Dr. Rick Pimpinella received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from New York University, Tandon School of Engineering in 1976, 1978, and 1981 respectively.
From 1981 to 2001 he was employed with Bell Laboratories, where he pioneered the use of silicon processing technology for the fabrication of optical subassemblies for the passive alignment of optical fibers to photo-detectors and lasers. In 1994, as a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, he designed and developed a micro-miniature expanded beam optical backplane connector, which was deployed in the U.S. Air Force F‑22 Raptor and F35 Lightning II. In 1998, as Technical Manager, he led the design and development of intelligent remote fiber test systems for monitoring and testing the outside optical fiber cable plant.
He joined Panduit in 2002, managing the Fiber Business Unit and later, created and managed the Fiber Research Department. Dr. Pimpinella is a Panduit Fellow, a member of the IEEE, and is actively pursuing research interests in multimode and single-mode optical fiber. He has published over 50 technical papers and articles, and holds more than 60 U.S. Patents.