Dave Fellows

David Fellows (born September 19, 1952) is an American engineer, entrepreneur, and scientist. Fellows is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Layer3 TV and serves as the chief scientist for the cable industry’s Energy 2020 initiative. He was the chief technology officer for Comcast from 2003 through 2008, and the CTO for AT&T Broadband from 2001 until 2003.
Fellows, also an athlete, competed in the 1976 Olympic Games as a member of the US Rowing team.

Fellows was born in Waltham, Massachusetts to Virginia and Gordon W. Fellows, a microbiologist. He grew up in the Cochituate section of Wayland, Massachusetts. Fellows was interested in athletics, arts, and sciences, and in addition to participating in the math, chess, theater and audiovisual programs at Wayland High School, he was a football player and a member of the track team.

In 1970, Fellows began undergraduate studies in engineering at Harvard University. He was recruited for the rowing team and went on to captain the Rude and Smooth boat, which went undefeated and won the unofficial national title in 1974. After receiving his S.B. in engineering and applied physics, Fellows attended Northeastern University, where he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering.

Fellows rowed for seven United States national rowing teams between 1973 and 1979, including the teams of the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games, where he won a bronze and a silver medal, respectively. He was the captain of the 1976 Olympic rowing team.

Fellows additionally completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.

In 1976, Fellows was hired as a research scientist at GTE Laboratories. Primarily focused on the transition from analog to digital telephony, he filed his first patent in 1979. It enabled devices to power down and use only the energy required to monitor for signals indicating a need to be recharged. The patent was awarded in 1982. In various capacities in engineering and marketing,, Fellows continued to be associated with GTE and GTE Transmissions Systems (which was acquired by Siemens) until 1987, when he was named president of the transmissions systems business division of Scientific Atlanta. At Scientific Atlanta, he was principally responsible for the technology used to deliver video via satellite and cable.

In 1992, Fellows was hired as senior vice president of engineering and CTO at Continental Cablevision, where he began what would become a lengthy association with Amos Hostetter, Jr., the company's founder. At Continental Cablevision, Fellows was noted as one of the first engineers to explore and implement data-over-cable connections and for his key role in the development of hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) architecture. Fellows became CTO of MediaOne Group when it acquired Continental in 1996, and additionally served as the interim CTO of Roadrunner, which was partially owned by MediaOne. In an August 1993 interview, Fellows said: "Right now, there are three distinct networks: telephone, video and this less well-known internet. With this service, we're staking cable's claim to that third network." In January 1994, Continental Cablevision launched "a new service allowing personal computer users to tap into the nation's premier computer network over high-capacity cable television wires." The system processed 10 million bits per second, 178 times faster than the ISDN lines then offered by telephone companies.

Fellows left MediaOne in 1998 to help with the care of his son Christopher after he was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor. Following four palliative surgeries, pediatric neurosurgeons at Boston Children's Hospital borrowed a then-new tool, the Yttrium Argon Garnet (YAG) laser, and successfully destroyed Christopher's tumor. Fellows and his wife, April Derderian, subsequently raised the funds to purchase a laser for the hospital. During this time, Fellows founded Pilot House Ventures and served as a principal. Pilot House, which invested in promising early-stage technology companies, including enterprise software, network infrastructure, internet, and communications companies, was largely funded by Hostetter.

In 2001, Fellows was named CTO of AT&T Broadband. He was significantly involved in the merger between AT&T Broadband and Comcast, and became Comcast's executive vice president and CTO after the acquisition. There he oversaw the company's 15,000 engineers and technicians, and created the architecture for television, broadband, and voice delivery. In 2005, Fellows moved to replace the core of the legacy cable infrastructure with a "mini internet," which resulted in the delivery of video programming based on Internet protocols and equipment.

In 2010 Fellows partnered with Broadbus founder Jeff Binder and Broadbus CEO Vin Bisceglia to form Genovation Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in seed, start-up and early-stage investments in communications, media and the Internet sectors with a focus on hardware, software and services. In 2013, he and Binder co-founded Layer3 TV, expected to launch in 2015.

Fellows is on the board of directors for Anadigics. A frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, and conventions worldwide, Fellows also serves as the chief scientist for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Energy 2020 Initiative.

With his wife, Fellows endowed the Christopher K. Fellows Family Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital, and established two additional funds to support the hospital’s pediatric neurosurgery department.

The father of three children, Fellows divides his time between Wyoming, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. He remains active athletically, rowing in the Head of the Charles Regatta for the Rude and Smooth boat club, and is a runner and cyclist.

• Vanguard Award for Science and Technology, SCTE
• Cable Pioneers honoree
• SCTE Data Standards Subcommittee Chair
• Harvard University Athletic Hall of Fame
• Northeastern University Distinguished Alumni Award
• DOCSIS Certification Board Chair (former)
• Friends of Harvard Rowing (Overseer, former Vice Chair)