Furukawa to Appoint Two New Corporate Vice Presidents


Tokyo, Japan – Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.  (FEC) announces the appointment of two new Corporate Vice Presidents.   Dr. Timothy Murray, CEO of OFS Fitel, LLC (OFS), and Mr. Foad Shaikhzadeh, President of Furukawa Industrial S.A. Produtos Eletricos (FISA) will join FEC’s global management board effective April 1st.



“The appointment of Dr. Murray and Mr. Foad Shaikhzadeh is a milestone in FEC’s continuing effort to be a global company,” said Mr. Mitsuyoshi Shibata President of FEC.  “We will use the knowledge of our American and Brazilian Corporate Vice Presidents to further strengthen Furukawa’s globalization of sales, manufacturing and branding as we expand in growing markets around the world.



In their new roles Dr. Murray and Mr. Shaikhzadeh, will propose specific plans for Furukawa’s global development from a broad perspective, propose specific plans for expansion and exchange views with other officers on leveraging all the capabilities of FEC to serve customers globally, particularly in infrastructure related markets. They will continue to lead their respective subsidiaries.



Dr. Murray is CEO and Chairman of OFS, an advisor to FISA, and member of the board of SuperPower Inc., an FEC subsidiary that is a leader in development and manufacturing of high temperature superconducting materials. A 30 year veteran in advanced materials based industries, Dr. Murray, has spent the past 13 years at OFS and its predecessor Lucent Technologies. Before being appointed CEO and his prior assignment as COO, Dr. Murray headed the Specialty Photonics business of OFS.



Mr. Foad Shaikhzadeh is President of Furukawa Industrial S.A. Produtos Eletricos and a board member for OFS. Mr. Shaikhzadeh has spent most of his career with FISA.  Successively accepting new responsibilities he has lead FISA since 2001 to its current leading position in Mercosur and other Latin America countries in serving telecommunications and data communications customers.



About Furukawa Electric Company, Ltd.

Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. (www.furukawa.co.jp/english) is an $11 billion global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of fiber optic products, network products, electronics components, power cables, nonferrous metals, and other advanced technology products. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Furukawa operates production facilities on five continents around the globe, including OFS and the OFS, Specialty Photonics Division, in the USA.



About OFS

OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber, optical fiber cable, connectivity, FTTX and specialty photonics solutions.  Our marketing, sales, manufacturing and research teams provide forward-looking, innovative products and solutions in areas including Telecommunications, Medicine, Industrial Automation, Sensing, Government, Aerospace and Defense applications. We provide reliable, cost effective optical solutions to enable our customers to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s digital and energy consumers and businesses.



OFS’ corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and includes technology powerhouses such as ATT and Lucent Technologies. Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications. Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta) Georgia, U.S., OFS is a global provider with facilities in China, Denmark, Germany, Russia, and the United States.



For more information, please visit www.ofsoptics.com.



About FISA

FISA leads the South American market in designing, developing, manufacturing and selling optical cable, solutions for information distribution and optical fiber networks. The company has been expanding its business via bases in Brazil (Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Prana) and Argentina (Buenos Aires) for 39 years from its establishment. FISA is currently the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary.


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