Resume: Cross-functional fiber optics and integrated photonics engineer. Getting stuff done and rallying others

1. Roman Malendevich, PhD
1534 Mallard Way Sunnyvale CA 94087 • 760-822-1887 (cell) • 408-746-5892 (landline) • litearth@gmail.com
Cross-functional fiber optics and integrated photonics engineer:
Getting stuff done and rallying others
SUMMARY
Design, development, system integration, automated testing, manufacturing and production of Si and InP PICs,
modules, linecards, and OOK and DQPSK coherent fiber optic systems (9 US patents; 15 papers in 2011-2012).
Fortunate to have a career path spanning across many groups: from optical component design, to chip wafer-level
and modules testing and volume production, to Advanced Optical System Architecture, with time on Sys Mfg floor.
Thrive on solving difficult problems in interdisciplinary, interdepartmental environment. Passionate about physics
and working in and creating a collaborative team environment
EXPERIENCE
INFINERA CORP. (Sunnyvale CA) 2006 – 2013
Sr. Member of Technical Staff HW Development / Optical Engineering
Optical System Architecture group (2012–2013)
PIC/Modules group (2006–2011)
• Completed work on 10ch.x 10G OOK Receiver module based on co-packaged InP PIC (photonic integrated
circuit) and Si-based ASIC; went into production in 2007
• Delivered 1,000 PIC production modules with 98% yield. Transferred to remote site.
• Included Design Verification, Production & Reliability testing (e.g., Accelerated Aging)
• Completed work on 5-ch.x 100G coherent DQPSK Tx and Rx modules and linecards; in production in 2011
• Developed algorithms for Tx and Rx optimal performance and EoL (end of life) in-field control
• Responsible for wavelength locking and super-channel Tx quad & power controls using block tones
• Eliminated 10x BER gap between Infn Rx modules and Reference Rx (“Guiding Light” award)
• System Integration: Built DQPSK Reference Tx and Rx from discreet commercial components, with quality
and stability best in company. Responsible for mechanical, electrical and optical integration
• HW development: Provided design inputs, managed production & debugged many electronic testboards
• Product Engineering: Prolific data miner.
• When are outliers unimportant? Why correlations are missing? What sample size is sufficient?
• Cost reduction: Proposed and implemented drastic (2-10x) spec reliefs, and 8x test time reduction
• Customer demos: Key participant in XO Comm. field trial (2010) and recent Verizon demo (08/2012)
• Advanced: Built real-time 8QAM demo test & 16QAM development test set with Linear Tx driver
• Knowledgeable about coherent DSP algorithms (carrier recovery, CD compensation, polarization demux)
and HD- and SD-FEC algorithms. Self-studied packet switching and GMPLS.
• What part of coherent DSP consumes most power, and can be omitted in metro networks?
• How does FEC deal with burst errors? What is the primary problem with SD-FEC algorithms?
• Recognized by
• promotion in 12/2010
• quarterly All-Hands "Guiding Light" Award for dedication and execution focus in 10/2011
• two "You Rock!" peer appreciation and leadership awards in 2012
• multiple spot-on bonuses (2010-2012).
• Featured in Infinera quarterly newsletter “The Amplifier” (08/2012).

2. LUXTERA INC. (Carlsbad CA) 2001 – 2006
Sr. Optical Designer (2003 – 2006)
• Primary designer of SOI (silicon-on-insulator) optical grating couplers
• vertical light coupling from 10um fibers or flip-chip lasers to tiny <0.5um SOI waveguides
• record optical loss of 0.5dB (10%), similar to regular fiber-to-fiber connector loss
• using exact 3D FDTD (finite domain time difference) simulations with cluster of 100’s of PCs
• Designed company’s SOI wafer structure (layer thicknesses, etch depth, material choice)
• Rigorous design methodology included: architectural choices, modeling, experimental DOEs (design
of experiment), design and process sensitivities, building models and correlations
Test Team Lead (2001 – 2003)
• Invented and built first in the world fully automated semiconductor wafer-level alignment-based opto-
electronic tester (9 patents):
• Finds and aligns to optical device on SOI 8” wafer in seconds, not minutes
• Operator-free 24/7. Tested millions of devices, still in operation (10 years)
• Procured 900 pieces of optical and electronic equipment: $2M budget, 650 PO’s:
• Convincing negotiator with vendors: saved company $800K on equipment pricing
Si Grating couplers Optical wafer-level tester
(Cover of “Photonics Spectra”, 2006)
EDUCATION
CREOL (Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers) Univ. of Central Florida (Orlando FL)
MS, PhD Optical Physics Spatial solitons in nonlinear optical media (Prof. G. Stegeman) 1998, 2001
Kiev National University (Kiev Ukraine)
BS Physics, minor in Computer Science 1995, 1996
SOFTWARE SKILLS
(7-10 years) VB.NET, Matlab, SQL, JMP
• Incl. multi-threading and expertise in new complex 2008 features – functional programming, LINQ, and
database Entities. Very complex, large projects and libraries (shared by 20 engineers)
• Wrote many instrument and chip drivers with GPIB, Ethernet, USB, telnet, SPI and I 2C interfaces
• Built three company-wide production databases, incl. remote replication and web-based test reports
• Very complex multi-level queries, stored procedures and statistical E2E data aggregation in SQL and JMP
(Basic knowledge) C#, LabView, L-Edit, Cadence, Allegro
PEOPLE SKILLS
• Completed eight Infn managerial courses (‘Influence without authority’, ‘Emotional intelligence’, etc.)
• Public speaking and leadership at Toastmasters International (Best Speaker, Best Evaluator, etc.)