Ciena Supports Upgrade Of State-Of-The Art Optophotonics Lab At Algonquin College

Posted on Monday, October 5th, 2020

Ottawa, ON – October 5, 2020 – Ciena is working with Algonquin College to upgrade its Optophotonics Lab on the Ottawa campus – providing students hands-on experience with the same cutting-edge equipment that currently powers the majority of internet traffic and Zoom calls.

Thanks to Ciena’s support, School of Advanced Technology graduates will benefit from extensive, experiential learning on the same equipment available in top corporations – including major telecommunications carriers in Canada and around the world.

“We couldn’t be more grateful for Ciena’s contribution, they have been a wonderful partner for close to a decade,” said Claude Brulé, President and Chief Executive Officer of Algonquin College. “This will ensure our current and future learners have access to the latest and greatest technology – and position them to find employment and long-term career success in the tech sector.”

“Ciena is proud to equip the Algonquin lab with technology deployed by many of the world’s largest service and cloud providers, as we know firsthand that applied skills help tremendously with both learning and career opportunities,” said Rod Wilson, Ciena’s Chief Technologist of External Research Networks.

Students enrolled in the Optical Systems and Sensors stream of the joint Bachelor of Information Technology program with Carleton University will get access to the upgraded, state-of-the-art facility – the only student lab of its kind. The lab’s technology upgrade includes Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical platforms and Waveserver platforms. Ciena’s investment expands a long-standing partnership with the College that began in 2012 and will stimulate increased interest in the program and support continued enrollment growth.

“Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Technology-Optical Systems and Sensors program will get access to the upgraded, state-of-the-art facility – the only student optical communication networks lab of its kind in any educational institute” said Dr. Wahab Almuhtadi, Professor & Coordinator, BIT-OSS, Algonquin College.

Ciena established ties to the capital region when it acquired the Ottawa-based data storage networking company Akara Corp. in 2004, and in late 2009, Nortel Networks’ Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business. With its R&D lab in Ottawa, it now has more than 1,800 employees in the area and is a top employer, with more than 120 Algonquin College graduates currently employed by the American telecommunications networking equipment giant. Ciena has also been a leader in remote work capabilities during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

About Algonquin College

The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success. Algonquin College, an Ontario public sector community college, does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected, experiential learning in more than 340 programs. Based in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario.

About Ciena

Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking systems, services and software company. We provide solutions that help our customers create the Adaptive NetworkÔ in response to the constantly changing demands of their end-users. By delivering best-in-class networking technology through high-touch consultative relationships, we build the world’s most agile networks with automation, openness and scale. For updates on Ciena, follow us on Twitter @Ciena, LinkedIn, the Ciena Insights blog, or visit www.ciena.com.


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