A one-day event for the next generation of global submarine cable industry talent

Maja Summers is a Senior Submarine Commercial Manager at Vodafone. Maja’s previous roles include Sales & Marketing Director and Director of Operations at Apollo SCS and Head of Submarine Engineering Department at Cable & Wireless.

Maja has over 20 years of experience in subsea industry at both technical, operational and commercial level working on the design and implementation of submarine cable systems. She is the Programme Chair for SubOptic Conference 2023 . Maja has a PhD from South Bank University, London and BEng in Electronic Engineering from University of Belgrade, Serbia, and is a Fellow of the IET. Maja was also Visiting Professor in in the Principles of Engineering Design, University of Surrey.

Hello, I’m Holly! I'm currently in my third year as a degree apprentice at BT, specializing in software engineering. I first joined BT in 2021 after completing my A-levels. I started my apprenticeship in the Ethernet platforms team, where I focused on automating team workflows. Following this role, I moved to the BT Subsea team for an initial six-month rotation.

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Finding the work fascinating, I decided to stay with the Subsea team for the remainder of my apprenticeship.

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In my current role within the Subsea team, I use my previous experience to improve team efficiency and workflows through optimised data storage solutions. Alongside this work, I have been immersing myself in the world of subsea cables, gaining knowledge and having the incredible opportunity to visit sites, cable ships, and cable factories!

Tochukwu Egesi is a digital public infrastructure specialist passionate about financial services and digital inclusion. He heads payments and digital financial services consulting at Genesis Analytics. Before Genesis Analytics, he was an Associate Manager at Mastercard, where he led the sustainability and financial inclusion practice in the EMEA region.

His work has benefited clients such as Google, Microsoft, Barclays Bank, Standard Bank Group, the National Bank of Rwanda, the African Development Bank, Mastercard, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Tochukwu holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics, a Master's in Inclusive Innovation from the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business, and is a PhD Candidate in Computer Science at the University of Cape Town.

Hi, I’m Xenia (pronounced Zen-ya)! I work as a degree apprentice at BT, having started my course in 2021. I started out in the Network Integration Test team, working in our labs and running a regression test project for our core infrastructure in my first year. Since joining the Subsea team in October 2022, I’ve been working primarily on repurposing two out-of-service cables for research but I’m also involved with auditing and consortia work.

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I’ve loved attending site visits as part of my work and am looking forward to getting even more involved with my team once I graduate in 2025!

My journey in the subsea industry began with a splash almost two years ago when I secured an internship at Oceanic Environmental Cables (OEC) in Germany. During my first interview, the CEO shared the company’s mission to recover and recycle decommissioned subsea cables. He then asked, “How much of a carbon footprint do all those undersea cables – from as far back as the 1850s to today – leave behind?”

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Unable to find an answer on the internet after hours of researching, that question sparked my interest in subsea cables. I completed my B.Sc. in Environmental Engineering in Finland and returned to Germany last year to fully commit to OEC. Today, as a sustainability leader at OEC, I am actively involved in reducing the industry's environmental footprint. My role includes developing recycling processes, reducing operational emissions, and implementing decarbonization strategies.

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What truly excites me is the dynamic and hands-on nature of my work. I get to be involved in the entire process, from setting up recycling plants to planning for cable removal projects, all to ensure that OEC thrives while minimising its environmental impact.

John has worked in the submarine cable industry for 16 years, bringing a wide range of experience and expertise in marine planning, permitting and consenting. He managed permitting for new installation projects and cable repair/maintenance worldwide in telecommunications, energy, renewables and Oil & Gas. He currently has several roles within the industry as the Liaison Officer for the European Subsea Cables Association (ESCA), and as the Project Manager for the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC). He also works as an independent consultant on projects, subsea cable policy and stakeholder engagement.

As the Liaison Officer for ESCA (The European Subsea Cables Association) this role involves raising the profile of subsea cables with key stakeholders in Europe, engaging with Government departments, conservation bodies, other industry groups, and addressing key issues on all subsea cable related topics. He was previously the Chairman of the Technical and Regulatory Subgroup (TRSG) in ESCA and has good knowledge of international law and the regulatory and legislative frameworks for subsea cables.

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With the ICPC his work involves managing ICPC Projects which further the aims and objectives of the ICPC. He works as part of the Secretariat Team to support the ongoing work of the ICPC, including supporting development and update of ICPC Recommendations.

Colin Wallace is currently the General Manager of Cloud Network Engineering, Azure Fiber for Microsoft focusing on Hollow Core Fiber expansion.

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Previous to this role, Colin worked at Infinera as the VP for Hyperscaler Managed Services and at Ciena as the Cloud Networking & Submarine SalesLeader EMEA. At Ciena, he also served as the Director of Global Business Development for Submarine Solutions and the Director of Global Submarine Systems Engineering. Colin has also held senior roles at Corning Cable Systems where he was a Systems Engineering Manager, Business Development Manager, and Service Development Manager.

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Colin has had a varied career in the telcom space with experience spanning across data center, hyperscaler, submarine and tier 1 telco markets.

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Colin holds a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Optical Electronics, and a PhD inFibre Optics from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

ANDYPALMER-FELGATE is responsible for marine engineering and planning of submarine cable systems at Meta and serves on the Executive Committee of theI International Submarine Cable Protection Committee. Prior to joining Meta (Facebook) in 2016 Andy spent a decade with Verizon and worked on submarine cable construction, operations, and maintenance primarily in the Asia-Pac region.

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Earlier in his career Andy was part of the Marine Operations team at AlcatelSubmarine Networks. Andy holds a MSc in Hydrographic Surveying from UniversityCollege London, a BSc in Ocean Science from the University of Wales, and aDiploma in Law of the Sea from the Rhodes Academy

Wenslaus is a highly skilled Network and Telecommunications Engineer with over 4 years of industry experience. During this time, he has work hard to acquire a comprehensive skillset including Optical Transmission and IPNetworking technologies, handling critical escalations in a fast-paced environment and coupling this with his strong technical, leadership and effective customer management skills.

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In October 2019, he applied for internship after completing a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. (TelecommunicationOption) and was given the opportunity. He quickly demonstrated his learning capability and ability to perform many NOC duties which earned him a short-term contract in March 2020 and within seven months his diligence was rewarded with a permanent contract. His consistency in performance has shown throughout his work. His career aspirations, ambitions and capabilities have seen him move to the position of NOC Shift Leader in August 2023 and just recently he took up the position of TAC Engineer.

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He is dedicated to excellence and recently completed advanced certifications in IPEngineering and received training on the new Equiano and 2Africa subsea cable systems. This training helps him to provide essential support to our clients across our diverse network.