Kamelian appoints expert advisory board
Leading industry and academic figures will help guide Kamelian's strategic planning

Oxford, UK, 7 November 2001 UK fibre optic component vendor Kamelian has announced the formation of an advisory board of five leading figures from industry and academia.  The board's members are; Rob Plastow, ex-CTO of ADC's broadband connectivity group; Dr John Midgeley, president and CEO of Lightwave Microsystems; Gareth Parry, Professor of Applied Physics and Director of the Centre for Electronic Materials and Devices at Imperial College, London; David McTurk, formerly Chief Operating Officer at Bookham Technology; and Stuart Barnes of Atlas Venture Partners.

The advisory board has been created primarily to provide practical advice as Kamelian moves from start-up into full manufacturing operations. The Kamelian optical chip manufacturing and packaging facility in Yarnton, near Oxford is one of the most advanced of its type in Europe. It will commence volume manufacture of semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) in early 2002.

"We are extremely pleased to have attracted some of the best and brightest industry and academic figures to our advisory board," commented Paul May, CEO of Kamelian.  "As individuals they bring great breadth and depth of technical expertise and real experience and as a group they really add value to our strategic planning. Our interactions so far have been extremely productive. Together with our internal team, we now have a well-rounded group that can take Kamelian to the forefront of the optical components industry."

Editor's Notes:
Rob Plastow, a graduate of Cambridge University, was most recently chief technology officer, fibre optic division, for the broadband connectivity group of ADC.  Prior to this he was chief technology officer and a founder of Altitun, a Swedish start-up dedicated to tuneable lasers.  He also ran Martlet Communications Ltd., a technical marketing consulting company based in the UK.  From 1985 to 1993 he held high level technical positions at Lasertron, Orchard Communications and Philips, all in the US.  He started his optoelectronic career working from 1979 to 1985 on semiconductor lasers at Plessey in the UK.

Dr. John Midgley joined Lightwave Microsystems as a consultant in March 1998 and was appointed president and CEO in September 1998.  Most recently, he was vice president and director of corporate technology at Raychem Corporation.  Dr. Midgley was also general manager and operations manager of various divisions during his 21 years at Raychem.  He received his PhD from Cambridge University, his BA in Electrical Engineering from Oxford University, and an MBA from Stanford University in the USA.

Gareth Parry is currently Professor of Applied Physics and director of the centre for electronic materials and devices at Imperial College, London.  He leads a large research team on semiconductor optoelectronic devices such as modulators, LEDs, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers and detectors, and their application in optical communication systems.  Much of his work is carried out collaboratively with other leading universities and with industrial partners including Agilent, Sharp, and Marconi.  Prior to taking up his current appointment he held the Rank Foundation Chair of Electro-Optic Engineering at Oxford University and a Professorship of Electronic Engineering at University College London.  Gareth Parry has worked collaboratively with many of the staff at Kamelian on previous occasions and two of his former PhD students, Craig Tombling and Mark Whitehead, are now members of the Kamelian team.

David McTurk was chief operating officer of Bookham Technology plc from 1997 until November 2000, and latterly deputy president.  Prior to Bookham, David was managing director and group chairman of Osborne Electronic Holdings Ltd, manufacturers of data and telecommunications products.  From 1991 to 1995, he was operations director of Carlton Cabletime, a division of Carlton Communications plc.  David holds a Higher National Diploma in Electronic Engineering from City of Bath College, England, and served a formal engineering apprenticeship with the UK Ministry of Defence.

Stuart Barnes received a Doctorate in Engineering from London University.  After that he joined STL (now Nortel Research Laboratories) in Harlow, UK working on optical fibre and cable components.  After nearly a decade he became technical manager of STC, Newport, where he was responsible for developing a new range of terrestrial fibre and cable products.  After 2 years he moved on to STC Submarine Systems, rising to the position of technical director.  Following the acquisition of STC Submarine Systems by Alcatel he moved to Paris to become deputy technical director of Alcatel's optical research activities.  In March 2000 he returned to the UK to become chief operating and technical officer Ilotron.  He is visiting Professor of Electrical Engineering at Southampton University. And Entrepreneur in Residence at Atlas Venture Partners.

About Kamelian:
Kamelian was formed in mid-2000 and has received funding to the level of $28 million from 3i, Lightspeed, and Goldman Sachs.  The company has a significant expertise in processing III-V materials, and the Indium Phosphide wafer fabrication facility recently completed at Yarnton, near Oxford, is one of the most advanced of its type in Europe.  Kamelian will use the facility to manufacture and package semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) in both single package and multi-channel format.

For further information contact:
Tim Harman,
Kamelian Ltd,
Oxford Industrial Park,
Mead Road,
Yarnton,
Oxford, OX5 1QU, United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)1865 371100
Email tim.harman@kamelian.com

Press contact:
Matt Wilson,
EML,
The Albany Boathouse,
Lower Ham Road,
Kingston-upon-Thames,
Surrey, KT2 5BB,
United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)208 408 8000
Email mattw@eml.com

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