Brandon Collings, chief technology officer (CTO) at Lumentum, passed away May 15, 2023, the company acknowledged yesterday via social media. He was 51. A cause of death was not released.
Collings joined the company, then JDSU, in 2006 as director of the Optical Network Research Lab. He became CTO, optical communications products, in 2009, then CTO of Lumentum when JDSU split into Lumentum and VIAVI Solutions (see “Viavi Solutions, Lumentum begin life as JDSU is no more”). His career prior to JDSU included stints at Ciena, Internet Photonics, and Lucent, Bell Labs, where he was a member of the technical staff.
Among his other work and accomplishments, Collings was a longstanding member of the judging panel for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews.
Among his survivors are his wife, Teri (Nugent) Collings; children, Alaina, Jack, and Celia Collings; and his parents, Peter and Diane Collings. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Brandon’s memory to The National Park Foundation, 1500 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 or online at https://www.nationalparks.org/.
Lightwave offers its condolences to Collings’s family, friends, and colleagues.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.