Chromatis Networks Appoints Brian Attard as Vice President of Operations

Business Wire,  Feb 9, 2000  

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BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2000

Attard to Expand Manufacturing as Company Gears Up

for Impending Product Launch

Chromatis Networks, Inc., which develops next-generation optical transport solutions for the metropolitan network environment, announced today that it has appointed Brian Attard to the position of vice president of operations. With over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, operations, and engineering environments, Attard will be instrumental in the launch of Chromatis' next-generation metropolitan area transport product family this year. Attard was previously vice president of operations at Harris Corporation's Communications Products Division. He will report directly to Chromatis President and COO Bob Barron.

Chromatis received the Network World Category-Breaker Award for its innovative Selective WDMTM (Network World Fusion, November 15, 1999). SWDMTM enables a carrier to deliver one or more wavelengths to those sites in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) that require multi-gigabit capacities while allowing other sites on the same ring that do not require such high capacity to share less-expensive bandwidth. Currently in beta trials of its next-generation metro product line with major carriers, Chromatis successfully completed its second round of funding at the end of last year. The company has now raised a total of $50 million, positioning Chromatis to fully penetrate the MAN Market.

&uot;As Chromatis moves into full scale production this year, it is critical that we put in place world-class process control to meet the demand for our products and exceed our customers' expectations in terms of delivery and quality,&uot; said Barron. &uot;Brian's vast experience in all areas of manufacturing and proven track record in the production of carrier-class telecommunications products makes him well suited to lead Chromatis' manufacturing operations.&uot;

&uot;I came to Chromatis because it represents a unique opportunity for me&uot; said Attard. &uot;Chromatis is an innovative startup company in a hot market space with an experienced management team and leading technology. Chromatis also has a strong commitment to excellence in manufacturing and a solid understanding of what it takes to build best-in-class products. I look forward to expanding the already strong manufacturing team that Chromatis has established.&uot;

Before joining Chromatis, Attard was vice president of manufacturing at Harris Corporation's (NYSE: HRS) Communications Products Division, where he was responsible for a team of 220 employees in addition to P& for a $55 million program. Earlier, he was vice president of operations in Harris' Digital Telephone Systems Division. Before joining Harris, Attard held positions of increasing responsibility at DSC Communications for seven years, both in manufacturing and product development roles. There, he was instrumental in the standardization of DSC SONET transmission cross-connects at several major Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) and Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), improving product margins by 21 percent. Earlier, Attard served in various manufacturing, operations, and engineering roles for 10 years at Texas Instruments. He holds a BS in industrial engineering technology from the State University of New York, College at Buffalo.

About Chromatis

Chromatis Networks develops next-generation transport solutions for metropolitan-area service providers. The company's patent-pending Selective Wave Division Multiplexing [SWDM(TM)] technology allows service providers to address high-bandwidth revenue opportunities quickly on a site-by-site basis and supports a full range of existing and emerging services. SWDM received a Category-Breaker Award from Network World magazine in November 1999.

Founded in 1997, Chromatis is headquartered in Bethesda, Md., and maintains a research and development facility in Tel Aviv, Israel. Chromatis is led by a seasoned team of executives with wide experience in transmission systems and data networking at companies such as Nortel, Cascade, Ciena, 3Com, US Robotics, Scorpio Communications, NetEdge Systems, and ECI Telecom. The company has received more than $50 million in funding to date from a prestigious list of investors.

For additional information about Chromatis Networks and its products, contact the company at 301-657-1077 or at www.chromatis.com.

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