Optelecom-NKF announces new senior management, new direction

GERMANTOWN, Md.--Optelecom-NKF, a global supplier of communications platforms transporting data, announced two major personnel moves and a new corporate direction this past week. On the personnel side, Tom Overwijn, managing director of Optelecom-NKF, was both elected to the corporate board of directors and named executive vice president and chief operating officer of European operations; and James Armstrong, Optelecom chief financial officer, was appointed to the newly created position of executive vice president of North American operations. Both will now report to chairman and chief executive officer Edmund Ludwig. Investor liaison Rick Alpert said that Armstrong's new role will allow Ludwig, who was also in charge of the Americas, to be free of day-to-day duties in that market. Ludwig will now have more time to focus on the big picture as Optelecom moves forward with what Alpert called a new focus on offering "a family of products [that offer] uncompressed and compressed digital video transmission capabilities that cover most conceivable applications in telecom and security and surveillance." The transition is made possible by Optelecom's acquisition of NKF Electronics earlier this year. "We recently added a capable line of IP/Ethernet-based network solutions," Alpert said. "We're now organizing the resources to not only support our current line but develop as rapidly as possible comprehensive solutions. That's going to involve engineering, licensing, and possibly making some more acquisitions to go find what's necessary for success." Find more on this story, including an interview with Optelecom executive VP James Armstrong, in the January issue of Security Systems News.