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!