Aaron Falk

Aaron Falk is an Engineering Manger at Akamai Technologies, where he leads the SysComm Architecture and Governance Team responsible for safe and secure use of the infrastructure supporting Akamai’s global network of over 250,000 servers. Aaron has worked on diverse networking systems including content distribution networks, environmental sensors, a software-defined testbed for future Internet architectures, and satellite networks for broadband streaming, Internet access, and protected communications. Leading efforts such as these required diving into strategic technologies such as caching, space-based packet switching, and high-performance transport protocols. Aaron’s skills include “cat herding” of researchers & engineers such as when launching, as engineering architect, the NSF-funded GENI project, leading four IETF working groups, chairing the Internet Research Task Force, and serving on the Internet Architecture Board.

Aaron is very proud to have worked on commercial projects at Akamai, Verivue, PanAmSat, and Hughes Space & Communications and government-funded projects at BBN Technologies, USC Information Sciences Institute, and TRW Space & Defense. In addition to Aaron’s work at Akamai, he currently chairs the IETF Transport Services working group and serves on the RFC Series Advisory Board and Internet Research Steering Group. Aaron is named on six US patents and received a BS in Electrical Engineering (92) and MS in Systems Engineering (94) at the University of Maryland, College Park. Aaron's master thesis included a building a working prototype that became the basis for HughesNet, a satellite-based Internet access service generating over $1B in revenue.