Molex opens New Jersey R&D facility for optical telecom components
Molex announced the grand opening of a new research and development facility in Bridgewater, NJ. The building completion represents a significant investment by Molex in the future of optical wavelength solutions for telecommunications networks.
Bridgewater Township Mayor Dan Hayes, Kathleen Coviello, vice president of technologies and life sciences investments, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and Clark Smith, NJEDA senior venture officer joined in the August 8th ribbon cutting celebration hosted by Doug Busch, vice president and general manager, and his colleagues from the Molex Optical Solutions Group.
“Molex is excited to mark our Bridgewater facility grand opening to recognize the outstanding work of our talented employees in this important region, to establish a center of excellence for Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS) and to advance the development of other innovative applications of optical technology to create value for our customers and society,” said Busch.
The state-of-the-art Molex facility features eco-friendly clean rooms and extensive capabilities for designing and prototype manufacturing of optical solutions for the rapidly emerging segment of metro and long-haul telecommunications networks. Busch added, “Global consumer IP traffic has approached 100 exabytes per month and with the emergence of 5G connectivity, data center traffic will continue to explode. Molex scalable WSS modules and signal routing solutions simplify and automate the dynamic routing of wavelengths in demanding networks.”
In 2018, Molex acquired the business of New Jersey-based Nistica, which had a long entrepreneurial history within the New Jersey ecosystem. “We are thrilled that Nistica’s footprint has more than tripled in the Garden State since the company’s formation. Molex’s commitment to Bridgewater showcases the creativity and talent of our people here in New Jersey and will enable the company to provide optical solutions to customers worldwide,” said Coviello. “This is a true NJEDA success story and we wish the Molex team all the best as it continues to grow in its newly-expanded facility.”
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.