VPIsystems has named Hagen Hultzsch to its board of directors. Hultzsch brings 35 years of experience in technology management to VPI, including eight years at Deutsche Telekom, where he led the Technology and Services division and served as a member of the board. As the retiring chairman of the supervisory board of T-Venture Holding, Deutsche Telekom's venture capital firm, Hultzsch has been involved with VPI since its inception and took part in its first round of funding.
Atrica Inc. announced that Andy Ludwick, co-founder of SynOptics Communications and former CEO of Bay Networks, has joined the company's board of directors. Ludwick has more than 20 years of experience in the networking industry and has been integral to the success of several key vendors in the networking space. Ludwick served as SynOptics's CEO from its founding in 1985 through 1993. When SynOptics merged with Wellfleet Systems in 1994, forming Bay Networks, Ludwick served as the company's CEO and grew the company from $1.2 billion to $2 billion in annual revenues.
Digital Lightwave's CEO, Gerry Chastelet, has been elected to the board of directors for fiberspace Inc. Chastelet is chairman, president, and CEO of Digital Lightwave Inc. He has more than 34 years of operational and management experience in the technology sector. Prior to Digital Lightwave, he served as president, CEO, and a director of Wandel & Goltermann Technologies Inc. Chastelet also serves as a director of Wave Rider Communications Inc. and Technology Research Corp.
All Optical Networks Inc. announced the appointment of Ralph A. Bennett as CEO, providing a breadth of leadership and experience to the company, and Dr. Arlen O. Barksdale as chief technology officer. Bennett's career in the telecommunications industry began at Fairchild and ITT Semiconductors. He then emerged to become a leading figure in the founding of Mitel Semiconductor, the original CEO of RSA Security, and founder and original CEO of PMC-Sierra Inc. He came out of retirement to become All Optical Networks' president last year. Barksdale has more than 30 years of experience in electronic and semiconductor technology development. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Hytec Group.
Con Edison Communications Inc. (CEC) has named Louis Gambino, a 20-year fiber-optic infrastructure veteran, as vice president of network construction. Gambino will expedite all facets and phases of CEC's metropolitan network installation, from final completion of the network backbone to all building interconnection work to satisfy lease obligations already negotiated with numerous commercial real estate owners and managers throughout New York. Prior to CEC, Gambino managed the engineering group for Global Crossing, responsible for $5 million in cost savings through network consolidation.
Don Naab is the new president of Lambda, with primary responsibility for sales growth, acceleration of new-product introductions, and improved operations. He has more than 20 years' experience in engineering, project management, sales, and operations, including serving as president and chief operating officer at Pacific Research and Engineering Corp. and most recently as chief operating officer at Centurion Wireless Technologies.