The Fiber Optics Technology Consortium (FOTC) of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has elected its slate of officers for 2016. Serving for his ninth consecutive term as consortium chair is Rodney Casteel, CommScope; vice chair is Lee Kellett, AFL/Light Brigade; co-standards chairs are Cindy Montstream, Legrand and Adrian Young, Fluke Networks; membership chair is Robert Reid, Panduit; and communications chair is Dede Starnes, Corning.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to continue to lead this group,” said Casteel. “The enterprise network continues to evolve, with an ever increasing need for more bandwidth and higher data rates. There is a real need for information and training among network designers, consultants and end users and it’s very powerful to have representatives from different companies present a unified, vendor neutral message.”

“This year we are pleased to welcome Berk-Tek Leviton Technologies as a returning member of the Consortium along with The Siemon Company which joined at the end of 2015,” said Casteel. “The expertise and knowledge that these member companies bring to the discussion is extremely valuable.”

In 2016 the FOTC will continue to focus on educational materials and seminars. The FOTC presented pre-conference seminars at the past three BICSI conferences to standing room only audiences. “It’s great to see that there is so much interest in the market for more information,” said Casteel. “Because we are part of the TIA, our educational sessions teach about standards-compliant practices and technology, presented by members who have years of industry experience.”

The FOTC’s free webinar series continues to be the Fiber Optics Technology Consortium’s most popular program. Attendees earn one BICSI continuing education credit (CEC) for attending either the live conferences or watching them later on-demand. “It’s a great way for our members to offer training, information and guidance to interested people worldwide like network designers, consultants, engineers, technicians and end users who need the most current standard’s based information,” said Casteel.