The Option Executive Management Team
Jan Callewaert, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). |
| Prior to founding Option® in 1986, Jan Callewaert gained IT experience with BULL and Telecom experience with Ericsson, where he worked on office automation systems, integrating modems, data networks, fibre optics and videotext. He is a qualified Commercial and Managerial Engineer in Management Informatics and has a Baccalaureat in Philosophy from the University of Leuven. A regular speaker on mobile computing at industry conferences, Jan Callewaert is a recognized figure in the mobile data communication industry. Jan Callewaert also represents Mondo NV, a company incorporated and organized under Belgian law. |
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John Patrick Ziegler, Chief Financial Officer (CFO). |
| JP Ziegler is a seasoned international executive with 20 years of industry, investment banking and investor relations experience. From 2000 until 2005, he was a Managing Director in the ING Investment Banking group in London, focused on Telecoms, Media & Technology. In 2005 he founded BGC Capital, a London-based boutique financial advisory and consulting firm. Prior to moving into corporate finance, John Patrick spent 9 years in the telecommunications industry. From 1991 to 1997 he held senior roles in corporate development and international strategic planning with MFS Communications and MCI/World-Com International. From 1998 until 1999, he was a co-founder of Winstar International in Belgium. John Patrick is a member of the Option Executive Management Team. |
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Bernard Schaballie, Vice President Engineering. |
| Bernard Schaballie graduated in 1982 as a civil electronics engineer at the University of Leuven, where he also started his career as a research assistant specialising in digital signal processing and silicon compilers. For 15 years he was employed by Telindus, where he held positions as development engineer, team leader and R&D director, heading a team of 60 researchers. Before joining Option in May 2001, he was responsible for business development of own-branded products at Telindus, initiating alliances with major players in the industry. He is a member of the Option Executive Management Team. |
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Patrick Hofkens, General Counsel & Vice President Strategic Alliances. |
| Patrick Hofkens holds a Master’s Degree in Law from the Catholic University of Louvain and a Master’s Degree in Corporate Law from the Catholic Universities of Brussels and Louvain. He was previously Senior Legal Counsel for the Borealis Group, a petrochemical company with interests in Europe, Brazil and the US, and an advocate with Loyens & Loeff, a Benelux-based international law firm. He has returned to Option, having previously served as General Counsel to the Company between April 1998 and December 2002. He is a member of the Option Executive Management Team. |
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| Martin Croome has held a wide range of product, program, and channel marketing positions over the past 20 years. He has held, among other positions, Product Marketing Manager for Hewlett Packard’s PDA division in Singapore. He also served as Vice President of Business Development for OEM sales at Socket Mobile. Mr. Croome holds a Bachelor of Science (with Honors) in Computer Science from Edinburgh University. |
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Chip Frederking, Vice President Global Sales.
| Chip Frederking has 25 years experience in the communication industry of which 20 years at Motorola. In Motorola Chip was responsible for sales, and took management positions in Regional Sales, Indirect Sales and Field Distribution. From 2005 to 2007 he was VP MSSI USA East Region Indirect for the Motorola Government and Commercial Markets. He joined Option as VP Sales Americas in 2007. He will be in charge for Global sales effective immediately. Chip will work from the headquarters in Leuven and from the Atlanta office. |
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