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SE 2025

2025 NAASE Sales Engineer of the Year
Award

Honoring Sales Engineers who turn problems into possibilities, elevate customer experiences, and deliver measurable business impact across every stage of the solution cycle

The finalists and the winner have been selected. See information below. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Congratulations to the 2025 NAASE Sales Engineer of the Year!

#SE2025 WINNER

Ryan Bivinetto

  • Sales Engineering Manager, Global
  • BlackBerry Radar
  • California, United States
  • Software Development
Ryan Bivinetto is the 2025 NAASE Sales Engineer of the Year and an engineering leader at BlackBerry Radar. A former EMT and electrician who moved into fleet maintenance before presales, he brings an operations-first lens to telematics. At Radar, he averages 10 enterprise wins a year and serves on the Radar Product Council, helping shape patent-backed capabilities. Customers credit his analytics dashboards and a maintenance module with surfacing new revenue and cutting overdue service events by 25%+ within a quarter. A serve-first leader, he builds reusable demo frameworks and SE toolkits, mentors Future Leaders cohorts, and pairs pre- and post-sales rigor to drive adoption. Nominated by 18 peers, Ryan was recognized for repeatable impact, hands-on innovation, and the coaching culture he creates on every team.
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2025 NAASE Sales Engineer of the Year Finalists

The finalists were selected through a multi‑judge review led by the NAASE Board with support from external advisors. Judges scored submissions independently, and then the scores were calibrated. Evaluation focused on the last 12 months: measurable customer and revenue impact, innovation in solutions and process, and leadership or service to the SE community. Evidence in each packet was evaluated in the context of the candidate’s role, territory, and industry, and was supplemented with publicly available information to ensure consistency. We also applied conflict‑of‑interest recusals and basic consistency checks. Finalists are listed below in alphabetical order.

Jason Evans

Sales Engineer

NOV ReedHycalog

Texas, United States

Oil and Gas

Jason is a sales engineer in the Permian Basin who pairs nearly two decades of drilling and downhole expertise with rigorous customer-facing skills. After years as an application specialist and field advisor, he joined NOV ReedHycalog to translate diagnostics into repeatable playbooks for operators. He was nominated for building a formation‑specific parameter roadmap that teams adopted across campaigns, cutting runs and boosting reliability while standardizing execution.

Moon Jung

Sr. Sales Engineer

Samsung Electronics America

New Jersey, United States

HVACR Components Solution

Moon Jung is a Sr. sales Engineer at Samsung Electronics America who grew from component engineering into a customer-facing role serving HVAC OEMs. He helped introduce rotary compressor and VFD technology to North America and partnered with major OEMs to embed it in high-efficiency ducted split systems. His nomination recognizes bridging component and system teams and more than 100 validation tests that spread inverter adoption and led to broad market uptake.

Juwan Kadir

Senior Solutions Engineer

Ontra

Texas, United States

Software Development

Juwan is a senior solutions engineer who brings a decade of experience in real estate operations and finance to presales. After roles in asset management and investor relations, she moved into SE at RealPage and AppFolio, eventually leading a team and shaping discovery, demo strategy, and enablement for complex accounting workflows. Nominated by 11 peers, Juwan was recognized for building repeatable demo assets, mentoring new hires, and turning tough evaluations into successful customer decisions.

Lance Lynn

Support Architect & Presales Engineer

Techneaux Technology Services

Texas, United States

Software Development

With two decades in RF and network infrastructure, Lance moved from the field to presales, bringing hands-on credibility to customer conversations. He led a multi-site industrial wireless redesign that stabilized SCADA communications and improved uptime, and created reusable RF planning and rollout kits that cut project effort. New to presales, he is nominated for translating 20 years of fieldwork into stable, multi‑site wireless designs and reusable RF playbooks that help teams deliver faster and more consistently.

Amanda Malpass

Director of Sales Engineering and Business Development

Neenah Foundry

South Carolina, United States

Manufacturing

Amanda is a sales engineering leader who has grown from civil and airfield design into customer-facing work, pairing deep infrastructure expertise with clear storytelling. This year, she guided a DOT-aligned product redesign, utilizing FEA to secure conditional approval and deliver safer, lighter castings that reduce emissions and costs. She also built SOPs and training for a five-person SE team, speeding ramp, and raising standards. Her nomination recognizes this redesign and enablement.

Rahul Mode

Senior Director

Capital One

Washington, United States

Financial Services

Rahul is an enterprise presales leader who grew from a software engineer at VMware to a technical marketing manager at NetApp, then led solutions architecture at Amazon Alexa before joining Capital One Software. A visible voice in the SE community, he champions repeatable, customer outcome-based practices. He was nominated for building the presales engine for Slingshot, creating field playbooks and workshops that accelerated enterprise adoption while mentoring SEs into leadership roles.

Paul Parsons

Technical Sales Engineer

PG Forsta

Ontario, Canada

Software Development

Entrepreneur-turned sales engineer, Paul brings a storyteller’s lens to CX technology. He built a library of sub-two-minute “sizzle” videos that help reps qualify earlier and make buying easier. Adopted across North America and EMEA and used hundreds of times, the program has opened meaningful pipeline. He led it end to end, from ideation to production and cross-functional buy-in. He was nominated for its broad adoption and enablement impact.

Sameer Sahay-Kausar

Senior Solutions Consultant

Homerun Presales

Ohio, United States

Technology, Information and Internet

Sameer is a builder in presales who grew from software engineering to SE leadership. As the founding Senior Solutions Consultant at Homerun, he designed presales, onboarding, and support playbooks, automated data migrations, and trained a global enterprise team to realize value fast. He champions our craft as co-host of Diary of a Sales Engineer. Nominated for leading a complex enterprise rollout that scaled adoption and proved repeatable across accounts.

Charli Kate Townsend

Sales Engineer

Corpay

Indiana, United States

Financial Services

Charli Kate is a sales engineer who came up through frontline sales and project work, pairing a tech‑centric BS with an MBA and current DBA studies. A hands-on presales partner, Charli helped establish SE SOPs, mentors sellers and new SE leaders, and turns customer insights into product improvements. She was nominated for consistently enabling year‑end quota attainment and coaching new hires to the President’s Club while elevating the SE function’s impact.

Why Participate?

The NAASE SE of the Year Award recognizes standout Sales Engineers whose performance, leadership, and technical excellence exemplify the very best of our profession. This is a merit‑based professional award. Winners are selected by judges using the published criteria.

Transformed technical complexity into simple, compelling value
Been instrumental in winning high-stakes deals
Mentored others and elevated the SE community
Pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in solution selling

Who Can Enter?

Self-nomination (Nominate Yourself)

  • You're currently working as a Sales Engineer or in a closely related role.
  • You have at least one year of relevant professional experience.
  • You're able to provide specific examples of your recent achievements or contributions.

Peer-nomination (Nominate Someone Else)

  • You're nominating a current Sales Engineer or someone in a closely related role.
  • The nominee has at least one year of relevant professional experience.
  • You're familiar with their work and able to describe their recent achievements or contributions.

Recognition & Rewards

Winner

  • Digital “SE of the Year” Certificate + LinkedIn profile badge
  • Featured success story on the NAASE homepage and blog
  • “Ask-Me-Anything” live webinar hosted by winner
  • Pinned LinkedIn spotlight week promoting winner’s achievements
  • Free lifetime NAASE membership

Finalists

  • Exclusive finalist Slack channel for networking and sharing insights
  • Guaranteed speaker slot at a future NAASE webinar or podcast episode
  • 50% discount on NAASE membership and CSE

Nominees

  • Quick-win skill endorsement blitz by NAASE board members
  • Nominee social-media toolkit (graphics, captions, banners) for self-promotion

Nominators

  • Top Advocate Award (special recognition if your nominee wins)
  • Custom email signature badge "Community Champion"

Key Dates

Mark your calendar with the key milestones for this year’s award. From nominations to voting and final announcements, here’s what to expect—and when to get involved.

  • July 15, 2025
    Contest opened
  • September 15, 2025
    Nominations closed
  • October 7, 2025
    Finalists Announced
  • October 21, 2025
    Winner Announced
  • November 2025
    Winner’s Live Webinar

How to Apply

1
Choose your path: Self-nomination or Peer-nomination.
2
Complete the short online form and answer 3 key questions about recent achievements.
3
Submit your nomination before September 15, 2025.

What a strong answer looks like

Two prompts, two jobs: Achievements = evidence with outcomes. “Why you” = connect the dots so your impact feels repeatable.

  • Impact: what happened, what you did, and the measurable result.
    Example: Revived a stalled POC with a clear success plan; influenced about $1.2M ACV; adopted at 3 sites.
  • Innovation: what you introduced and how it changed outcomes.
    Example: Built a reusable demo framework; cut prep time from 6 hours to 90 minutes; adopted by 12 SEs.
  • Leadership and community: who you helped and what difference it made.
    Example: Mentored 2 new hires; led biweekly deal reviews; team win rate up about 10 percent.

Tip: Numbers can be approximate. If details are confidential, generalize names and amounts.

Judging Criteria

Judging Criteria. The SE of the Year will be evaluated across three key areas: Impact, Innovation, and Leadership & Community. Judges will consider the nominee’s measurable outcomes (e.g., revenue or adoption), creativity in solving technical challenges, and contributions to the SE community through leadership, mentoring, or thought leadership. Peer recommendations and clear results will strengthen the nomination.

Impact

How your work directly led to measurable results or significant achievements in sales engineering.

Innovation

How creatively you've approached challenges or introduced fresh ideas, methods, or solutions.

Leadership & Community

How you've inspired others, mentored colleagues, or positively contributed to the broader SE community.

Award FAQs

Curious about how the SE of the Year Award works? We’ve answered common questions about who can be nominated, how the judging works, and what recognition participants receive.

Who can be nominated?

Anyone currently working as a Sales Engineer or in a closely related role with at least one year of experience. Self-nominations and peer-nominations are both welcome

How is the winner selected?

Nominees are evaluated on impact, innovation, and community leadership. Judges consider real outcomes, peer input, and how each nominee has advanced the SE profession

Are self and peer nominations judged differently?

No. Self and peer nominations are evaluated with the same rubric. A peer nomination may add helpful context, but the scoring is identical.

How long does the nomination form take?

Plan about 15 to 30 minutes. The form asks for basic details and three short questions about your recent impact.

What happens to the information I submit?

Your nomination details are used only for the SE of the Year Award review process and related recognition. We do not share submissions outside of NAASE. For more information, see our Privacy Policy https://sales-engineering.org/privacy-policy/