From the Industry: AFL Awarded Five Technology Patents

2/16/2017, Lowell, MA and Spartanburg, SC – Several AFL associates were recognized for receiving patent awards for developing new products and technologies within the optical connectivity, fusion splicing and test and inspection divisions.

AFL’s Test & Inspection team received a patent for the Health Meter interface on the WDM900 Lightwave Test Set product line. Through this innovative user experience, the traditional complexity of an optical spectrum analyzer is simplified by combining multiple parameters into a single diagnosis of healthy or unhealthy for all channels in a C/DWDM transmission system. This enables the general user to quickly and easily collect expert-level test results in the field.

The Optical Connectivity Team received two patents for subsea hardware. The first patent is for a highly reliable, full ocean pressure “tube seal” consisting of a swage and a Morrison seal. The second patent, “cylindrical housing with locking ring” describes a one atmosphere pressuring housing designed to interconnect small subsea cables. Both inventions complement AFL’s subsea cable product portfolio.

Finally, AFL’s harsh environment team received a patent for new cable technology which enables optical fiber to be deployed as a temperature sensor in extremely high temperature environments in hydrocarbon processing and geothermal applications.

About AFL

Founded in 1984, AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise and industrial markets as well as several emerging markets. The company’s products are in use in over 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment, fusion splicers and training. AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless, and outside plant applications.

Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan. For more information, visit www.AFLglobal.com.

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About Kathleen Skelton

Kathleen Skelton, Director of Strategic Marketing's experience includes management positions at Lightwave, KMI Research, PennWell Publishing, Beacon Communications, and Security Innovations, Inc. As a strategic marketing director, she utilizes her expertise in business development, online strategy, marketing planning, digital best practices, standard operating procedures development, and database design, management and training. Kathleen has global business and marketing experience. Outside of FOC, Kathleen is passionate about her volunteer work for several organizations and works with youth groups teaching business strategy for various community projects. In her volunteer work, Kathleen is committed to developing tomorrow's leaders through exciting, strategy-focused business education. This mission guides all of her work outside of the corporate office. Kathleen graduated from Curry College with a BA in Communications and Education and minors in English and Psychology. Kathleen resides outside of Boston, MA with her husband and four children. Follow @KATHLEENSKELTON

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