March 22, 2006 Arlington, VA -- The Fiber Optics LAN Section (FOLS) of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has elected its slate of officers for 2006. Dan L. Harman, applications engineer at 3M, was elected as section chair.
"Dan is an excellent choice to lead the Fiber Optics LAN Section," says Gary Cawley, chair in 2005. "He has been an active force in the Section for several years, most recently playing an integral role in developing the Section's latest generation of our cost model."
Cawley adds, "Dan has a lot of exposure to end users and brings to the FOLS a true understanding of the challenges they face. He can help the section better answer the concerns and questions that users face when they make their infrastructure decisions."
"This is an exciting time to be leading the FOLS," comments Harman. "Fiber is gaining mind share among users as they become aware of the cost and performance benefits it offers compared to new generations of UTP copper. Fiber is an especially attractive option for users who want the flexibility of supporting voice, data, video, and security over the same infrastructure." Â
In addition to Harman, other members of the fiber-optic industry elected to the section include: vice chair, Andrew Oliviero, OFS; communication subcommittee chair, Rodney Casteel, CommScope; membership sub-committee chair, Beni Blell, Berk-Tek, a Nexans company; and standards sub-committee chair, Herb Congdon, Tyco Electronics. Â
FOLS serves as an educational resource, providing information to users about the benefits of fiber in customer-owned networks. The organization provides a free interactive cost model, published case histories, FAQs, and standards updates. Now in its 13th year, the organization was originally founded to provide information on the use of fiber in the backbone and horizontal portions of premises networks.