As vice-chair for the Certification and Interoperability workgroup, Karim Sharf, chief technical officer for TRaC’s Telecoms & Radio division, will be involved in all worldwide test and certification events for the HomeGrid Forum. He will assist the workgroup chair in developing specifications and test programs for certifying home networking products for market release, ensuring devices from different manufacturers successfully work together.
Karim’s appointment means that TRaC, the testing laboratory for the HomeGrid Forum, will be in a position to assist the industry in delivering interoperable products in a timely fashion, thereby speeding up the process of bringing certified devices to market.
Paul Russell, director of TRaC, commented: “It’s a great coup for TRaC to have one of our senior technical team selected as the vice-chair of the Certification and Interoperability workgroup. TRaC has worked closely with the Forum over the past couple of years and were successful in being selected as the accredited testing laboratory. I believe this new role will strengthen the relationship and no doubt bring further opportunities.”
Karim has over 18 years of extensive experience in certification and regulation and has a primary specialism in digital telecoms. He is actively involved in a number of international forums and standard development projects and is chair of the Small Cell Forum (formerly Femto Forum) Interoperability Workgroup. In 2010, Karim was presented with the Chairman’s Award at the Femtocell Industry Awards in recognition of his work in driving forward the development of open and interoperable femtocell technology.
Matthew Theall, president of the HomeGrid Forum, said: “Karim has been a valuable contributor to the Forum over the past 12 months and it is his expertise in the field of interoperability that is of benefit to all our members.”