Management Team

Ken Stadler - Sr. Director, Professional Services & Customer Support

Julian Thomson
President, Chief Executive Officer, Board Member
Thomson has over twenty years of experience in telecommunications equipment companies including GTE Communications Systems, Lucent and several Silicon Valley startups covering technical and business executive responsibilities. Julian built his career at Lucent Technologies as Vice President of Product Development for Switching and General Manager of Premises Wireless as well as positions in business development and engineering management. He was awarded an Engineering Fellowship at Lucent and holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from the University of Glasgow, Scotland and the DESY Laboratory, Hamburg, Germany; and a B.Sc. Honors in Physics with Mathematics from the University of Glasgow.
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David Raehpour
Senior Vice President, Switchmaxx Product Line
David Raehpour is a successful entrepreneur whose background includes 19 years of experience in the development and growth of Telecom, Internet and software-oriented businesses. David joined CopperCom as a result of the purchase of Switchmaxx by CopperCom in March 2006. While at Switchmaxx, he led the company’s growth as a leading provider of Internet based self care portal technology and IP solutions. Prior to Switchmaxx, David served in senior capacities with numerous companies involved in the development and deployment of next generation telephony software and services where he was responsible for leading the companies’ business growth, management, and liquidity. He started his career in 1987 at Brite Voice Systems in Wichita, Kansas (now InterVoice-Brite NASDAQ: INTV). As one of the earliest employees and subsequently over a ten year career with the company, he helped lead numerous industry first software solutions including among others wireless voice activated dialing and wireless prepaid calling; fueling the Company’s growth into a publicly traded industry leader. Raehpour holds a Masters Degree from Wichita State University.
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Mel Ethem
Vice President of Sales
Mel Ethem has more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing positions in the data processing and telecommunications industries for both public and private networks. Ethem joined DTI Networks, in 1997 as vice president of sales and continued to perform in this capacity at CopperCom after DTI's merger with CopperCom in March 2000. His broad career encompasses executive positions at Sattel Communications, Summa Four, Ascom Timeplex and Unisys/Sperry Corporation. Ethem holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Louisville.
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Chuck Harris
Vice President of Marketing
Chuck Harris brings to CopperCom over 20 years of experience in next-generation communications and networking. From an early beginning in switching product management at AT&T to executive roles at Siemens where he was VP and GM of its Global VoIP and North American Broadband Divisions, Harris has a unique perspective on this growing industry. He has been involved in a number of next generation start-ups including time at Flagship Ventures, a venture capital firm in Boston. Harris has an M.B.A. in Finance from Duke University, and a B.S. in engineering from Syracuse University.
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Darryle Burnham
Sr. Director, Finance and Internal Operations
Darryle Burnham brings more than 15 years of financial management experience within technology, manufacturing and service industries with companies ranging in size from $2 million to over $1 billion in sales. Prior to joining CopperCom, he was the Corporate Treasurer at Serta Mattress, where he was responsible for all bank relations, external reporting and covenant variance reporting. He also worked at Onvia.com, at Scientific Atlanta and HTE-UCS in various finance positions. Burnham holds a B.Sc. degree in corporate management from Florida Atlantic University.
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Ken Stadler
Sr. Director, Professional Services & Customer Support
Ken Stadler has over 23 years experience in Voice and Data Communications. He started his career working for TimePlex where he spent over 17 years working in Engineering and running Worldwide Technical Support teams. Ken also spent 3 years working for a major U.S. competitive service provider. Ken led the team responsible for putting together one of the nations first packet networks to interoperate with the PSTN. Services included traditional phone service, desktop management and high-speed Internet access. Ken currently leads the Professional Services, Documentation and Training teams for CopperCom. During his tenure at Coppercom, Ken has also led the CopperCom Customer Support team and continues his focus on delivering professional services such as installation and commissioning to CopperCom customers. Ken is a current member of the American Society for Quality and is in the process of obtaining his Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
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