Press Releases

Capella Appoints George Berberis as Chief Operating Officer

Former JDSU executive plans to ramp up manufacturing and operations

SAN JOSE, CA – February 5, 2008 – Capella Intelligent Subsystems, the leader in wavelength management subsystems for use in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM) and optical cross connect (OXC) applications, today announced the appointment of George Berberis to the role of Chief Operating Officer. Berberis will report to Larry Schwerin, president and chief executive officer, and will be responsible for leading the engineering, operations and manufacturing functions to meet the significant customer demand for Capella’s products. In addition, Berberis will oversee Capella’s research and development activities necessary for new product introductions.

“George is a great addition to our team. Capella will benefit tremendously from his proven record of execution in complex, high volume manufacturing, and his deep experience in managing supply chain logistics to maximize margin,” said Larry Schwerin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capella. “Capella has significant growth opportunities as a result of our strong product offerings, intellectual property and exciting innovations in our product roadmap. George’s experience, strategic skills, and hands on approach will harness this potential and allow us to take full advantage of these growth opportunities.”

Most recently, Berberis was the Executive Operations Advisor at Avanex, where he was instrumental in the successful sale of the company’s French foundry, Avanex France, SA, to 3S Photonics in April 2007. Subsequently, he was retained by 3S Photonics as the Executive Advisor to the CEO where he advised on operational strategies and M&A activities.

Before joining Avanex, Berberis was vice president of manufacturing operations at JDSU, where he managed the global operations for the communications division with over 4,500 employees and 13 plants worldwide, including the management of high volume manufacturing of optical components and modules. Berberis played a key role in transitioning JDSU’s in-house manufacturing into a contract manufacturing model that resulted in significant cost reductions and higher margins.

He began his career as an Engineering Manager with Tandon/Western Digital. Later Berberis was at HMT Technology for 11 years where he led manufacturing and engineering activities and was recognized as the industry benchmark for high quality low cost operations.

Berberis holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University and a Masters in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College.

“Over the years, Capella has continued to make major advances in innovative product offerings.” commented board member, Bert Zaccaria. “Having worked with George in the past, I’ve seen his outstanding leadership capabilities in action. I have complete confidence that George will ramp up Capella’s product production to not only deliver key customer requirements, but do so profitably for the company and its investors.”

About Capella
Capella is the industry leader of wavelength selective switch (WSS) technology for use in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM) and optical cross connect (OXC) applications. Capella's patent ed WavePath® products provide the best performing WSS on the market offering dynamic, remote reconfigurability with fully integrat ed optical channel monitoring (OCM) for simplifying network operations and planning, while dramatically r educing costs. Capella's products are us ed in both metro and long haul applications. Founded in 2000, Capella is a privately-held company locat ed in San Jose, California. For more information, visit www.capellainc.com.

Contact:

Kenneth J. Falta, VP of Sales and Marketing
Capella Photonics, Inc.
Tel: +1-408-360-4241
kfalta@capellaphotonics.com

Lisa Copass
Stepping Out Communications
Tel: +1-925-253-8445
Cell: + 1-925-550-1885
lisa@steppingoutcomm.com