Arnaud Schreiner of NXP Semiconductors Declared Winner Of The NFC Champion Award And This Month’s Member Spotlight

Arnaud Schreiner was NFC’s most recent recipient of the Champion Award. The NFC Forum Champion Award recognizes members who have shown great dedication and contribution to the NFC Forums efforts. We spoke with Arnaud to get to know him better and give him an opportunity to share his experiences with us. Here is what Arnaud had to say.

Q1. Congratulation on winning a Champion Award.  Was it an unexpected surprise?

Winning the award was actually an unexpected surprise. This year, the ceremony was special due to the pandemic and was held for the first time online during the NFC Open Forum session. I watched it from home like many of us. As I won the award, I felt deep gratitude. I am proud to be recognized by the NFC Forum members as a key contributor for making NFC a successful technology.

Q2. What’s your involvement with the NFC Forum?

NXP Semiconductors is a strong contributor in the NFC Forum and is involved in all working groups, especially in the Compliance Committee which builds and maintains the Certification Program. The device manufacturers can certify devices having NFC features to verify their correct implementation against Test Cases. With the release of CR12, the NFC Forum has completed a loop that started with CR10 to harmonize itself with other major contactless standards.

I started to contribute to NFC Forum with CR10 back in 2016 while working at FIME and I continue my work today with CR12 working at NXP Semiconductors. One question has always stayed constant since 2016: “How can we improve the clarity, the quality and the coverage of the Certification Program?”.

Q3. How do you anticipate staying involved with NFC? 

The next big opportunity for the NFC Forum is NFC Wireless Charging (WLC) as emphasized by Mike McCamon, executive director of NFC Forum, during the NFC Open Forum. Now that the NFC WLC specification has been released as an adopted specification, NXP Semiconductors will contribute actively in the establishment of a new track in the Certification Program for devices having the NFC WLC charging feature.

Today, we can see lot of traction in the WLC Testing Task Force (WLCT TF) with many companies participating and contributing. Leading this group, I am confident that the WLCT TF will be able to complete a set of high-quality test cases which will be a step forward for the NFC Forum Certification Program.

Q4. Is there a book you’ve read or maybe a mentor you’ve had that has had a profound effect on you and your career?

I appreciate this question because I do believe that having a mentor enables the fastest way to strengthen your career. In my career I had the chance to work with two mentors: Nicolas Robisson previously at FIME and Michael Stark currently at NXP Semiconductors. The two are well-recognized experts in NFC technology. They always have required the high quality work from me leaving no place for ambiguity.

If I may recommend a book, I would suggest The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. This book tells the story of a man in Marseille who is sent to jail unfairly. During this time, he meets a mentor who teaches him everything he needs to know. Through his transformation, he succeeds to escape from jail and sets up his plan for revenge against those who unfairly imprisoned him..

To learn more or watch sections on the NFC Open Forum, click here.