RIPE Programme Committee Biographies

Term ends: RIPE 91

Valerie Aurora first began working in networking in 2000, writing drivers for obscure supercomputing network interconnects. She collected questions for a TCP/IP trivia game, maintained several Linux network drivers, and implemented PLPMTUD in a VPN client.

She also co-founded a non-profit that drove adoption of codes of conduct and similar methods to increase DEI in open source software and other open technology fields.

Valerie has served on several program committees, including the USENIX conferences FAST, ATC, and HotOS.

Osama is a seasoned professional with an extensive engineering background, currently serving as an Independent Advisor for organizations and consulting firms in the technology and telecommunications sectors. With 25 years of diverse domestic and international experience in ICT, he has excelled in various roles encompassing delivery, engineering, operations, product development and GTM. His expertise lies in technology adoption, market development, business transformation, change management, and strategic execution.

Previously, Osama was the President and CEO of Salam (Integrated Telecom). He also served as an advisor to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, where he led initiatives focused on bridging the digital divide and enhancing ICT infrastructure as part of the Vision 2030 National Transformation Program. His prior experience includes over 12 years in multinational companies, notably at VMware and Cisco Systems.

Osama actively contributes to the Saudi Internet Society and has been a key organizer of the Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG) for over 14 years, including 7 years as Chairman. He earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from King Saud University.

Term ends: RIPE 93

Babak is the Director of Operations at Quad9, a free and widely trusted Protective Public DNS Resolver that safeguards millions of users globally against cyber threats. His work focuses on improving the quality of internet connectivity and creating a safer online environment for internet users worldwide.

With a career spanning over 27 years, Babak has gained extensive experience in building and managing service provider networks. Throughout his journey in the industry, he has taken on various roles, including several engineering leadership positions, technical trainer and member of the Program Committee for Middle East DNS Forum.

Additionally, he has been a prominent contributor to the open-source software community for more than two decades, including a committer at the FreeBSD project since 2004 and the author of widely used DNSDiag tools.

Term ends: RIPE 90

Doris Hauser is currently working at nic.at, the Austrian registry, as a Linux sysadmin (mainly) with a bit of networking and scripting/programming (bash/python mostly).

She started getting into computers at a young age, starting with games on DOS computers, then joining a technical high school in Vienna when she was 14 years old. Afterwards she made her bachelor’s degree in IT Security at a university of applied sciences in lower Austria.

Doris' bachelor thesis was about the security of smart sex toys (or rather the lack thereof), with a focus on privacy issues in the smartphone apps of said toys.

Term ends: RIPE 91

Franziska has a background in Internet measurement research with a focus on interconnection and BGP, and now works at SAP developing and supporting an internal infrastructure as a service cloud platform.

She joined the RIPE community 10 years ago, served three consecutive terms as part of the RIPE Programme Committee, two of them as PC chair.

Other community activities include serving on the Code of Conduct Team.

Term Ends: RIPE 92

Kevin is currently working for the SCION Association. He worked for the Internet Society from 2015 until 2023 which included leading the MANRS Routing Security initiative; organising the Network & Distributed Security Symposium (NDSS); working on IXP and Community Network development in the RIPE NCC service region; and running its Deploy360 programme that encouraged the deployment of IPv6, DNSSEC, DNS-over-TLS/HTTPS and RPKI.

He previously worked for APNIC as its Training Manager, and prior to that he worked for 16 years for TERENA (now the GÉANT Association) to develop R&E networks across Europe and beyond, to deploy new services such as 6NET (IPv6), Eduroam, Shibboleth and PKIs, and running TF-CSIRT – the European Forum of CSIRTs. He has also worked for JANET (now Jisc), the UK’s National Research & Education Network, and CENTR on various networking initiatives and services.

Brian Nisbet is the RIPE Working Group Chairs representative on the RIPE Programme Committee. He has been active in the RIPE community since RIPE 48 and he currently co-chairs the Security Working Group. His day job is Network Operations Manager for HEAnet, the Irish NREN, where he mostly makes sure the packets are flowing in the right direction.

Eugénio Pinto is .PT's Director of Innovation and Technology.

He graduated from the University of Lisbon and previously worked at the BBC, as an information security manager, and at CGI.

Term ends: RIPE 93

An open source enthusiast, Antonio Prado is currently the Chief Technology Officer at AS59715, a local government body in Italy. He has been active in IT since 1993 and was an early adopter of IPv6.

A former MANRS ambassador and MANRS Steering Committee member, he recently co-authored the book “BGP, from theory to practice”, already available in Italian, to be published in English by the end of 2022.

Term ends: RIPE 92

Massimiliano “Max” Stucchi runs Glevia GmbH, an organisation providing training and consulting related to networking. In his spare time, he also runs AS58280 as a hobby ASN, and participates in both the CH-IX and IXP.ge NOCs.

In the past, he founded an ISP and WISP in Italy, worked at the RIPE NCC as a trainer, subsequently as the IPv6 Programme Manager and then at the Internet Society. He is involved in a number of programme committees including RIPE, Euro-IX and a handful of NOGs.

He is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

Term ends: RIPE 90

Clara got introduced to the community five years ago in a peculiar way. She was only 22 years old, working at an online escrow company from its Buenos Aires office when IPv4 address transactions were becoming more urgent and frequent as the run-out was happening.

It became her passion project to make sure the process was as safe as possible and meeting people in the community that were committed to building a stable and sustainable Internet only emphasised the importance of the work being done here.

Since 2022, Clara has been helping develop the IP address strategy at AWS, where she is also an inclusion ambassador. Having attended multiple NOGs and RIR meetings across four regions, and being a member of the NANOG DEI committee, she loves connecting with people from different parts of the world and have seen first-hand the impact that contributing to this community can have. 

Jan Žorž is a VP of 6connect Labs, working on the development of various protocols and network solutions to accelerate the global deployment of IPv6.

Active in the RIPE community as a RIPE PC member, Jan is also SEE RIPE regional meeting chairman and a founder and a chair of SINOG, the Slovenian Network Operators Group. Several IETF RFCs author and one of the founders and member of the board of GNA (Global NOG Alliance). Jan is also active in its "Keep Ukraine Connected" initiative.

Previously worked with the Internet Society and served as a CEO of Go6 Institute Slovenia. Jan is based in Slovenia, EU.

Full CV