Stratos Opens New Lab

CHICAGO -- Stratos Lightwave, Inc. is announcing the opening of its new Northwest Technology Center. Its mission is the exploration and the development of advanced technologies, subsystems and products for high-end fiber optic communications. Located just outside of Seattle, this new center will conduct research and development aimed at creating tomorrow's most advanced fiber optic products, provide custom- tailoring of existing Stratos fiber optic products for customers, and act as Stratos Lightwave's West Coast customer interface for these custom products. The Center is also expected to play an active role on the various committees developing standards for fiber optic systems and components. According to Bob Lewandowski, Principal Engineer, one of the Center's initial targets will be the Storage Area Network (SAN) market. Lewandowksi states, "Possible near-term product development may center around moving functionality and intelligence from external boxes and devices into existing compact packaging such as a GBIC housing. This could represent significant cost savings for SAN users seeking to expand the utility of their networks." Stratos Lightwave LLC