Advisory Board
Dr. Jozef Straus
Dr. Jozef Straus is the former Chief Executive Officer and co-Chairman of JDS Uniphase Corporation, which was formed in July 1999 by the merger of Ottawa-based JDS FITEL Inc. and Uniphase Corp., based in San Jose, California. Dr. Straus co-founded JDS FITEL in 1981 and served as Chief Executive Officer and President of the company since September 1993. Prior to 1981, Dr. Straus held various research and management positions related to fiber optic technology at Bell-Northern Research Ltd. and Nortel.
Dr. Straus has numerous patents, publications and invited presentations to his credit. Dr. Straus was educated in the Czech Republic at the Czech Technical University in Prague and received his PhD in Physics from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Dr. Straus holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Alberta, Touro College in New York, and the University of Ottawa, respectively.
Dr. Gary Bjorklund
Dr. Bjorklund holds a Ph.D. in non-linear optics and holography from Stanford University, and completed his undergraduate degree at MIT. He began his career as a member of the Technical Staff at Bell Labs, where he performed research in quantum electronics and non-linear optics. He later joined the IBM San Jose Research laboratory (now the IBM Almaden Research Center), where he became Manager of Organic Optoelectronic Materials.
He subsequently left IBM to join Optivision as the Director of Advanced Development. Gary was appointed Chair of Nanovation's Scientific Advisory Board, and went on to serve as Nanovation's Chief Technology Officer. He has served as the President of the Optical Society of America, and also the President of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society. Dr. Bjorklund has over 100 technical publications and over 20 patents.
Mr. Krish Prabhu
Mr. Prabhu has a long and distinguished career in the global telecommunications industry and strong strategic planning skills. Currently he is on the Board of Directors or an Advisor to various companies in the telecommunications and semiconductor industries.
Most recently, Mr. Prabhu served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Tellabs Inc. from February 2004 to February 2008. Prior to Tellabs, he served as a Venture Partner of Mogenthaler Venture Partners for 3 years.
From 1991 to 2001, Prabhu held various progressive executive positions at Alcatel Telecom including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel USA Inc. Mr. Prabhu was instrumental in growing Alcatel's presence in North America by penetrating new accounts such as SBC, Bell South, and Verizon, as well as expanding Alcatel's presence with AT&T, Sprint, and MCI.
In 1984, he joined Rockwell International's network transmission division, a multi-industry company and this division was acquired by Alcatel in 1991, where at the time of the acquisition he served as Head of Research and Development. Prior to joining Rockwell, he had many years of industry experience at AT&T Bell Laboratories.