2024 iNEMI Fellows

Award Criteria

The iNEMI Fellow designation recognizes individuals whose engineering achievements have had a positive impact on iNEMI as well as the electronics manufacturing value chain. 

Eligibility Requirements 

• 5+ years of committed service to the technical community
• Provided significant technical contributions to a roadmap development or project work
• Demonstrated technical leadership in launching impactful technical projects
• Developed a leadership pipeline for future technical projects
• Made significant contributions to the global electronics manufacturing ecosystem that expand and advance the knowledge, use, and application of best practices globally
• Contributed to iNEMI and to the global electronics manufacturing ecosystem, demonstrating the increased value of collaborative innovation in the pre-competitive space

 

2024 Winners

• Tatiana Berdinskikh, Novophotonics Consulting 
• Tom Okrasinski, Nokia Bell Labs
   

Tatiana Berdinskikh 
Founder and Chief Consultant, Novophotonics Consulting

Tatiana has 25+ years of experience in fiber optics, telecommunications, optoelectronics and photonics. The majority of her career in manufacturing optical systems was with Celestica, a long-term iNEMI member. While with Celestica she contributed to the start of the iNEMI optoelectronics program, leading a number of projects addressing cleanliness and assembly issues. She also contributed to the development of several iNEMI Optoelectronics roadmaps. Most recently, she has represented iNEMI member Senko Advanced Components as a consultant on several iNEMI optoelectronics projects.

iNEMI Project Leadership

Tatiana has acted as chair or co-chair of many iNEMI optoelectronics projects since the mid 2000s. The projects she has led and contributed to have helped address challenges to optics system manufacturing and several have proposed new test methods that were well-received by the industry. She has produced award-winning technical papers based on iNEMI project work and has interfaced with standards development bodies such as the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). She is a long-term participant in the iNEMI Optoelectronic Technology Integration Group (TIG) and chaired the group for a number of years. Her contributions include:

• Led the development of the iNEMI optoelectronics program
• Developed an active optoelectronic manufacturing ecosystem, recruiting a number of new members
• Served as liaison with standards bodies, reporting iNEMI project outcomes and results to IEC and other standards groups to drive faster standards development 
• Actively supports iNEMI by promoting project work and regularly authors and/or contributes to papers from the projects and presents them at global conferences

Contributions to the Electronics Manufacturing Ecosystem

Tatiana has co-authored more than 50 journal publications and conference papers in the field of optoelectronics and photonics and was a co-author of the book Degradation of Semiconductor Light-Emitting Diodes and Lasers. 

Tatiana is the Canadian Technical Expert for standards activities of IEC SC 86B, SC 86C, and a Chair of the Canadian Mirror Committee of SC 86B. In 2016, she received the IEC 1906 Award for her contribution to the development of cleanliness specifications of fiber optic connectors. Her work and leadership are driving faster development of cleanliness-related standards in optical systems and her role on the IEC committee has helped bring high-volume manufacturing and the optics world together.

Tom Okrasinski
Product Environmental Engineering Strategy & Technology, Nokia Bell Labs

Tom has been engaging with iNEMI in a technical leadership role for more than 16 years and is well-regarded by members as a thought leader in sustainability and an expert in keys areas such as materials and life cycle assessment (LCA). He has chaired/co-chaired multiple iNEMI projects and has chaired the Sustainable Electronics Technology Integration Group (TIG) since 2014. He has helped iNEMI identify key players and capabilities needed to accomplish project goals and eliminate technology gaps, and project achievements and outputs are well recognized and referenced by the electronics industry. He also encourages the participation of young engineers and helps them grow in leadership and industry recognition. 

In addition to project work, Tom has actively contributed to iNEMI roadmaps for the last 15 years. Although primarily active with the Sustainable Electronics topic, he has also contributed to several other topic areas. He has also led the development of the Sustainable Electronics Technical Plan through collaborative review of iNEMI roadmaps since around 2018. 

iNEMI Project Leadership

• Through the development of the Sustainable Electronics Technical Plan, Tom has driven identification of projects in eco-design and material requirements. 
• He actively supports iNEMI by promoting project work and the roadmap and by assisting iNEMI staff with expertise in all aspects of sustainability. He is active in industry events and conferences, where he always promotes iNEMI roadmaps and projects and demonstrates the value of collaboration. 
• Tom has also been a consistent presenter and contributor to iNEMI programs by sharing his skill and knowledge as well as sharing resources.  He is an excellent communicator and has been an effective educator to the industry in areas of sustainability, particularly life cycle assessment. 
• Tom is always very generous with his time and knowledge, enabling and encouraging new TIG and project members to get involved and grow the sustainability ecosystems in electronics manufacturing. 

Contributions to the Electronics Manufacturing Ecosystem

• Tom spearheaded development of the iNEMI Eco-Impact Estimator (EIE) tool which is used by several  iNEMI members today. When the tool was first developed in the mid-2000s, Tom led this project and helped educate and engage many of the OEMs in considering this light-touch LCA. This project has successfully spawned three additional phases and the tool is being used to provide guidance on smart choices to minimize carbon greenhouse gas effects.
• As chair of the Sustainable Electronics TIG, he has helped broaden the discussions among iNEMI members on all aspects of sustainability through promoting guest speakers on a variety of topics and running educational programs such as the Eco-Design webinar series to educate industry on what can be achieved. 
• Tom has supported the development and publication of technical papers and white papers based on the projects he has been involved with, helping to educate and drive alignment in the industry and among stakeholders.