APOLAN Honors 2022 Evangelist Award Winners

Association's newest award recognizes individuals who have increased optical LAN's visibility.

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APOLAN, the non-profit organization advocating for the education and global adoption of Optical Local Area Networks, is pleased to announce its first-ever Evangelist Award winners. The Evangelist Award recognizes individuals who have raised awareness and increased the visibility of optical LAN and its benefits. Award winners were honored during an award ceremony at the APOLAN Annual Member Meeting on Feb. 6, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. 

"The APOLAN Member Awards have traditionally recognized only companies that have excelled at driving the adoption of POL," said Gayla Arrindell, market development director in business solutions at Corning and APOLAN chair. "APOLAN's new Evangelist Award shines the spotlight on deserving individuals who have helped drive optical LAN awareness and adoption. Our recipients this year personify the term 'evangelist.' They continue to be tireless champions of optical LAN technologies and deserve this special recognition."

Dave Cunningham

This year's first Evangelist Award recipient is Dave Cunningham, vice president of marketing for Network Integrity Systems. He was one of the driving forces behind the creation of APOLAN and has played a vital role in its growth over the past decade. Cunningham has been an unwavering advocate for fiber-based networking and optical LAN, consistently promoting fiber optic technologies in the enterprise network. He also serves as board chair for the Fiber Optic Sensing Association, which he helped found.

Dr. Tommy Zakrzewski

This year's second recipient is Dr. Tommy Zakrzewski, building engineering physics director for HKS Architects. He led the efforts to calculate the net carbon savings of the optical LAN network at the Corning headquarters and compare it to the whole building lifecycle assessment. He helped co-write the Impact of Technology Network Design on Building Sustainability white paper and presented it at the Corning Emerging Technology Summit and the Smart Building Power Hour. Having the director of building engineering physics for a global architectural firm help document and promote the net carbon reduction that an optical LAN network has on a building is a significant endorsement for the industry. 

For more information about Optical LAN, as well as APOLAN's work, membership benefits and member awards, visit www.apolanglobal.org.

About APOLAN: APOLAN is a non-profit organization driving adoption and educating the Local Area Network (LAN) market about the technical and economic advantages of optical LAN technology. Through its membership, which is comprised of manufacturers, distributors, integrators and consulting companies actively involved in the marketplace, the association hopes to help designers, engineers, architects, building owners, CIOs and IT departments implement and successfully use optical networks.

Source: APOLAN