Press Releases

Capella Photonics Appoints Telecommunications Veteran Larry Schwerin President and CEO

Pioneer of Wavelength Selective Switch Modules Enhances Executive Staff with the Addition of Former Lucent General Manager

San Jose, California - Feb. 28, 2005 - Capella Photonics, Inc., a leader in wavelength selective switch (WSS) modules for use in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) and optical cross connect (OXC) applications, announced today the appointment of Larry Schwerin as President and Chief Executive Officer. Larry brings to the role more than 20 years of firsthand experience in telecommunications, technology and venture capital.

Larry is replacing co-founder and current CEO Dr. Joseph Davis who announced his plan last September to retire as CEO at the end of 2004. The handoff of responsibilities was timed to coincide with Capella's transition from development to commercialization of the WavePath products. "Larry combines proven leadership and exceptional vision for innovative technologies with great energy and drive," said Dr. Davis. "He brings an excellent understanding of the sector, the competitive environment, and the key issues." Dr. Davis will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors and will continue to contribute to the innovative process that led Capella to its current market leadership position.

Larry began the transition early in the first quarter of 2005. "Successful completion of customer trials in North America, Europe and Asia coupled with product requests from numerous systems and service providers has validated the exciting growth potential for Capella," said Larry Schwerin. "This team has delivered a product with exciting potential and I am extremely pleased to be part of it."

Pete Magill, Director of Optical Systems Research in AT&T Labs added, "The colorless nature of Capella's WavePath wavelength selective switching products offers promising advantages with regard to planning, deployment and provisioning of broadband services. The experience and relationships that Larry brings to Capella will certainly accelerate Capella's ability to deliver these products to the market."

Larry is leaving his post as General Partner at Vanguard Ventures where he sat on the Board of Directors at Capella Photonics. During his tenure at Vanguard Ventures, Larry was President and CEO of CenCom V, a Vanguard-sponsored business accelerator focused on the telecommunications market. Prior to joining Vanguard Ventures, Larry was founder and General Manager of Lucent Technologies' Wireless Broadband Networks Division, responsible for developing a market leadership position for wireless broadband services around the world. Larry spent twelve years at Bell Laboratories where he was Director of AT&T's Global Fiber Access Systems.

About Capella Photonics

Located in San Jose, California, Capella Photonics is the leading supplier of wavelength selective switch (WSS) modules for use in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) and optical cross connect (OXC) applications. The company's solutions are based on an extension of free-space optics technology proven by the founders' groundbreaking work in the fields of optical and magnetic data storage. Capella's WavePath product line enables system architects to design optical platforms that offer dynamic and remote reconfigurability, thus greatly simplifying the engineering and provisioning of optical networks. For additional information, please visit www.capellaphotonics.com .