CXL Mini DevCon 2026 | August 3 | Santa Clara, CA

Alonso Cheng is a lead engineer on the PCIe/CXL VIP development team at Siemens, with over 10 years of experience in the EDA industry. He has contributed to the development and delivery of PCIe, CXL, LPIF VIPs and has played a key role in several high priority customer verification projects. In addition, he has supported customers working with other major protocols, including CPI, CXS, and AXI, helping address integration and verification challenges.

Alonso’s expertise spans high speed protocol verification, including PCIe/CXL RC, EP, Switch, and retimer technologies. He is passionate about understanding customer requirements and real world use cases and finds fulfillment in working closely with customers to deliver effective and practical verification solutions.

Avdhesh Chhodavdia, Technologist, Astera Labs

Avdhesh Chhodavdia is a security technologist at Astera Labs, where he drives architecture and security initiatives for next-generation connectivity solutions. With over a decade of experience in platform security, Avdhesh has been instrumental in shaping the design and deployment of advanced data center security technologies. Prior to Astera labs, he worked at Microsoft on Device and Azure silicon security deployments, and at Meta on device security and virtualization in consumer devices to enable privacy. At Astera Labs, he focuses on building secure, scalable architectures that meet the demanding requirements of AI infrastructure and cloud-scale platforms.

Byeonghun Hwang is a Staff Engineer at Samsung Electronics. He joined Samsung in 2021. His work focuses on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), KV cache management, and optimizing large-scale AI workloads. Recently, he has been exploring the application of CXL-based memory solutions, such as CMM-D, to improve performance and efficiency in AI systems.

Dr. Debendra Das Sharma is an Intel Senior Fellow and Chief I/O Architect, Data Center Group, at Intel Corporation. He is a member of NAE, Fellow of IEEE, and Fellow of International Academy of AI Sciences (AAIS). He is a leading expert on I/O subsystem and interface architecture. He delivers Intel-wide critical interconnect technologies in Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe), Compute Express Link (CXL), Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe), and Intel’s Coherency interconnect, as well as their implementation. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG®). He is a co-inventor, founding member, and chair of the UCIe and CXL consortia. He has been a lead contributor to PCIe, CXL, and UCIe specifications since their inception.

Derek Rohde is a Principal Engineer at NVIDIA where he works on CXL and PCIe architecture.  He has over 25 years of experience working on various I/O and networking technologies.  His past standards experience includes serving as vice-chairman of the TDL workgroup in the CCIX Consortium and participating in the IEEE 802.1 Data Center Bridging Task Group.  Prior to NVIDIA, he was I/O Architect for Qualcomm’s Centriq ARM-based server CPU products and an architect and design engineer at QLogic.  Derek holds a BS in Computer Science from Tulane University and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.

With an academic background in Electrical & Computers Engineering, I joined Synopsys in 2015 as a verification engineer for the PCI-Express Controller team. Being part of a dynamic team operating on an ever-evolving product, I have specialized in testbench architecture and performance analysis. Currently, I lead major activities in these two areas for our PCI-Express and CXL Controller.

Geof Findley has over 38 years in the tech industry. He currently is the World Wide Vice President of Business Development and Sales at Montage Technology, Inc. since March 2018. Prior to this role, Geof Findley spent 19 years at Intel Corporation, where positions included Director of Memory Enabling in the Data Center Group, focusing on aligning the memory industry around Intel’s products, and Channel Alliance Manager, emphasizing market timing and partnership optimization. Earlier experience includes roles in engineering, programming, sales, business development and strategic program management at IBM, Siemens, and NICE. Geof Findley holds a Bachelor of Science in System Engineering from the University of Arizona and a Master of Business Administration from Santa Clara/St. Edward’s University.

Gordon is Senior Director, Product Management at Teledyne LeCroy. He has been working on PCI Express technologies for 25 years. Gordon is an active contributor to the CXL Compliance Program and has contributed to the test specifications for both PCI Express and CXL. Gordon graduated from Glasgow University with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Music and a MSc in Information Technology from the University of Paisley.

Jerry Eungbo Shim is a Director, Head of DRAM Solution Product Planning, SK hynix Inc with over 20 years of experience in the semiconductor sector. Specializing in CXL solutions and DRAM technology, they have successfully led project planning for the CXL DRAM solution product at SK hynix Inc. Previously, Jerry worked at SAMSUNG Electronics, LG Electronics, and Intel Corp., where they achieved various end products for end users as a system software engineer. Currently, he is focused on CXL pooled memory systems to drive innovation in their field.

Luis Ancajas is Director of CXL Business Development at Micron Technology, where he leads strategy and ecosystem partnerships for next generation memory solutions supporting AI and data center workloads. With a background in computer architecture and semiconductors, he focuses on advancing CXL architectures with hyperscalers and infrastructure partners. Luis holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in EECS from UC Berkeley.

Neeraj G Nayan is a Principal Engineer and Validation Architect at Micron Technology, where he leads CXL front-end validation initiatives spanning both CXL.io and CXL.mem protocols. As Co-Chair of the CXL Protocol Compliance Workgroup, he actively shapes industry standards and best practices for emerging memory technologies. With over 20 years of experience in validation architecture and protocol development, Neeraj specializes in next-generation memory interfaces and interconnect technologies. His recent work focuses on OpenCAPI and CXL protocol validation, automated test framework development, and pre-silicon emulation strategies. He has architected end-to-end validation solutions for memory controllers and developed innovative approaches to protocol compliance testing in the absence of traditional analysis tools. Prior to Micron, Neeraj held principal and senior engineering roles at Microchip and Intel, where he led validation programs for Smart Memory Controllers, Intel SSDs, and embedded firmware platforms. He brings deep expertise in cross-functional team leadership, having successfully partnered with architecture, firmware, analog, and product development teams to deliver complex hardware-software systems. Neeraj is passionate about advancing memory and interconnect technologies, mentoring engineering teams, and sharing insights on validation methodologies, protocol compliance, and continuous integration practices. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from California State University, Sacramento.

Nilesh Shah is VP Business Development, ZeroPoint Technologies. Additionally. He participates and contributes regularly at standards bodies like SNIA, OCP, JEDEC, RISC-V, CXL Consortium. He is regularly invited to speak at Conferences, and has led multiple panels and featured in Analyst/ Press interviews, focused on AI and memory technologies. Previously, Nilesh led Strategic Planning at Intel Corporation’s Non Volatile Memory Solutions Group, where he was was responsible for the product planning and launch of the Data Center SSD products and Pathfinding innovations. Nilesh advises several startups in the AI Data Center, memory and GPU space.

Po-Chun is a Senior Engineer at Siemens EDA and a member of the Siemens Avery VIP team, specializing in PCIe and Compute Express Link (CXL) IC design verification. With over five years of experience in Verification IP (VIP) development, he focuses on PCIe/CXL protocol technologies and collaborates closely with IC design customers to deliver advanced verification solutions.

Sandeep Dattaprasad is a Distinguished Engineer at Astera Labs with 15+ years of experience in semiconductor, software diagnostic tools, developing security strategies and firmware development for complex SoC product lines including Compute Express Link products, SAS RAID controllers, SAS expanders and PCIe switches. He is also a contributing member of the CXL Consortium. At Astera Labs, Sandeep’s focus is on driving product strategy for new market segments by translating data center bottlenecks into profitable and competitive hardware and software solutions.

With 13 years of experience in verification IP engineering, I specialize in advanced protocols including CXL, PCIe, Memory protocols like DFI, HBM,GDDR,DDR etc and AMBA protocols like AXI3,ACE and CHI. My expertise spans architecture definition, testbench development, and debugging complex SoC environments. I have led multiple projects involving protocol compliance, interoperability, and performance validation, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to deliver robust verification solutions.

Mr. Tavallaei brings a distinguished record of leadership, technical innovation, and strategic engagement that has significantly advanced the mission and global impact of CXL Consortium since its inception. He has served the Consortium as President, Board Director, Independent Advisor to the Board, founding Co-Chair of the Technical Task Force (TTF), and active member of the Marketing and Protocol Working Groups. Mr. Tavallaei is a seasoned systems architect and technology strategist with over three decades of leadership in memory systems, interconnect technologies, and hyperscale infrastructure. He currently serves as Senior Principal Engineer at Samsung Semiconductor Inc. His career spans influential roles at Google Cloud (Chief Systems Architect), Microsoft Azure (Principal Engineer), HP (Distinguished Technologist), and Compaq (Principal Member Technical Staff). His projects have generated over 50 patents in server architecture, disaggregated computing, and fault management.

Stephen Parks is Senior Director of Sales and Business Development at Montage Technology, focused on strategic customer engagement for high-speed interconnect and memory-interface products. He has extensive semiconductor industry experience across sales, marketing, business development, and engineering leadership roles, including prior roles with leading analog and power semiconductor companies. At Montage, Stephen works with OEMs, cloud customers, ecosystem partners, and engineering teams to support adoption of CXL, PCIe retimers, memory modules, and system-level solutions for next-generation AI, cloud, and enterprise server platforms.

 

Tony Benavides co-chairs the CXL Consortium Technical Task Force and is a Principal Engineer focusing on Memory New Technology at Intel. He leads next-generation memory-system pathfinding for Data-center and AI platforms, combining advanced memory architecture, hardware/software co-design, and industry specification strategy to scale coherent memory and composable systems.

Yamini Shastry. Director, Customer Success. Experienced in building and delivering test and analysis solutions for high speed networks. An expert in protocol analysis focusing on compute, storage and transport technologies including Ethernet, FC, SAS, PCIe and CXL. As the leader of the Customer Success team at VIAVI, she drives exceptional client outcomes and technical excellence.

  Yongjin Cho is the Chief Product Officer (CPO) at Panmnesia, where he leads initiatives that shape the company’s role in next-generation computing technologies. Prior to Panmnesia, Yongjin Cho has held various job titles including customer engineer, account manager, solutions architect, and research engineer at Moloco, AWS Korea, and Samsung Electronics and he gained extensive full-stack AI/ML experiences from infra to applications. Yongjin Cho earned his Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Southern California, where he also completed a Master’s degree in Computer Science. This strong academic foundation, paired with his practical industry experience, has enabled him to make meaningful contributions to the development of CXL technology and other semiconductor innovations. At Panmnesia, Yongjin Cho focuses on strengthening collaboration and refining development practices, guiding his team to create innovative solutions that support the company’s vision of leading AI infrastructure and connectivity technologies.

Zhihong graduated with a Ph.D. in EDA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He developed and architected verification IPs for more than 20 years since joined in Avery design systems. He is now a software engineering director in Siemens EDA and continues to serve as verification architect for PCIe, CXL, NVMe and other IO protocols.

 

Zongyao Wen is a Sr. Director of R&D at Synopsys. Wen has worked on Verification IP for 28 years. Wen owns CXL VIP product and previously led the development of AMBA, InfiniBand, USB 3/4, PCIe products and VIP technologies. Wen also worked on hardware security verification studies.