NetInsight's Cliff Simpson Garners Member of the Year; Andy Parrott Enters Hall of Fame; Altice USA's Chris Zydel Wins First Wilt J. Hildenbrand Jr. Award

OCT. 2, 2019 (New Orleans)—Net Insight director of strategic accounts Cliff Simpson captured the SCTE•ISBE Member of the Year Award, Mega Broadband Investments executive vice president and COO Andy Parrott became the newest inductee into the SCTE•ISBE Hall of Fame and Altice USA principal engineer Chris Zydel became the first recipient of an award dedicated to the memory of industry pioneer Wilt Hildenbrand during the Annual Awards Luncheon here at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2019.

Simpson has distinguished himself through dedication and commitment to SCTE•ISBE on both the local and national levels, including work on election and training committees as well as the Energy 2020 program. As secretary of the Piedmont Chapter and a member of the national by-laws committee, he has kept his chapter compliant with SCTE•ISBE policies. He also chaired the No Chapter Left Behind Subcommittee that has helped re-energize struggling chapters The Member of the Year Award was sponsored by Broadband Library.

Parrott earned Hall of Fame honors for his tireless efforts to advance technical and operational excellence, including his emphasis on the importance of SCTE•ISBE training for his teams, his leadership roles within SCTE•ISBE chapters and his Chairmanship of the SCTE•ISBE Learning & Development Committee.

Zydel was recognized with the Wilt J. Hildenbrand Jr. Rising Leader Award by Mandy Hildenbrand, daughter of the longtime Cablevision Systems technology pioneer and innovator who passed away last year. SCTE•ISBE and the SCTE Foundation last week announced the naming of the award and the launch of Wilt J. Hildenbrand Jr. Scholarships as part of a $200,000, five-year campaign to memorialize the late executive. An initial donation from the YAS Foundation was presented to the SCTE Foundation at the Cable-Tec Expo Chairman’s Reception on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The Luncheon, which was sponsored by Liberty Global, was one of multiple awards venues this week at Cable-Tec Expo, which began Monday and concludes Thursday at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The list of other award recipients comprises the following:

· Excellence in Standards – John Dolan, senior guideline specialist for network facilities, Rogers Wireline.

· Chairman’s Award – Steve Williams, vice president, DOCSIS, Charter Communications.

· Innovators Award – Synamedia.

· Excellence in Learning & Development Award – Rich LaPat, vice president of the Technical Operations College, Comcast University.

· Women in Technology Award – Zenita Henderson, vice president, marketing and business development, SCTE•ISBE. The Women in Technology Award is presented annually by WICT, CableFax and SCTE•ISBE.

· Wilt J. Hildenbrand Jr. Award (Rising Leader) – Chris Zydel, principal engineer, Altice USA.

· International Engineering Professional Award – Eduardo Miguel Panciera Molanes, architecture and technology manager, Telecom Argentina SA Group.

· Spirit of the Games Award – Bob Razem, a longtime member of the Cable-Tec Games subcommittee. The Spirit of the Games Award is sponsored by Corning.

The awards at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® are designed to acclaim exemplary expertise throughout the industry’s technical workforce. More information about the Society’s awards and recognitions is available at www.scte.org.

The largest and premier cable trade event in the Americas, SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo is renowned as the pre-eminent venue that combines the thought leadership, engineering innovation, and deal-making that power the technological future of broadband telecommunications. As a nexus for content and service providers, technology partners, and industry experts, Cable-Tec Expo provides rich insights into technologies, products, and services that can generate revenue, streamline operations, and increase customer satisfaction. More information about Cable-Tec Expo is available at https://expo.scte.org.