Management Team

Dr. Abdel Soufiane

Dr. Soufiane is Founder, President and CEO of Verrillon, Inc. Prior to founding Verrillon, Inc., Dr. Soufiane served as manager of advanced development and applications engineering at SpecTran Specialty Optics Company where he directed the development of advanced preforms and fiber products used in the telecommunications industry. Prior to that, Dr. Soufiane worked for FullSpectrum, Inc. as director of materials development and for the Centre d’Etudes des Materiaux Advances (CEMA) as a research scientist developing new generation fluoride fibers for mid-infrared applications. Dr. Soufiane received his Ph.D. from the University of Rennes, France and is the holder of many patents in the field of advanced materials and optical-related technologies as well as a recipient of the prestigious R&D 100 Award.

Edward Connor

Ed Connor is Vice President of Sales & Marketing of Verrillon, Inc. Prior to joining Verrillon, Mr. Connor led Premise Communication Solutions, an optical fiber and cable Sales and Marketing company. Prior to that, he was CEO of ASI/ Silica Machinery, a California based optical fiber manufacturing process technology and equipment company. Prior to this, he was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Lucent Technologies - Sturbridge and its predecessor company, SpecTran Corporation. There he was responsible for worldwide optical fiber sales, marketing, and business development. Mr. Connor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Boston University and did graduate work at Brown University.

Gary Drenzek

Gary Drenzek directs Operations activities at Verrillon. Mr. Drenzek’s career has been focused entirely in the fiber optics industry. Beginning in 1983, Mr. Drenzek worked for a number of specialty optical fiber companies, in roles that included manufacturing engineering management, equipment and process engineering, and new product development. Prior to joining Verrillon, Mr. Drenzek was instrumental in designing the manufacturing infrastructure at Lucent’s Specialty Fiber facility in Avon, Connecticut.