DragonWave's executive team is comprised of industry professionals with an average of twenty years' experience in Telecommunications, Networking, Microwave and Millimeter wave technologies. Their combined skill and knowledge with worldwide trends in the dynamic telecommunications market enables DragonWave to maintain its leadership in the competitive broadband wireless access market.
Peter Allen, President & CEO
Peter Allen brings 21 years of industry experience in Broadband Telecommunications. Prior to joining DragonWave, Peter was founder, President and CEO Innovance Networks. Prior to Innovance, Peter was the Vice-President of Business Development and General Manager of the Optoelectronics organization within Nortel Networks' Optical Networks division, where he had responsibilities for both the system and component businesses. Peter's experience in business leadership includes heading up a 5000-employee global operation spanning R&D, manufacturing as well as Sales & Marketing. Peter has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and has been involved in numerous multi-billion dollar transactions, as well as establishing business partnerships in North America, Europe and Japan. Peter has also held managerial positions at Ford Motor Company and Rothmans International, and has lived and worked in North America, Europe and Africa.
Erik Boch, Founder, CTO & VP Engineering
Erik Boch holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa and is a registered professional engineer. Erik has held senior engineering or technical management positions at a number of communications and aerospace companies namely Litton Systems, ComDev, Lockheed Martin and Alcatel Networks (formerly Newbridge). While at Alcatel, Erik was AVP of the Wireless Systems Group and was involved in various aspects of microwave & millimeter wave subsystem and system design for more than 22 years. Erik led the R&D team at Alcatel (formerly Newbridge) that introduced the first ATM-based Fixed Wireless Access System in the industry.
Erik has been published extensively in major networking publications, including Telephony, Microwave Journal, Wireless Review, Internet Telephony and America's Network. Erik has spoken at numerous industry events including IEEE sessions, WCA, Broadband Wireless World and IWPC. Erik has served on the Technical Advisory Board of the NCIT (National Capital Institute of Technology). Erik holds several approved RF design patents, with numerous patents pending.
Dave Farrar, Founder & VP Operations
Dave Farrar has over 24 years of design and senior management experience in the telecommunications and networking industries. Prior to DragonWave, he was with Newbridge Networks Corp., where he held senior management positions in Product Management, Research and Development, Operations, and Information Technology.
Prior to joining Newbridge, Dave was Director of Engineering at Synapse Corporation, a startup focused on data communications design and an Engineering Manager at Mitel Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Alan Solheim, VP Corporate Development
Dr. Alan Solheim holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Waterloo. With more than 25 years of industry experience in Telecommunications, Alan heads up Business Development and Strategic Marketing for DragonWave with a strong emphasis upon the development of overall value proposition to our different customers and partners. Previously Alan was VP of Product Management where he was responsible for the introduction of DragonWave’s award winning Horizon packet microwave product line.
Prior to joining DragonWave, Alan was Chief Technology Officer at Innovance Networks, a reconfigurable optical networking start-up. Alan also held various roles at Nortel Networks the most recent being the VP responsible for market strategy in the metro transport group. Alan has extensive experience, notably working on 6 generations of fiber optic transmission systems, and the system design authority for Nortel’s OC-192 program. Alan was the principal or co-author of over 50 patents.
Alan writes a bi-monthly column “The Middle Mile” for Internet Telephony, and has numerous papers in industry journals such as European communications, Mobile Europe and Converge Digest. Alan has acted on a variety of industry and conference committees such as 4G World, IWPC, CTIA, WCA, GITEX and numerous Webinars.
Russell Frederick, VP Finance & CFO
Russell Frederick brings over 20 years of financial and operational experience to the DragonWave team including raising venture capital, mergers and acquisitions transactions, and the management of small, high opportunity organizations.
Prior to joining DragonWave, Russell was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Wavesat Wireless Inc. based in Montreal. Previous to Wavesat, Russell was the CFO of PRIOR Data Sciences Ltd. where he played a key role in the management buyout and subsequent sale of the company. Russell was also with Digital Equipment of Canada in various financial roles.
Russell holds a Masters of Business Administration degree in Finance as well as a Bachelor of Science degree.
Greg Friesen, VP Product Management
Greg Friesen is the Vice President of Product Management at DragonWave, responsible for global product management responsibilities across DragonWave’s complete portfolio of products. This role includes regular interaction with customers to understand their evolving network requirements. Greg has 13 years experience in senior product management roles, network design, planning, and engineering, at a number of communications firms, including his current role at DragonWave and previous roles at Nortel Networks, Innovance Networks, and Fundy Telecom. As Senior Product Manager at Innovance Networks he was responsible for all product definition, architecture, and network design. He has been involved in the planning and engineering of over 10 nationwide network deployments. His experience ranges from operations and Capex modeling to network architecture design to site and link engineering. Greg holds B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from University of Saskatchewan.
Greg has authored numerous papers and magazine articles in publications including Microwave Journal, Telecommunications, Xchange, Telephony Online, Last Mile, AGL, Radio World, and has spoken at numerous industry conferences such as WiMax World, CTIA, Telecom Next, ISPCon and UTC. Greg holds 2 granted patents and has 3 pending applications in the networking area.
Tom McLellan, VP Service
As Vice President, Services at DragonWave, Tom McLellan is responsible for Customer and Professional Services as well as Trial execution activities. A proven business performance 'change agent', Tom was a key industry player in the establishment and measurement of telecom performance standards such as RQMS and TL9000.
Mr. McLellan has over 30 years experience in the telecommunications industry and was most recently with Nortel Networks where he led technical support and services in the Enterprise Services business. Tom also partnered with other corporate functions to drive product and business performance initiatives focusing on key industry measures and standards. Driving corporate quality changes in conformance with industry standards, he was a business unit prime for the institution and successful certification of ISO9001 standards for Nortel.
Prior to Enterprise, Tom led the Global Product Support team for Nortel Carrier Networks encompassing Wireline and Wireless Networks, Optical and ATM/IP product lines. Tom operates with an overtone of multi-cultural awareness with a focus on integrity to ensure compliance with local government employment/business laws. Tom's large organization leadership experience complemented by strong strategic acumen, has enabled him to successfully execute numerous global organizational migrations.
Tom has a C&G of London Institute Diploma in Telecommunications, and graduated with a BSc in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Glasgow, Scotland.
John Lawlor, VP Investor Relations
As Vice President, Investor Relations, John Lawlor is the DragonWave executive responsible for assisting the global investment community to fully understand the company. Mr. Lawlor’s business experience prior to joining DragonWave is extensive, including positions in investor relations, research and development, sales, marketing, customer service, and corporate communications.
John has spent the last 20 years of his career in investor relations, most recently as Vice President, Investor Relations at Cognos Inc., the world's largest independent business intelligence software company, until it was acquired by IBM. Over this period, he has established a strong reputation for accessibility and consistent, open communication with the investment community throughout North America and Europe.
Prior to Cognos John was Vice President, Corporate Communications for Newbridge Networks Corporation, a world leader in high-capacity networking equipment for global communications networks. Before joining Newbridge Networks, he was Vice President, Corporate Relations for CAE Inc., the global leader in simulation, training and control systems for medical training, commercial airlines, space agencies, peacekeeping forces, and power generation stations.
Prior to joining CAE, John spent 20 years with Nortel Networks, a leading networking equipment supplier, where he held a number of progressively more senior management positions in research and development, marketing, sales, customer service and public relations in Canada and the United States.
Mr. Lawlor has bachelor and master of engineering degrees in mechanical and materials engineering from Carleton University, respectively, and studied management science and business administration at the University of Ottawa and McGill University for a master of business administration degree.
Peter Allen brings 21 years of industry experience in Broadband Telecommunications. Prior to joining DragonWave, Peter was founder, President and CEO Innovance Networks. Prior to Innovance, Peter was the Vice-President of Business Development and General Manager of the Optoelectronics organization within Nortel Networks' Optical Networks division, where he had responsibilities for both the system and component businesses. Peter's experience in business leadership includes heading up a 5000-employee global operation spanning R&D, manufacturing as well as Sales & Marketing. Peter has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and has been involved in numerous multi-billion dollar transactions, as well as establishing business partnerships in North America, Europe and Japan. Peter has also held managerial positions at Ford Motor Company and Rothmans International, and has lived and worked in North America, Europe and Africa.
Erik Boch holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa and is a registered professional engineer. Erik has held senior engineering or technical management positions at a number of communications and aerospace companies namely Litton Systems, ComDev, Lockheed Martin and Alcatel Networks (formerly Newbridge). While at Alcatel, Erik was AVP of the Wireless Systems Group and was involved in various aspects of microwave & millimeter wave subsystem and system design for more than 22 years. Erik led the R&D team at Alcatel (formerly Newbridge) that introduced the first ATM-based Fixed Wireless Access System in the industry. 
Dave Farrar has over 24 years of design and senior management experience in the telecommunications and networking industries. Prior to DragonWave, he was with Newbridge Networks Corp., where he held senior management positions in Product Management, Research and Development, Operations, and Information Technology. 
Dr. Alan Solheim holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Waterloo. With more than 25 years of industry experience in Telecommunications, Alan heads up Business Development and Strategic Marketing for DragonWave with a strong emphasis upon the development of overall value proposition to our different customers and partners. Previously Alan was VP of Product Management where he was responsible for the introduction of DragonWave’s award winning Horizon packet microwave product line. 
Russell Frederick brings over 20 years of financial and operational experience to the DragonWave team including raising venture capital, mergers and acquisitions transactions, and the management of small, high opportunity organizations.
Greg Friesen is the Vice President of Product Management at DragonWave, responsible for global product management responsibilities across DragonWave’s complete portfolio of products. This role includes regular interaction with customers to understand their evolving network requirements. Greg has 13 years experience in senior product management roles, network design, planning, and engineering, at a number of communications firms, including his current role at DragonWave and previous roles at Nortel Networks, Innovance Networks, and Fundy Telecom. As Senior Product Manager at Innovance Networks he was responsible for all product definition, architecture, and network design. He has been involved in the planning and engineering of over 10 nationwide network deployments. His experience ranges from operations and Capex modeling to network architecture design to site and link engineering. Greg holds B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from University of Saskatchewan.
As Vice President, Services at DragonWave, Tom McLellan is responsible for Customer and Professional Services as well as Trial execution activities. A proven business performance 'change agent', Tom was a key industry player in the establishment and measurement of telecom performance standards such as RQMS and TL9000.
As Vice President, Investor Relations, John Lawlor is the DragonWave executive responsible for assisting the global investment community to fully understand the company. Mr. Lawlor’s business experience prior to joining DragonWave is extensive, including positions in investor relations, research and development, sales, marketing, customer service, and corporate communications.