Management team

CEO

Oddbjørn Bergem Oddbjørn Bergem has been at the forefront of innovation and technology for more than two decades. As a scientist, project leader and later Head of Engineering for Saclantcen international research centre, he authored three books and more than 30 scientific articles while managing a staff of 40 engineers. After a leadership role at Kongsberg Group, he joined Network Electronics as CEO in 2004 and led the company from an entrepreneurial group of 30 employees to its present position as a global video transport leader with nearly 200 employees and a client roster of some of the world’s largest broadcasters and telecommunications service providers. Oddbjorn sees himself as the glue of Nevion, ensuring its strategic direction and guiding ongoing growth.  

Bergem holds a PhD in information technology and a master’s degree in information technology and automation from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU). He also earned an MBA from Ashridge Management College, London. Oddbjørn is currently active on several boards of directors in the international technology community.

CTO

Thomas Heinzer is one of the founders of Network Electronics. Mr Heinzer holds a master’s degree in electronic engineering from the Technical University Hamburg, Germany. From the time when Network Electronics was founded in 1996 until 2004, Mr. Heinzer was chief technology officer in the company. Before founding Network Electronics, he was managing director for Sandar Electronics Germany and chief system engineer at Sandar Electronics Norway. Mr. Heinzer has his broadcast background from systems integration engineering at GTC Broadcast Systems in Germany.

Executive Vice President of Sales

Geir Bryn-Jensen is executive vice president of global sales at Nevion. Based in Sandefjord, Norway, he’s responsible for developing and executing innovative strategies to grow the company. Geir brings nearly 20 years’ experience in international sales and business development within the IT, telecom and broadcast industries. Before joining Nevion, he spent six years as managing director/country manager at CA Norway AS (Computer Associates). Prior to this, he was a manager at Accenture’s Media & Entertainment practice in Norway, following six years at Telenor in various business development roles.

Geir has an MBA in Strategic Management from the Norwegian School of Business Administration (NHH) in Bergen and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Engineering from the University of Kent.

Vice President of System Sales

Hans Hasselbach, from the Netherlands, holds a degree in chemical plant operations and engineering. Mr. Hasselbach started working at Network Electronics in 2003, and has since held various sales and management positions. Today he is employed as the Executive Vice President for World Wide Sales. Mr. Hasselbach has been active in an international sales and management roles in the broadcast and cable industry for over 13 years. He has previously been employed at Alphatron Broadcast in The Netherlands and Scientific Atlanta Europe, both places in sales management positions. Prior to working in this industry, Mr. Hasselbach was active in the Petro-Chemical industry as well as in operational sales positions.

Executive Vice President of Marketing

John Glass is an experienced industry executive with more than twenty years from telecommunications, video broadcast/post production, video transport, network management and semiconductor industries. Prior to joining Network Electronics / VPG in 2008, Mr. Glass worked at Anchor Bay, where he was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. He was responsible for the company’s positioning and product management. Before this, Glass enjoyed a variety of executive level marketing and management roles at telecommunication and video solutions providers, including Grass Valley Group, Core Networks and Taqua Systems, of which Glass was an early founding member. His earlier roles include VP and General Manager of divisions of General Instrument (Motorola Broadband) and Tektronix. Glass holds a BS in Economics and an MBA.

COO and President Nevion Europe

Petter Kvaal Djupvik holds a Master of Industrial Engineering & Management degree from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU). Mr. Kvaal Djupvik was working for Eltek ASA before he was appointed COO of Network Electronics on 1 May 2007. Before he was a member of Eltek Management Team, as vice president for global operations, he previously held the position of director of global supply at Power-One for five years. Mr. Kvaal Djupvik also has work experience from Lawson as a consultant manager, Norautron as QA- and MA-manager and as a Change Management consultant at Accenture.

President Nevion USA

Eugene Keane holds EE, ME and PhD degrees from the University College Cork, Ireland. He is a founder of VPG, and his working with the organization extends back to 1989. Previously Mr. Keane worked for PCO, a joint venture between Plessey and IBM, to lead the fiber-optic video transmission group, which subsequently grew into VPG. For nearly twenty years under several different corporate umbrellas, Mr. Keane has provided key technology and business leadership for the team developing the Ventura and BRAVOnet product lines.

Chief Financial Officer

Nils Fredriksen brings world-class financial experience in both the public and private sectors. Before joining Nevion as CFO, he spent five years as a consultant and associate principal at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on technology, energy and private equity. There he worked with some of the most dynamic companies in the world, maximizing capital productivity and leading growth strategy, sales and channel optimization, organizational change, M&A, and post merger management. Prior he held a senior risk management position at Oslo-based Det Norske Veritas and engineering posts at ExxonMobil in London.

Fredriksen holds an M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His advanced education also includes studies at the University of Oslo and Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands.

VP of Operations and Finance, Nevion USA

Steven Donatelli holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California Polytechnic State University and a master of business degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC). Prior to joining VPG, Mr. Donatelli served as general manager of Art Dreams, Inc., controller with Barquist Engineering Company, business manager—manufacturing programs at Raytheon Corporation, and senior financial analyst with Rockwell International.

VP of Engineering, Nevion USA

Andrew Osmond earned a BSc degree with honors in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Plymouth, England. With over 20 years of experience designing, developing and managing fiber transport components and systems, Mr. Osmond was a founding member of VPG and vice president of engineering before the merger with Network Electronics. His career includes standards development and industry-advancing engineering in multiple areas of fiber-optic video transport. Mr. Osmond’s experience prior to joining VPG in 1996 includes engineering design work with Standard Telecommunications and Cables, PCO, BT&D and Hewlett-Packard.