DiCon hires director of advanced technologies

Roe Hemenway has been hired as director of advanced technologies at DiCon Fiberoptics Inc. (Berkeley, CA). Previously a senior member of technical staff at mit Lincoln Laboratories, Hemenway contributed to the development and field-testing of the first terabit-per-second wavelength-switched optical network with 20 optical channels on 50-GHz spacing. He is a member of ieee and has published more than 40 papers on optoelectronics and telecommunications systems.

Jack Bryant has been appointed president of antec Network Technologies (Norcross, GA). In this new role, Bryant will oversee the company`s optronics and RF activities, network powering supplies, hfc cable telephony products, and network management systems. His duties will also include the overall management of engineering, product development, sales, marketing, technical services, and customer satisfaction. Bryant has nearly 20 years` experience in technical sales and marketing management. Previously, he served as the company`s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Jack Chalden has been hired as general manager of supercomm by the event`s cosponsors, the Telecommunications Industry Association (tia) and the United States Telephone Association (usta). In his new position, Chalden will set the strategic direction and goals for the show using the various committees, contractors, boards, and exhibitor groups; will promote supercomm through the media, business and trade groups, government and embassies; and will develop key relationships with manufacturers, affiliated organizations, and contractors. His office is located at tia headquarters in Arlington, VA. Prior to his appointment, Chalden spent 17 years as the executive vice president and general manager of The Atlantic Market Center (amc Inc.).

Jeanne Mordarski has joined LightPath Technologies Inc. (Albuquerque, NM) as sales manager, telecommunications products. Over the past eight years, Mordarski has held engineering, sales, and customer relations positions at Corning Inc. She was most recently the account manager in the Advanced Optics Div. Initially, Mordarski will support the introduction of gradium singlemode fiber collimators in the third quarter of 1998. She will market the collimators to OEMs of fiber-optic communications systems.

Dan J. Cohrs has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer of Global Crossing Ltd. (Hamilton, Bermuda). Previously, Cohrs was vice president and chief planning and development officer at gte Corp., where he was responsible for mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and strategic planning and competitive analysis. Before that, he served as vice president for capital markets and vice president of international finance for Northwest Airlines.

These training programs should also make use of the latest technologies for the delivery of services, including the World Wide Web, cd-roms, and combined classroom and on-the-job training projects. Many educational technologies offer to train at any time of the day, at one`s own pace, anywhere in the world.

The challenge faced today by employers of technical professionals is not a short-term issue. As technology continues to change we will need to constantly update the skills of those charged with implementing that technology. Workers with the intellect and skills to practice must be encouraged to remain in the field to support increases in demand. Efforts by government, industry, and professionals themselves to create productive, rewarding, and life-long technical careers for engineers and computer scientists are the most effective in attracting the next generation of the nation`s best and brightest into these fields. The combination of these measures is the only way to maintain U.S. technical competitiveness into the next millennium. q

John R. Reinert is an engineer in Colorado Springs, CO, and president of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers--USA. Paul J. Kostek, a Seattle, WA, engineering consultant, is ieee-usa`s president-elect.