Foad Shaikhzadeh, Chairman
Mr. Shaikhzadeh joined Furukawa Industrial S/A in Brazil in January 1979. Since then, he held many positions in the company as Technical General Manager, Curitiba Plant General Manager and System Engineering Division Vice-President.
In April 2001 he was appointed as President of Furukawa Electric LatAm located in Curitiba, Brazil, being the responsible for manufacturing, sales and technology development of Communications Solutions products and services in Latin America. During the last years he expanded Furukawa’s leadership in FTTx connectivity and the structured cabling for LAN networks in that region, as well as a growing presence in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Mr. Shaikhzadeh is a Senior Corporate Vice-President of Furukawa Electric Co., Japan. In December 2021 he was appointed as Chairman of OFS Fitel, LCC and from January 2022 its interim CEO.
Mr. Shaikhzadeh holds an Electronics Engineering degree from Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo. He also completed executive education program at Fundação Getulio Vargas.
Holly Hulse, President and CEO
Holly Hulse was appointed President and CEO of OFS in July 2022.
Prior to joining OFS, Ms. Hulse worked in global materials companies including Corning Incorporated where she held roles including Global Marketing Manager Environmental Products, General Manager of Corning Shanghai Company Ltd, and President, Corning Cable Systems, China. She also served as VP of Industrial Steel Wire Asia and then North America for Bekaert Corporation and most recently as President of the Thermal Products Division of Morgan Advanced Materials. Her roles have included engineering, sales, marketing, and general management. During her career, she has lived and worked in the US, Germany, and China.
Ms. Hulse holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson School of Management. She is married with three adult children and is based in Norcross, Georgia. She enjoys traveling, reading, water sports, cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers, and spending time with family.
Jane Cercena, Senior Vice President, Specialty Fiber
Jane Cercena is Senior Vice President, Specialty Fiber for OFS responsible for global operations of all specialty fiber manufacturing serving the multiple industries supplied by the company.
Most recently serving OFS as Vice President and General Manager of the OFS Avon and Somerset Specialty Fiber operations, Dr. Cercena effectively brought two operations together and streamlined production to support the accelerated development and roll out of key new products, including fiber lasers and shape sensors.
Dr. Cercena joined OFS in 2010 after holding various directorial positions in Global Strategy and Research & Development within the Rogers Corporation and Saint Gobain.
Dr. Cercena’s educational background includes Post Doctoral research at the University of Massachusetts where she performed research on high performance materials; a PhD in Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry from the University of Connecticut; and a B.S. in Chemistry, Organic Chemistry from the University of Connecticut where she graduated magna cum laude.
Dr. Cercena is based out of the OFS specialty fiber operation in Avon, Connecticut.
David J. DiGiovanni, Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
David J. DiGiovanni is CTO of OFS Fitel, LLC, and president of OFS Labs, the central research organization of OFS comprised of Research and Development, and the newly named Product Realization Center.
Dr. DiGiovanni began his career in the Optical Fiber Research Department of Bell Laboratories and has weathered the transition from AT&T to Lucent to OFS working to advance the science and application of optical fiber technology in various research and management capacities. He has worked on various phenomena related to optical fiber design, fabrication and applications, and has made notable contributions to erbium-doped optical fiber for amplifiers, Raman amplification, high power amplifiers and lasers, and several optical components. He has enabled the transfer of many of these technologies from the research lab to new products.
Dr. DiGiovanni holds several degrees from Brown University, including a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is a member of IEEE and an OSA Fellow.
Ashish Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Ashish Gandhi is Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer for OFS, responsible for the company’s financial, IT and strategic planning efforts.
Mr. Gandhi, who was appointed to the position effective August 1, 2009, previously served as the company’s Corporate Controller & Treasurer, responsible for coordinating, planning and reporting on the company’s financial activities and has held other top financial and operations positions at OFS.
Prior to this position, Mr. Gandhi worked in the Treasury Department for Lucent Technologies in the Customer Finance and Credit areas covering both North America and Latin America and held a range of senior financial positions in Dubai and India with KPMG and Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising.
Mr. Gandhi has an accounting degree from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and an MBA from The University of Virginia.
Satoshi Koyanagi, Vice President Strategy and Planning
Satoshi Koyanagi is Vice President Strategy & Planning, responsible for the definition and development of strategic initiatives for OFS in collaboration with the OFS executive leadership team and parent company Furukawa Electric Co, Ltd. (FEC)
Mr. Koyanagi joined FEC in 1996, most recently serving as company-wide transformation project manager, leading cultural transformation activity in a wide range of FEC businesses. He also served as vice president in optical solution product manufacturing for Furukawa Electric LatAm (Brazil) and general manager of engineering in Furukawa FITEL (Thailand), which manufactures market-leading optical components.
Mr. Koyanagi holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Mr. Koyanagi is based out of the OFS headquarters in Norcross, Georgia.
Robert Lake, Senior Vice President, Law and Secretary of OFS
Mr. Robert Lake is Senior Vice President–Law and Secretary of OFS. He is in charge of all legal matters for the company other than intellectual property.
Directly after law school Mr. Lake joined AT&T headquarters where he worked on federal regulatory and commercial law matters in New York City and Basking Ridge, New Jersey. In 1993 he joined AT&T Network Cable Systems, OFS’ predecessor organization, in Norcross, Georgia, working on a wide range of domestic and international legal matters. Mr. Lake remained with OFS after the Lucent Technologies spin-off from AT&T in 1996 and the purchase of OFS by Furukawa Electric Company in 2001. Mr. Lake assumed primary responsibility for OFS legal matters in 2007.
Mr. Lake holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and a Juris Doctor degree from Washington University School of Law. He also completed executive education programs at the Brookings Institution and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He is married and has two children.
Harry Nagata, Vice President of Corporate Kaizen/Continuous Improvement
Hirotsugu (Harry) Nagata is Vice President for OFS, responsible for Corporate Kaizen/Continuous Improvement for the company.
Mr. Nagata most recently served as Vice President of Operations for SuperPower Inc. (SPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Company, developer and producer of second generation high-temperature superconducting wire enabling highly efficient power devices. Prior to joining SPI, he gained operational experience at Furukawa Electric’s US and Mexico subsidiaries, where he applied a wide range of knowledge of Sales, Production Control, Finance & Accounting, Material Procurement, Planning & Management and Human Resources to his operations leadership role.
Mr. Nagata holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Keio University and is based out of the Norcross and Carrollton plants in Georgia.
Masato Oku, Senior Vice President, Global Fiber Manufacturing and Technology
Masato Oku is Senior Vice President Global Fiber Manufacturing and Technology, responsible for the strategy and planning of all fiber operations serving the multiple industries supplied by the company.
Most recently serving OFS’ parent company Furukawa Electric Co, Ltd. (FEC) as General Manager, Optical Fiber Production in Mie, Japan, Mr. Oku had direct managerial control over the entire fiber manufacturing operation.
Mr. Oku holds a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from Nagoya University.
Mr. Oku is based out of the OFS headquarters in Norcross, Georgia.
Chris Pollock, Senior Vice President, EMEA Cable, Fiber and Networking
Chris Pollock is Senior Vice President for Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) Cable, Fiber and Networking for OFS with the responsibility for the management of the EMEA sales organization, and the optical cable manufacturing plants in Morocco and Russia. Mr. Pollock is also responsible for the optical connectivity plants in the US and Mexico and leads the development and manufacturing of optical networking solutions globally.
Mr. Pollock joined OFS in 2015 as General Manager for the company’s Optical Connectivity Solutions and Enterprise Cable Division with responsibilities across North America and EMEA regions, including the establishment of new production facilities in Mexico and Morocco. Prior to joining OFS, Mr. Pollock held leadership roles in management, business development, and sales and marketing for Prysmian Group (formerly Pirelli and Draka).
Mr. Pollock holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Wales and a Masters of Laser Physics Engineering from the University of Essex. He is based in the OFS regional office in the United Kingdom.
Stephanie Y. Street, Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President
Stephanie Street has led Human Resources for OFS since September 15, 2008.
Ms. Street began her career as an officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. She held various leadership positions, to include commanding a tactical signal company in Europe. Her civilian career began with supervisory roles in manufacturing. She assumed progressive levels of leadership responsibility and management through assignments in Mobil, Bausch & Lomb, and Eastman Kodak Company.
Ms. Street has certifications in facilitation, and training to include the administration of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). She is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and a Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR).
Ms. Street holds a B.A. Degree in Speech Communication from Morgan State University and an M.S. Degree in Human Resource Development from Villanova University.
Paulo Zafaneli, Senior Vice President for North America Networking Systems
Paulo Zafaneli is Senior Vice President for North America Networking Systems responsible for the overall marketing, sales and product management of broadband solutions for the company.
Mr. Zafaneli joined Furukawa Electric Group in August 1990. Since then, he has held many positions in the company including Director and General Manager International Markets, Head of Procurement and Logistics, and Head of Service Planning and Control for Furukawa Electric LatAm located in Curitiba, Brazil. During the last years he help expanded Furukawa’s FTTx connectivity and the structured cabling in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Mr. Zafaneli holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Paraná and a Master of Business Administration from The Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná.
Mr. Zafaneli is based out of OFS headquarters in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
