WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The organizers of the 2013 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) have announced a special symposium in honor of Tingye Li to take place March 18 at the conference in Anaheim, Calif. The symposium, titled “A Brief History of Optical Communications: A Symposium in Memory of Tingye Li,” will feature presentations from Li’s professional colleagues, as well as tributes to his illustrious life and career.Li, who passed away late last year, worked at AT&T Bell Labs for more than four decades before his retirement in 1998 and is renowned for his contributions to lightwave technology and optical fiber communications. He and his team at Bell Labs developed the world’s first (sparse channel) wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) system. The use of WDM and optical amplifiers changed the paradigm of network economics and is considered to be of revolutionary significance in the history of lightwave communications. The memorial symposium will summarize the history of modern optical telecommunications with special reference to Li’s contributions in celebration of his life. OFC/NFOEC