Time to Talk

Elena Parsons is an Industry Engagement Lead at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), with responsibility for driving the adoption of NPL’s UTC(NPL)-traceable signals across industry. A member of NPL’s Quantum and Timing business unit, she works closely with organisations across a range of sectors to raise awareness of the growing importance of resilient timing and to support the deployment of robust timing infrastructures that underpin critical services and emerging technologies.

Elena joined NPL in 2017 as Channel Manager and brings more than 25 years of experience in technology partnerships and business development. Throughout her career, she has successfully collaborated with global technology suppliers, manufacturers, and solution providers, building strategic partnerships that deliver commercial growth, innovation, and customer value.

In her current role, Elena works at the intersection of industry, science, and engineering, helping organisations understand the risks associated with timing dependencies and the benefits of resilient timing solutions. She engages with stakeholders to identify industry requirements, develop strategic partnerships, and support users in adopting timing capabilities that enhance operational resilience and performance.

Rupert has 40 years’ experience in audio engineering and honed his innovation skills in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. His pioneering work with audio objects, to allow the viewer to alter the relative loudness of dialogue and background sounds, won the innovation award at NAB in 2011. Rupert is now a freelance consultant working with technology companies and broadcasters. He remains committed to use of audio objects to improve accessibility in his role as a consultant to Fraunhofer IIS. In this capacity he has delivered MPEG-H trials during the Football World Cup, Eurovision Song Contest and European Athletics Championships.

Sam Matheny is the CEO of Merkhet Solutions, a company with a mission to deploy the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS) as the primary complementary position, navigation and timing solution to enhance U.S. national and economic security. With over 30 years of experience in the broadcast and data networking industries, including earning multiple patents for DTV technologies, Sam leads Merkhet Solutions’s efforts to further develop and commercialize BPS.

Matheny is a member of the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. He has served as an advisor to numerous startup and technology companies including Reveal Mobile, a location-based advertising technology company, and Haystack TV, a personalized streaming news channel. He has previously served on the board of directors for the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), where he was Chairman of the specialist group on the next generation of digital television.

Previously, Sam served as NAB’s Chief Technology Officer, and before that as Vice President of Policy and Innovation for Capitol Broadcasting Company where he focused on strategic media applications.

Sam holds a B.S. in Communications from East Carolina University, a M.S. in Technology Management from North Carolina State University, and a certificate for artificial intelligence and business strategy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2007, he was named an American Marshall Memorial Fellow.