Fluke Fellows

Biography

Seymour’s first exposure to fiber optics was in 1979, tasked with designing a fiber optic communication system. From 1981 to 1985, Seymour was part of the team responsible for delivering an acoustic countermeasure device (ADC-MK3) for the U.S. Navy. From 1986 to 1990, Seymour worked for Photodyne Inc., a privately held fiber optic test equipment company responsible for designing high-speed analog circuits for an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR). Photodyne was acquired in 1989 by 3M Telecom Systems Division in Austin, Texas. Seymour transferred to 3M in Austin and continued working in fiber optics. In 2000, Fluke Networks acquired fiber optic technology from 3M. Fluke Networks agreed to a technology acquisition that included designs and stipulated that the acquisition was conditional to Seymour’s agreement to work for Fluke. In 2000, Seymour opened a lab and design center in Austin, hired a team of engineers and started working on OptiFiber, Flukes’ first home-grown OTDR. Seymour designed the first Fluke optical power meter calibration system directly traceable to NIST. His influence in the technology and product line strategy contributed to a cumulative net revenue of over $669 million.

Published Works

In addition to his technical marketing contributions to the Fluke Networks Cabling Chronicles, Seymour has written over 100 technical articles. He has also published several technical reports for standards and created and wrote a multi-fiber (MPO) testing standard. Seymour has been a key contributor to TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association), ISO/IEC, and IEC standards technical committees, representing Fluke as an expert.

Awards

In 2012, he was honored by ANSI/TIA for meritorious service, appointed the liaison officer between IEC SC86C and ISO/IEC SC25, and was recently appointed as the SC86C assistant secretary. In 2019, he received the IEC 1906 award. In 2022, Seymour was awarded the TIA Star Award. Seymour also holds 12 patents.

Accomplishments

Amongst all these accomplishments, Seymour is the proudest of his risk-taking to start the lab and design center in Austin, which led to many successful product launches and innovations.

Quote

“Fluke has given me much more than I expected over the last 23 years. I hope I can give back to the next generation of experts.”