CENIC Stars

Anthony Crandall

Anthony Crandall has exemplified what it means to be a CENIC Star since he joined the organization as an NOC intern. Since then, he has made a seamless transition to his role in Administrative Services. Fundamental to the organization’s efforts and the network, he and the team support administrative tasks, office facility management, purchasing, shipping, receiving, inventory, reimbursements, and managing in-office events. The work is ad hoc, and Anthony is always flexible and willing to assist.

Recently, Anthony has stepped up in his role as lead of Administrative Services. As such, he has gone above and beyond by joining management meetings, which surpasses his role and job requirements.

“Anthony exemplifies what it means to grow within an organization. Starting as an intern and now serving as an indispensable member of the Administrative Services team, Anthony consistently goes above and beyond to improve operations and support his colleagues. Over the past few years, he has developed tools and automation scripts that have streamlined processes across departments, all while stepping up to support facilities improvements, equipment deployments, and the annual CENIC conference;” says Raul Rincon, VP of Operations & HR, “His commitment to learning, his technical skills, and his thoughtful collaboration make him a valued contributor across the organization. He takes initiative, owns projects end-to-end, and supports all those around him.”

Anthony has not only seamlessly managed the team, but additionally is known for being interested in all of the departments within CENIC, being kind, helpful, approachable, and ready to help and support the needs of the organization.

For these reasons, we are proud to add Anthony Crandall to our constellation of CENIC Stars!

Gary Kazaryan and Mark Lozada

Together, Gary Kazaryan and Mark Lozada have been indispensable in achieving a remarkable feat. Gary Kazaryan serves as a Principal Engineer, and Mark Lozada is the Lead Network Engineer in Operations. They share responsibility for maintaining CENIC’s CalREN, one of the most powerful and arguably consequential networks in the world. In addition to their day-to-day responsibilities, they led the complex multi-year migration of a key Los Angeles hub site, a huge accomplishment that makes them true CENIC Stars.

CENIC was informed in April 2021 that we would need to vacate LA2, one of our Los Angeles hub sites, by April 2025. On Friday, March 28th, the last of the equipment was removed, successfully meeting the project deadline. Gary and Mark orchestrated a dedicated team that was instrumental to the migration’s success. In total, 21 CENIC staff members participated in some aspect of the migration.

Gary’s perseverance and leadership of the team throughout the migration made him invaluable. As lead architect of the migration, Gary was instrumental in navigating the difficulty of planning the migration, which included working with numerous fiber, telecom, and colocation providers necessary to operate a CENIC hub site while also adhering to CENIC’s standard after-hours maintenance window.

"Gary’s technical strengths are second to none, and he was absolutely the right Engineer to lead this effort, " said Stanley Han, AVP of Engagement. "In addition to his technical skills, Gary portrayed a cool, calm, and collected demeanor that was instrumental when dealing with the numerous challenges we faced during the migration. His innovative solutions were critical in accomplishing the difficult task of the four-year migration, all while maintaining connectivity for our members."

While Mark’s primary role is Lead Network Engineer, his ability and willingness to step up as Project Manager were crucial to the project’s success. Mark skillfully collaborated with the various providers and CENIC staff to actualize and achieve the plan he and Gary had developed to complete the project successfully before the deadline.

"Mark’s leadership and technical expertise as a Lead Network Engineer, combined with his attention to detail and ability to bring teams together, made him a natural fit to step into the vacant project manager role for the migration," said Stanley Han, AVP of Engagement. "He consistently ensured timelines were met without compromising technical requirements, all while fostering collaboration and solidarity among his coworkers."

Thanks to Gary and Mark’s excellent leadership, CENIC accomplished the difficult and monumental task of migrating LA2 over the course of four years before the set deadline. For these reasons, we're proud to add Gary and Mark to our constellation of CENIC Stars!