A native to the island of Maui, Dr. Edward Tavares graduated from Washington State University with bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. He went on to earn masters degrees in both Computer Science and Mathematics and completed his education at Columbia University in 2002 with a Doctorate in Applied Computer Science.
In the early 1990’s he worked for the federal government supporting counter surveillance and executive protection. Later he worked for BBN on DARPA projects where he developed new network operation, management and monitoring techniques to advance the security and survivability of wide area networks. During this period, he was very active with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and coordinated the formalizing of several networking protocols and connection standards that form the basis of network security and interoperability today.
From 1997 thru 2000 he worked for GTE, first as a network analyst, then as a system engineer overseeing the development of wide area networks and systems, which enabled the rapid expansion of internet services and telecommunications through the Pacific rim. After the 2001 merger with Bell Atlantic Dr. Tavares continued working for the newly formed Verizon Communications Corp. where he was instrumental in the design and delivery of telecommunications networks for a wide variety of government and commercial customers.
In 2013 he began working as the Director of Information Technology - Internal Audit for Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI). There he leads a team of highly technical auditors who examine the diverse information technology systems within HEI and its subsidiaries Hawaiian Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light, Maui Electric, and American Savings Bank. He is responsible for ensuring HEI systems are compliant with all regulatory requirements that the ever-growing risk associated with cyber threats are appropriately addressed.
He is a member of the Internet Engineering Task Force Security and Stability Action Committee, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Telecommunications Industry Association, Electronic Components Industry Association, and is a contributing author to several National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publications and Technical Notes.
For his contributions to the NIST in the areas of cyber security and global network interoperability Dr. Tavares has been awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal and was named a NIST Fellow. The Governments of Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, Great Britain, Italy and Germany have also formally recognized his contributions in the areas of telecommunications security, hardware encryption, the development of privacy standards, and global network interoperability.