, Antonio worked for over 20 years with a major global satellite operator, spearheading a new generation of satellite communications systems, covering various technical and managerial responsibilities for design, development, implementation and operation of advanced satellite systems and networks.​ Antonio received an MSc in Electronic Engineering from the University of Rome and an MBA from the London Business School. Click here to learn more about Franchi!

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He is author of 30+ articles and papers published at international conferences and professional magazines, and he holds six international patents in the satcom field. 

 

Silvano Payne, Founder & CEO, Satnews Publishers

Over the past 35 years Silvano Payne has acted as Founder and CEO and of Satnews Publishers, a company specializing in publications and events catering to the commercial and military ends of the satellite communications industry.  In addition to his leadership role, Mr. Payne has written and spoken extensively about the industry throughout his career.

 

Satnews Publications gathers an extensive and eclectic group of readers, publishing both Satmagazine and MilsatMagazine, as well as daily and weekly email newsletters.  These publications are subscribed to by more then 25,000 readers and widely regarded as a foremost source of news within the industry.  In addition to publications Satnews produces and hosts three annual conferences on the business and finance of satellite systems.  

 

Silvano received a B.Sc in Mathematics, B.Sc Hons degree in Psychology, and MBA from the University of Cape Town.  He currently lives in Sonoma California and when not overseeing Satnews, can be found in the field or the cellar crafting fine wines. Click here to learn more about Silvano!​​​

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