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Prof William Webb - Head of R&D

William joined Ofcom as Head of Research and Development and Senior Technologist in 2003. Here he manages a team of 10 engineers providing technical advice and managing research across all areas of Ofcom’s regulatory remit. He also leads some of the major reviews conducted by Ofcom including the Spectrum Framework Review and Ultra-Wideband Consultation. Previously, William worked for a range of communications consultancies in the UK in the fields of hardware design, computer simulation, propagation modelling, spectrum management and strategy development. William also spent three years providing strategic management across Motorola’s entire communications portfolio, based in Chicago.

William has published eight books, sixty papers, and four patents. He is a Visiting Professor at Surrey University and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a Vice President and Fellow of the IEE. His biography is included in multiple “Who’s Who” publications around the world. He sits on the judging panels of a number of awards including the Wall Street Journal “Annual Innovation Awards”.

William has a first class honours degree in electronics, a PhD and an MBA.

He can be contacted at william.webb@ofcom.org.uk.

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Dr Chris Haslett - Principal Propagation Advisor

Chris joined Ofcom in February 2005. He is heavily involved in research projects that have a propagation theme and also acts as a point of contact for propagation-related tasks within Ofcom. This includes ensuring that technical tools used by Ofcom are fit for purpose. His career in telecommunications engineering spans thirty years. His first employment was with Cable and Wireless he worked as a radio system planning engineer. He then spent eleven years as a lecturer at the University of Glamorgan where he conducted research into radiowave propagation (principally at microwave frequencies). Following on from his work at the Glamorgan, Chris joined Aircom International where he was director of planning and optimisation, heavily involved in developing techniques for optimising the performance of the air interface of UMTS networks. Chris has a first class honours degree in electrical and electronic engineering and a Ph.D.

He can be contacted at chris.haslett@ofcom.org.uk.

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Dr Abdus Owadally - Technical Spectrum Policy Advisor

Abdus manages projects analysing complex policy issues and ensuring consistency with Ofcom’s overall strategy. Working within multi-disciplinary project teams, he will also develop Ofcom’s spectrum management policies in readiness for challenges ahead.

Prior to joining Ofcom, Abdus has worked as an analyst covering wireless technologies at Canalys, an IT consultancy and market research firm. At Canalys, he delivered analytical reports, forecasts and contributed to consultancy projects for blue chip companies in the mobile space. Previously, Abdus worked as a Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, on a project related to communication between wireless devices as part of a Body Area Network (BAN). Concurrently to his PhD, Abdus also worked on a research project for Ericsson on accurate and efficient diffraction techniques.

Abdus graduated with a PhD in Mobile Communications from the Centre for Communication Systems Research, University of Surrey. He also has a First Class degree honours in Electronic Engineering (Communications) from the University of Sheffield and was awarded the Mappin Medal for outstanding achievement.

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Dr Gary Clemo - Research and Development Manager

Gary joined Ofcom as Research and Development Manager in January 2008. His role is to manage the technology R&D programme, liaising with both internal and external contacts to monitor existing projects and identifying new themes for future research. Previously, Gary worked as Research Manager at the Telecommunications Research Laboratory of Toshiba Research Europe Ltd in Bristol. Here he was most recently responsible for leading the laboratory’s research programme and for the management of the group of outstanding researchers. He is currently Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bristol.

Gary holds a first class honours degree and a PhD from Cardiff and Bristol Universities respectively.

He can be contacted at gary.clemo@ofcom.org.uk

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