New Bedford, MA, USA, June 30, 2020 – Fiber Optic Center, Inc., (FOC), an international leading distributor specializing in helping their customers make the best cable assemblies in the world, announces the appointment of Richard Tumminelli as Fiber Design and Manufacturing Consultant, Rare Earth Doped Optical Fiber Fabrication Expert.
Mr. Tumminelli recently retired from the position of Director of Engineering at the Coherent fiber site in Salem, NH, and has been working in the field of rare earth doped optical fiber for 40 years. Prior to this position, he managed the specialty fiber group at JDS Uniphase, specializing in double clad fibers for fiber lasers and erbium doped fiber. Richard also held positions in the optics group at Draper Laboratories, and was a member of the Polaroid fiber optic team under the direction of Dr. Elias Snitzer, which did much of the seminal work in rare earth doped fibers, fiber lasers and amplifiers.
Rick Tumminelli is a co-inventor of double clad fiber laser pumping, has been granted 22 patents and has 20 publications in fiber lasers and amplifiers.
FOC continues to build its powerhouse team by adding respected leaders like Rick Tumminelli to its expanding dynamic staff. Rick joins Larry Donalds, and his 35 years of experience with 3M Company, on the FOC preform fabrication consulting services team to work directly with manufacturers of specialty optical preforms and fibers on meeting specific customer applications and performance criteria.
In order to advance their mission to be the industry’s preferred preform fabrication consulting resource, these two respected leaders strengthen the 28 year partnership FOC has had with SG Controls Ltd with a full team of both the extensive process knowledge with engineering and software expertise and the full range of leading equipment and tools for the manufacture of Preforms and Optical Fiber.
Specialties of this team include Fiber Optic Draw Towers for Research & Development, Polymer Fiber Draw Towers, Fiber Optic Draw Towers for High Volume Production, Soft Glass Fiber Draw Towers, MCVD Systems for Preform Production, Proof Test Equipment and Rewind Systems, Gas bulk storage cabinets, Process gas driers, Specialized gas handling systems, Fiber Measurements, Rare earth doped fibers/process development using MCVD and halide precursors, Rare earth doped preform measurements and Rare earth doped fiber measurements.
After investing time with each of the members of FOC’s technical staff, including Wayne Kachmar, Rick will have a seamless transition into FOC’s daily technical focus and strategies.
About SG Controls Ltd.
SG Controls Ltd, combines extensive process knowledge with engineering and software expertise to produce a full range of tools for the manufacture of Preforms and Optical Fiber. Established in 1979, SG Controls, together with the pioneers of optical fiber research in the UK, refined preform production systems and developed the fiber draw process. The Fiber Optic Industry evolved, became worldwide and SG Controls played a significant role in the supply of optical fiber manufacturing equipment together with important process knowledge to all countries investing in this highly specialized fabrication process. Research and development continued using in house facilities and today, SG Controls still supplies, upgrades and services equipment around the world.
This article is an original publication of Fiber Optic Center, Inc. It is shared publicly for educational and reference purposes to support learning and professional development within the fiber optics industry.
You are welcome to read, cite, or reference this material for non-commercial and educational purposes, as long as full credit is given to Fiber Optic Center, Inc. and the author.
Reuse, reproduction, or adaptation of this content — including rewriting, republishing, or incorporating it into new materials (such as websites, blogs, marketing text, technical guides, or AI-generated content) — is not permitted without prior written consent from Fiber Optic Center, Inc.
This material is protected by copyright law upon publication, even if not formally registered.
Use of this content for AI training, automated data extraction, or derivative content generation is prohibited.
Fiber Optic Center monitors and enforces the integrity of its intellectual property through digital identifiers and content tracking.
For more details, please refer to the Fiber Optic Center Content Use and Copyright policy.
