Home > More Events > Optical Expo 2007

Keynotes & Speakers

Keynotes

		Peter Magill, Executive Director, Optical Systems Research, AT&T Labs Peter oversees research advancing fiber communication technologies for the entire AT&T network, including 100-Gbit/s transmission systems and dynamic wavelength services. Prior to his position at AT&T Labs, Peter managed the R&D of passive optical network (PON) systems and cable modem head-end equipment at Lucent Technologies. Previously, Peter worked in AT&T Bell Labs, with a focus on the characterization of advanced lasers, optical access networks, and data-over-cable access protocols.
		Rod Naphan, Vice President of Planning, Fujitsu Network Communications Rod Naphan is responsible for strategic planning, product planning, and product management of Fujitsu access and data product portfolios. For the majority of Rod's tenure with Fujitsu, he has held various leadership roles in the engineering organization, responsible for software engineering, systems engineering, and program manager for FlashWave 4000 product development in North America. Prior to joining Fujitsu, he worked as a software engineer at Bell Northern Research (now Nortel) in Ottawa. Rod holds a bachelor of applied science degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a master of applied science degree in systems design engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
		Alfredo Viglienzoni, Head of Product Line Optical Networks, Ericsson Alfredo is accountable for the optical portfolio, including strategy and related research agenda. Previously, he was head of photonics for Ericsson at sites in the U.K., Italy, and Germany. He has been responsible for the MultiHaul photonic platform, which has ensured sizeable market share growth. His career began with R&D activities in solid-state physics and material science, then electronics, digital imaging, and network enabling technologies, followed by business development and technical management positions for 3M. Before Ericsson, he was with Pirelli then Cisco, heading project management for optical components and telecom system programs. He holds some 15 patents and has published papers on innovation and business management, material science, and telecommunications. He is a visiting scientist at CERN in Geneva.
		Bill Wohnoutka, Vice President of Business Development, Content Markets Group, Level 3 Communications Bill Wohnoutka is responsible for identifying new market segment opportunities and prioritizing initiatives required to serve those opportunities effectively. Bill has held roles in sales, business development, and product management at Level 3 since joining the company in April of 1998. His focus is on Internet transit, colocation, and VOIP businesses. Previously, Bill directed the development of all products at LogicTier, a managed services business focused on assisting media companies in architecting and operating high-volume Websites. Bill also held product management positions with GlobalCenter, an early leader in colocation, Internet transit, and managed services for Internet-centric businesses. He began his career with NetManage, the developer and distributor of the first commercially successful Internet applications for Windows.

Speakers

		Brady Adams, Vice President of Engineering and Operations, Grande Communications Brady joined Grande Communications during the formation of the company in 2000. With over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and cable television industries, he has been directly involved in the successful launch of converged networks in many CLECs and MSOs. He began his career studying electronic engineering and telecommunications. Brady owned and operated a professional services company where he provided engineering services to MSOs, CLECs, and RBOCs. With over seven years of service to Nortel Networks in various engineering roles, he gained insight to the design, deployment, and maintenance of next generation technology and business principles.
		Joseph Berthold, Vice President, Network Architecture, Ciena Joseph has been with Ciena since 1997. He contributes to the understanding of future network architecture directions, network service concepts, and the definition of Ciena's networking products. Joseph served as the technical committee chair of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) from 1998 until 2001, and as a member of its board of directors since 2002. He serves on the board of directors of ATIS, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions. From 1984 until 1997, Joseph worked in the Applied Research Area of Bellcore and was chairman of the Technical Management Committee for the Multiwavelength Optical Networking Consortium (MONET). Joseph also spent six years with Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ.
		Dr. Ray Chen, Director of the Nanophotonics and Optical Interconnect Research Lab, Microelectronics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin Ray holds the Cullen Trust for Higher Education Endowed Professorship at UT Austin. He received his B.S. degree in physics from National Tsing-Hua University in 1980 in Taiwan, and his M.S. degree in physics in 1983 and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1988 from the University of California. Previously, Ray worked as a research scientist, manager, and director of the Department of Electrooptic Engineering in Physical Optics Corporation, from 1988 to 1992. He is the founder and chairman of the board of Omega Optics. His research has been awarded with 84 research grants and contracts from several sponsors. He is a fellow of IEEE, OSA, and SPIE.
		Richard Colter, Senior Manager, Product Planning, Fujitsu Network Communications Richard's focus is on Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) architectures and systems. He has over 11 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, and was instrumental in the development of the company's market-leading FLASHWAVE 7500 DWDM platform. Before joining Fujitsu in 2000, Rich was an interoffice facility network planner, as well as a specialist in Sonet and long haul/metro DWDM strategic planning at U S West Communications (now Qwest). Rich received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
		Edward Cornejo, Vice President, Product Marketing, Opnext Edward is responsible for product marketing and strategy at Opnext. Before joining Opnext, he spent over 15 years in the optoelectronics industry with Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Division and AMP, encompassing manufacturing, engineering, product management, and marketing roles. Edward has been a key contributor to IEEE 1G and 10G standards and has been co-founder of some of the most successful 10G MSA organizations. He currently serves or supports 40G and 100G special interests groups, Ethernet Alliance, OIDA, and is an IEEE member. Edward has a Bachelors of Science degree in electronics engineering and his Masters of Science in management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
		Dr. Milorad Cvijetic, Vice President & Chief Technology Strategist, Optical Network Systems Division, NEC Corporation of America Having joined NEC in 1997, Milorad brought tremendous industry knowledge, which spans theoretical and experimental work related to PDH, SDH/Sonet, HFC networks, WDM systems, and optical networks. In addition, his research work, related to quasisingle mode optical fibers, BER evaluation in solution-based systems, and system performance evaluation in high-speed optical systems with external modulation, has been widely recognized. Milorad received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Belgrade University in 1984. He has published more than 60 technical papers and two books, entitled "Digital Optical Communications" and "Coherent and Nonlinear Lightwave Communications." He is a member of IEEE Communications Society and LEOS.
		Per B. Hansen, Senior Director, Business Management Enterprise WDM, ADVA Optical Networking Mr. Hansen researches carrier application and network needs and guides the prioritization of ADVA's Optical+Ethernet solutions. He derives new cost efficiencies from optical transport systems, thus increasing carrier profit margins. Mr. Hansen holds 18 patents and has shared his expertise at over 70 industry events and in over 50 publications. Before joining ADVA in June 2004, he was one of five professionals who founded Photuris Inc. and managed a team that developed Photuris's modular product architecture. Before April 2000, Mr. Hansen served as senior manager of Lucent Technologies's Network Product Groups and research scientist for Bell Labs. Mr. Hansen holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
		Jonathan Homa, Vice President, Marketing and PLM, Xtellus For the past twenty-five years, Jonathan has been actively driving market acceptance of new telecommunications products in optical, data, wireless, and telephony networks. Previously, Jonathan was vice president for architecture marketing at Nortel Networks, where he defined and promoted Nortel's approaches to new networking solutions such as optically-powered wide area storage networks, gigabit Ethernet fiber-to-the-home, and automated switched optical networking. He served on the board of directors for the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and was a founder of the Multiservice Switching Forum.
		Lisa Houser, Director Optical Services, Verizon Lisa is responsible for product development and product enhancements related to Sonet and wavelength ring services for retail and wholesale channels. Prior to this position she worked in the wholesale division of Verizon as director of new product development. Responsibilities in this position included establishing strategic product direction for the wholesale access marketing channel through developing business cases and implementing new products and product enhancements in support of the access product strategy. Further, she has an extensive background in consumer services developed by working in the fields of forecasting, regulatory, CLEC product management, and pricing.
		Andy Howard, Sales Manager, Transmode Andy has spent nearly 10 years in the optical industry working with SDH and WDM systems. He joined Transmode in February 2006 and has previously worked for Nortel Networks in product development, product management, and sales roles. As sales manager at Transmode, Andy is responsible for business development and sales in the U.K. and Ireland. Andy holds a Master of Engineering degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Bath University.
		John Jaeger, Global Manager, Business Development, Infinera Inc. John has an extensive 23-year background in general management, product development, marketing, and business development in the networking and communications industries. John joined Infinera in 2006 in a business development and strategic marketing role. Prior to Infinera, John spent 9 years at Acuitive, a networking consultancy working with early-stage, venture-backed communication companies. John was a founder and VP product management at StratumOne Communications, a fabless semiconductor manufacturer. Prior to Acuitive, John was at Bay Networks, where he was the director of the multi-LAN switching product group. John holds a BSEE, MEEE, and an MBA from Cornell University.
		Jim Jones, Senior Systems Engineer, Alcatel-Lucent Jim is a senior systems engineer and has been with Alcatel-Lucent since 1999. He develops architectures and requirements for Alcatel-Lucent's Network Solutions and Architectures group and is also active in standardization work. He chairs the Technical Committee of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and chaired the Architecture/Signaling Working Group of the OIF from 2001 to 2004. Before joining Alcatel-Lucent, he was a senior member of technical staff with Texas Instruments and Raytheon. He received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. from the University of Michigan, and his M.S. in telecommunications from Southern Methodist University.
		Stefan Knight, VP Business Development, Ericsson Stefan is vice president of business development for Ericsson's GPON product line. He joined Entrisphere in 2002 bringing 15 years of experience in developing and marketing data and telecommunications products. He helped pioneer VODSL (Voice over DSL) while at CopperCom and was involved in the early introduction of ADSL products while at ATML. His responsibilities over the years have included product management, product marketing, and business development, both domestically and internationally, specializing in matching advanced technology product developments to customers' requirements to develop growth businesses. Stefan currently focuses on developing the GPON business for Ericsson worldwide.
		Jeffrey Maddox, Director, Product Line Management, Optical Transport Business Unit, Cisco Systems Inc. Jeffrey is a member of the leadership team implementing Cisco’s vision and strategy for next-generation optical networking. Cisco’s optical team introduced the industry’s first next-generation multiservice transport platform (MSTP) and led the growth to number one marketshare worldwide for deployment of ROADM technologies. Today, the MSTP DWDM product is the cornerstone of Cisco’s IP over DWDM strategy, which is changing the way service providers, cable operators, and enterprise companies build their networks. Jeffrey has more than 12 years of experience in optical transport. Prior to Cisco, he worked at Nortel Networks. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from McMaster University in Canada.
		Andy McCormick, Product Marketing Manager, Ciena Andy is the product marketing manager for the CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform, Ciena's next-generation metro WDM platform. Andy has 10 years experience in telecommunications, spending the last three years with Ciena in his current role. At Ciena, Andy is responsible for the market analysis and assessment to drive product and feature development, and all internal and external marketing activities for Ciena's metro WDM portfolio. Previously, Andy spent six years as a consultant and analyst examining a variety of telecommunications issues related to access, wireless, and optical communications. Andy received his B.S. degree in economics and finance from Bentley College in Waltham, MA.
		Ed Murphy, Group CTO, JDSU Ed is responsible for setting technology development directions and for the group’s Intellectual Property. He has been with JDSU since 1999, previously serving as VP of development and then general manager of the Electro-optic Products Division. Before joining JDSU, Ed worked at AT&T/Lucent Bell Labs where he held technical staff and management positions. Ed received a B.S. from Boston College and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from MIT. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and of the Optical Society of America. He was inducted into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. He has over 50 contributed technical talks and papers, holds 13 patents, and he has edited a book on Integrated Optics.
		Greg Nehib, Distinguished Product Planner, Fujitsu Network Communications Greg's focus at Fujitsu is on packet transport network architectures and systems. He has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 15 years in progressively expanding roles in the areas of product line management, product planning, and sales engineering. Prior to joining Fujitsu, Greg was a senior manager of network engineering at Alcatel, a senior system engineer at Monterey Networks (now Cisco Systems), and a senior product manager at Cisco Systems. Greg received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering technology, with a specialty in telecommunications, from Texas A&M University.
		Joerg Packeiser, Director, Global Product Line Management for Optical Transport Test, JDSU Based in Eningen, Germany, Joerg has been with the organization for over 18 years, beginning with Wandel & Goltermann through several mergers to the present JDSU. Joerg has played a leading role in product line strategy, including direct product management and regional business development for Southern Europe and North America. He has been in his present role for the past three years with a responsibility for setting product/portfolio strategy for Optical Transport Test. Joerg holds a master’s degree (Dipl-Ing) in telecommunications from the University of Aachen, Germany.
		Robert Russell, Director of Enterprise Sales Operations, Grande Communications Robert leads Grande's development and implementation of the products and processes supporting Enterprise customers. His background includes seven years as the former director of engineering for Knology of West Point, Georgia, and four years designing a broad range of telecommunication network solutions with Power Engineers of Denver, Colorado. Robert also served four years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, was the chairman of the IEEE 802.14 LAN\MAN\WAN Cable Modem Standards committee, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics engineering technology - telecommunications from Texas A&M University.
		Dr. Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, VP Solution Sales Management North America, IP Transport, Nokia Siemens Networks Dr. Schmidtke manages Nokia Siemens Networks' transport business in North America. Over the past five years at Siemens Communications, he has held positions in product management and general management in both Germany and the U.S. He has a PhD in femto-second laser physics and 10 years experience in optics.
		Larry Schwerin, President and CEO, Capella Larry has over 20 years experience in telecommunications, technology, and venture capital. Recently, Larry was general partner at Vanguard Ventures, where he sat on the board of directors at Capella. Larry was president and CEO of CenCom V, a venture/corporate sponsored business accelerator focused on the telecommunications market. Before CenCom V, Larry was founder and general manager of Lucent Technologies's Wireless Broadband Networks Division, responsible for developing a global market leadership position for wireless broadband services. Larry spent 12 years at Bell Laboratories as director of AT&T's Global Fiber Access Systems. He earned his B.S. in electrical engineering from Drexel University and his M.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University.
		Jesse Simsarian, Data & Optical Networks, Alcatel-Lucent Jesse Simsarian completed a Ph.D. in physics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1998 and received a postdoctoral research fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Since 2000, he has been at Bell Labs (now Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs) working on optical packet switching and IPTV. His research on IPTV has focused on bandwidth demands in metropolitan area networks and the optimization of networks for video delivery.
		Tim Smith, Director of Optical Technical Services, MRV Tim's career spans over 25 years with MRV Communications, N Base Communications, and Fibronics International. Tim has been involved in the design and implementation of some of the largest optical networks in the world, employing a mix of technologies ranging from legacy serial communications to high density DWDM networks in carrier and enterprise environments. Tim is a well sought after speaker and presenter on many optical subjects.
		Glenn Thurston, Vice President, Marketing, BTI Photonic Systems Inc. Glenn is responsible for the company's overall business strategy, marketing direction, technical and channel marketing, and communications programs. He has held senior and executive roles in marketing, business development, and network planning organizations across technologies ranging from Microchips to Systems to OSS Software. Before joining BTI, he spearheaded Nortel’s successful partnerships with global systems integrators and major IT companies including EMC, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems. Glenn’s career has focused on creating network and business value for customers. He has expertise in marketing, alliances and partnerships, business development, network planning, network architecture, and new product introduction. Glenn holds a B. Eng in engineering physics from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
		Massi Tornar, Technical Sales Manager, U.S. Headquarters, Ericsson Inc. Massi is responsible for business development and local product management of the optical and carrier Ethernet portfolio in the North American market. Massi has a combination of strategic marketing experience and extensive knowledge in data and transport networks, covering broad technologies and applications, such as Ethernet, Sonet, DWDM, IP/MPLS, broadband access, and network design. At Ericsson (formerly Marconi), he has held various positions spanning product strategy, system design, and sales engineering in optical and data communications. Massi holds a Master's of Science degree in electronic engineering from the University of Pisa.
		Steve Trowbridge, ITU Steve received his B.S. (electrical engineering), M.S., and Ph.D. (computer science) from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1976, 1977, and 1979, respectively. He’s currently a consulting member of technical staff in the Optics Business Division Chief Technology Office of Alcatel-Lucent. Steve has held several positions related to product development, systems engineering, technical marketing support, and standards. He is vice chairman of ITU-T Study Group 15, chairman of ITU-T Working Party 3/15 (OTN Structure), chairman of ITU-T Working Party 3/TSAG (Electronic Working Methods and Publication Policy), and chairman of the ATIS OPTXS-OHI (Optical Transport and Synchronization Committee-Optical Hierarchal Interfaces) sub-committee. Steve participates in the IEEE 802.3 Higher Speed Study Group and the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF).
		Susan Verma, Senior Optical Wavelength Portfolio Manager, MTSAllstream Susan oversees product development and product management for MTSAllstream’s Optical Wavelength Portfolio. Her responsibilities include strategy, business development, and new product introduction. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with Fortune 100 customers to design and implement some of Canada’s largest optical networks. She is currently spearheading MTSAllstream’s next generation MSTP and ROADM platforms. She previously worked with Sprint as the international product development and product manager for IP, MPLS, Optical, Frame Relay, ATM, and Ethernet services. Susan holds a double honors degree in International Business and Strategy from the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and the University of Wolverhampton (UK).
		Andre Viera, Director of Product Marketing, OpVista Andre has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 18 years in progressively expanding roles. Prior to joining OpVista, Andre was senior director of product engineering at Alcatel, served as the director of product management at PhotonEx, and had a variety of business development, research, and product development roles at Lucent Technologies Bell Labs (now Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs). He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he received B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering. He also holds an MBA from Fordham University Graduate School of Business.
		Dr. Vijay Vusirikala, Global Director, Technical Marketing, Infinera Vijay works on aligning Infinera's product strategy with leading global carriers as they deploy the next generation of optical networks. Previously, Vijay was at Motorola Access Networks as director, market development for PON, DSL, and IPTV products. Prior to Motorola, he was with Sycamore Networks in senior system architecture and product management roles, where he defined architecture for reconfigurable optical networks and next-gen Sonet/SDH systems. Vijay has published extensively, spoken at numerous industry events, and holds seven patents in optical devices and systems. He obtained a Ph.D from the University of Maryland, College Park, in the area of optoelectronic integration, and a BSEE from IIT, Madras in India.
		Glenn Wellbrock, Director of Backbone Network Design, Verizon Communications Glenn is responsible for the development of new optical and data technologies for the converged Verizon backbone infrastructure. Previous positions include running the advanced technology lab, establishing evaluation criteria, and setting engineering guidelines for all backbone transport equipment as well as various positions within network operations. In addition to his 20+ years at Verizon (1984-2001 & 2004-present), Glenn was responsible for product architecture within the optical networks group at Marconi and product planning at Qplus Networks with a specific focus on developing alternative modulation techniques.