AFL is opening an R&D facility in Lowell to support its rapid growth and to expand its product offerings for its Fiber Optic Test and Inspection Equipment Div. The 14,500-sq-ft facility features optics and electronics laboratory development space as well as customer meeting and training facilities. AFL plans to expand the test and inspection division’s professional R&D staff by more than 50 percent in 2011 and has chosen Lowell as the optimum location. It will continue to maintain the division’s facility in Belmont, N.H. The Lowell facility is near multiple colleges and universities allowing the company to attract new college graduates and to partner on development efforts, said George Rose, general manager of the test and inspection division. “Expanding our operations in Lowell opens up the candidate pool of bachelor and advanced degrees to a population of over two million in the Middlesex, Essex and Worcester counties. The location is also convenient to, and attracts candidates from, southern New Hampshire counties of Hillsborough, Rockingham and Merrimack," he said. AFL is hiring new employees for the facility and has relocated multiple other employees to the new location. The company provides products and services to the electric utility, broadband, communications, OEM, enterprise, wireless and transit rail markets as well as for the emerging markets of oil and gas, mining, nuclear, avionics, medical, renewable integration and intelligent grid. Its product portfolio includes fiber optic cable, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectors, fusion splicers, test equipment and training. Its service portfolio includes positions with telecommunications companies supporting both the central office and outside plant areas. AFL also has operations in Mexico, Europe and Asia. It is based in Spartanburg, S.C., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan. For more information, visit: www.aflglobal.com