Andrew K. Ludwick is a co-founder of

SynOptics SynOptics Communications was a Santa Clara, California-based early computer network equipment vendor from 1985 until 1994. SynOptics popularized the concept of the modular Ethernet hub and high-speed Ethernet networking over copper twisted-pair a ...

and was the CEO and President of

SynOptics Communications SynOptics Communications was a Santa Clara, California-based early computer network equipment vendor from 1985 until 1994. SynOptics popularized the concept of the modular Ethernet hub and high-speed Ethernet networking over copper twisted-pair a ...

and CEO and President of Bay Networks from 1985-1996. Before founding SynOptics in 1985, Ludwick worked as an executive assistant at

Xerox Corporation Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Sta ...

. Within Xerox, he teamed up with

Xerox PARC PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xero ...

researcher

Ronald V. Schmidt Ronald V. Schmidt (March 31, 1944 – September 22, 2022) was an American computer network engineer. Schmidt was born in San Francisco, California. He graduated with B.S. (in 1966), M.S. (1968), and Ph.D. (1970) degrees in electrical engineering ...

to promote the idea of commercializing Schmidt's invention of a

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

version of the

ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...

computer networking system. Although they were rebuffed in their goal of turning this system into a Xerox product, Xerox instead allowed Ludwick and Schmidt to spin it off into a separate company (with equity held by Xerox in exchange for their intellectual property). The company, initially named Astra Communications, eventually became SynOptics..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwick, Andrew K. American technology chief executives Living people Year of birth missing (living people)