Become Fiberminded podcast

#Science #Tech #Physics #Podcasting Education #Christian Till #Fiber Optic #Fiber Network #Fiber Cable #Splicing #Ftth #Optical Fiber #Telecom #Telecommunications #Broadband #The Highspeed

26:18

How do you know when it’s time to make your next big career move? With International Women’s Day around the corner, we are excited to feature Avni Patel Thompson, Founder and CEO of Milo. Avni is building technology that directly supports the often overlooked emotional and logistical labor that falls on parents—especially women. Milo is an AI assistant designed to help families manage that invisible load more efficiently. In this episode, Avni shares her journey from studying chemistry to holding leadership roles at global brands like Adidas and Starbucks, to launching her own ventures. She discusses how she approaches career transitions, the importance of unpleasant experiences, and why she’s focused on making everyday life easier for parents. [01:26] Avni's University Days and Early Career [04:36] Non-Linear Career Paths [05:16] Pursuing Steep Learning Curves [11:51] Entrepreneurship and Safety Nets [15:22] Lived Experiences and Milo [19:55] Avni’s In Her Ellement Moment [20:03] Reflections Links: Avni Patel Thompson on LinkedIn Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn Ipsos report on the future of parenting About In Her Ellement: In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element? About The Hosts: Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030. Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders. Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.…

Become Fiberminded

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Optical fiber is the future, enabling the high-speed broadband Internet connections everyone relies on. Christian Till, a fiber testing expert, interviews industry experts ranging from telecom operators and engineers to fiber technicians as well as telecommunications networking equipment and software services suppliers. Each episode contains powerful information to help you better understand fiber optic technology, stay on top of the latest trends, and enable you to efficiently build and maintain future-proof networks.

10 episodes

Become Fiberminded

updated 3 years ago

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10 episodes

#Science #Tech #Physics #Podcasting Education #Christian Till #Fiber Optic #Fiber Network #Fiber Cable #Splicing #Ftth #Optical Fiber #Telecom #Telecommunications #Broadband #The Highspeed

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Become Fiberminded

1
#10: From HFC to XGS-PON - Insights into the mindset of a cable MSO with Zachary Cronauer 37:33

3 years ago37:33

37:33

Dodging the coax infrastructure in favor of FTTH XGS-PON is a bold move. Zachary Cronauer (Head of Fiber Initiatives at Blue Ridge Communications) is explaining in this interview how they are doing it and why they are so successful. In this episode of the Become Fiberminded podcast, you will get intriguing insights into the mind of a cable operator. Blue Ridge has an existing Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) network. This means, their end-customer are being served broadband through DOCSIS. The coax infrastructure however is limited in what it can provide in terms of bandwidth. Plus as we all know, fiber is the future! Therefore the move towards FTTH based approach is understandable and welcomed.😉 Interestingly enough Zac and his team are going for a 1:96 split ratio leveraging XGS-PON. Zac is explaining in this episode, where the splitters are located, and how they deploy the network. He is also sharing how they made sure, that the technology migration is as smooth as possible. Show notes and more can be found at https://fiberminded.com/episode10 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#9: Effective use of fiber cleaners and the myth of self-cleaning fiber connectors with Brian Teague 43:35

4 years ago43:35

43:35

Proper fiber cleaning has one of the biggest influences on optical performance. So how do use these fiber cleaners? Do I always need to clean the fiber connector end face? Is a newly bought fiber patch cord clean or not? This and more will be discussed with Brian Teague from Senko in this episode of the Become Fiberminded Podcast. Brian is also explaining what Senko drove to start developing these very small form factor connector systems (VSFF) like the CS and SN and what else they have in the pipeline and when we will finally see the self-cleaning connector. With these new connector systems, new challenges for the fiber technician are starting to pop up and Brian will address these as well. Show notes and more can be found at https://fiberminded.com/episode9 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#8: Faster internet speed through next-gen transmission technologies like 400G ZR+ and G.metro with Vincent Sleiffer 45:21

4 years ago45:21

45:21

Nielsen's law states that network connection speeds for high-end home users would increase 50% per year, or double every 21 months. How can the different parts of the network keep up with this trend? In this episode of the Become Fiberminded podcast Vincent Sleiffer is discussing with us, what the latest trends and technologies in 5G, data center interconnect and other network areas are. This includes auto wavelength tuning SFPs (G.metro), which enables a cost-effective and flexible 5G deployment for the operators. We will also cover different modulation formats with the pros and cons and also give an outlook into next-generation transceivers like the 400G ZR+ and why everyone is buzzing around this topic. Last but not least Vincent is giving us his unique perspective on hollow-core fiber on which he did his Ph.D. thesis. Show notes and more at https://fiberminded.com/episode8 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#7: Slow internet speed? Becoming your own fiber internet provider with Jared Mauch 39:12

4 years ago39:12

39:12

Building and planning a small-scale fiber-optic network is no small feat. Jared Mauch is explaining in this episode of the Become Fiberminded podcast his process in getting started and becoming his own fiber internet provider while still working at his day job. Jared also sharing with us, how desperate some of the folks in his area are for fiber broadband access. Which in turn is quite understandable seeing, that broadband access has become crucial for so many services. Jared is also explaining the high-level steps into becoming your own fiber internet provider and it may be easier than you think; at least for the US folks ;-) Last but not least we chat about which cost-effective equipment to use and discuss the benefits of different architectures and that once again proper documentation is key. Show notes and more at https://fiberminded.com/episode7 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#6: Fiber planning – Making better business decisions due to automation with Raf Meersman 33:55

4 years ago33:55

33:55

Automated fiber planning is relying on clean input data. But how do we get there? What are ways to increase data accuracy and make better business decisions? Building and planning a valuable fiber-optic network is no small feat. Raf is confirming in this episode of the Become Fiberminded podcast, that choosing to save time and money in the design process is one of the worst ideas possible. But actually, how can you actually make smarter business decisions and let the planners focus on things that matter? Automation is the key. However, this automation is near useless without input data, which is all digital. One way to get better input data for fiber planning is the usage of LIDAR ( Light Detection and Ranging), which allows for auto data cleaning. Raf mentioned in this episode, that with LIDAR they are able to differentiate the ground if it's either cobblestone or sand automatically, which makes a big difference in the overall built-out cost and also bill of material. Now imagine you could feed all this data into your fiber planning tool to get the best cost-optimized solution. Show note and more: https://fiberminded.com/episode6 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#5: From WISP to FISP - changing the business model to scale fiber deployment with Ryan Coates 1:00:01

4 years ago1:00:01

1:00:01

Changing the business at a 180° angle is certainly challenging. And this is exactly what Ryan is discussing with us. In this episode of Become Fiberminded we will go through the process and lessons learned when moving away from the wireless world to full fiber deployment. We are discussing the mindset shift, which happened to them when going from a wireless OPEX model to a predominantly CAPEX fiber business case model. Ryan will also share their process in doing site surveys and that the postcard might not be the best medium to gauge the interest for fiber connection in a particular area. At this point, Ryan and his team are capable to predict, the future fiber takeup rate with very good accuracy. To scale their business, Surf Broadband recently secured additional funding and Ryan is sharing with us, how they use their fiber network as an asset to scale the business model and that protecting this asset is critical. Last but not least I asked Ryan if he sees SpaceX Starlink as competition and his answer might surprise you. Show notes and more: https://fiberminded.com/episode5 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#4: How to do fiber testing for troubleshooting and acceptance measurements with Kevin Peres 44:19

4 years ago44:19

44:19

Talking to someone who has worked his way up in fiber testing and did experience everything himself is truly a blessing. Kevin dropped some real gold nuggets during our conversation. We discussed the most common problems inside an optical fiber network. Following this introduction, we went deep on the fiber fault-finding part covering the best practices but also including some ninja tactics like changing the index of refraction to match the distance of a section. This will get you ahead and enable you to find also the not so obvious problems. Kevin is also giving you a step-by-step guide on fiber acceptance testing including the generation of the close-out package. In the end, we are also discussing the future of testing and the comeback of polarization mode dispersion (PMD). Show notes and more at fiberminded.com/episode4 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#3: The perfect fiber splice and things to avoid while fusion splicing with Lucas Mays 44:56

4 years ago44:56

44:56

#3 Lucas Mays is a Product Manager for field fusion splicers and accessories at AFL. He has previous optics industry experience both in the field as a splicer and installer and as an engineer working in product development and R&D on fusion splicing. Lucas Mays is sharing within this episode of Become Fiberminded, how you can achieve the perfect splice. We will go into details, what equipment is needed for it and how the different splicing alignment technologies will influence the fusion splice outcome. We are also going to deep dive into splicing ribbon fiber and other single-mode fiber types together. Last but not least, the best practices while splicing will also be investigated. So make sure to listen to this value bomb from Lucas Mays. Show notes and more at fiberminded.com/episode3 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#2: Your career in fiber optics - how to get started and certified with Jim Hayes 45:38

4 years ago45:38

45:38

#2 Jim Hayes is the co-founder of the Fiber Optic Association (FOA) and the author of several books on optical fiber. Jim has over 40 years of experience in training and I'm so grateful that Jim joined me on the show to talk about fiber training in general and common misunderstandings. We also discuss how the FOA started and became the certifying body for fiber optic technicians recognized worldwide. This is a good place to start and the FOA is there to promote professionalism fiber optics through education, certification, and standards. Let´s do it! Show notes and more at fiberminded.com/episode2 Support the show…

Become Fiberminded

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#1: Introduction to the Become Fiberminded Podcast 7:32

4 years ago7:32