Columbia, MD — Premier transmitter, test and measurement and studio equipment manufacturer, Rohde & Schwarz today announced it has hired industry veterans Devin Wickham, Don Backus, and Faizal Iqbal to help the company support new and existing customers through the FCC repack. Wickham and Iqbal, who joined the company in June and July, respectively, are application engineers focused on field service and installations. Backus, who also joined the company in July, is an account manager for radio and HD radio products.
Wickham, who was heavily involved in the DTV transition, has extensive experience with IOT tube technology and high-power transmitters. Based in Dallas, he has spent the last 19 years focused primarily on high-power RF. Since 2008, he served as a customer service field engineer for Comark Communications. Previously, Wickham worked as a field engineer for Electron Dynamics, and in various roles in broadcast operations over 13 years for the Research Educational Foundation.
Hundreds of FM stations will be affected during the FCC repack, especially where the antenna is co-located on the same tower with TV stations. Based in Michigan, Backus has extensive FM experience. Before joining Rohde & Schwarz, he spent almost five years as the Eastern U.S. sales manager for Broadcast Electronics. Previously, he served as the vice president of sales and marketing at ENCO Systems, as well as digital systems manager for Audio Broadcast Group. Earlier in his career, he worked at several FM stations, and was president and general manager of WDBI-FM for 10 years. Backus has served two terms on the Michigan Association of Broadcasters board, and has been a consultant for several leading broadcast and technology organizations.
Iqbal has more than a decade of experience in the broadcast and digital cinema domain, most recently as a senior consultant for AT&T. He previously worked as a senior engineer for Dolby Laboratories and lead engineer for Doremi Labs. He also held hardware engineering positions with Sencore and Vela Research. He started his career as a FPGA IC designer for video encoders and decoders. Iqbal is based in the company’s office in Burbank, Calif.
“The 39-month timeline for the FCC repack is a challenge for all of us, and having the right people and structure in place will be essential for success,” explained Erik Balladares, vice president of Broadcast & Media, Rohde & Schwarz USA. “We are excited to add these industry veterans to the 500-plus employees of our North American team. They will help provide our TV and radio customers with the support and service they need.”
Contact Backus at [email protected], Iqbal at [email protected], and Wickham at [email protected].
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