Optelec USA, Inc., the North American subsidiary of The Tieman Group (The Netherlands) announced today the appointment of Mr. Mike Pedersen as Director of Corporate Development for Optelecs growing blindness division. This announcement, following close on the heels of hiring Mr. Larry L. Lewis, Jr. as Vice President of the new division, makes a solid statement regarding Optelecs commitment to establishing itself as the leading solution provider for persons who are blind.
Pedersen is no stranger to the blindness industry or to mainstream technologies. Blind from birth, Mike learned braille at an early age and relied on assistive technology in a mainstream public school, eventually graduating from Western Michigan University with a degree in computer science. After spending some time within the blindness industry as a technical support specialist, Mike was quickly snatched up by Henter-Joyce for the head position of the JAWS script writing team. For the past four years he has been an active member of the development team for mainstream software with the Oracle Corporation. As Director of Corporate Development for Optelec, Pedersen will provide technical grounding for the Tieman Groups product development, marketing and sales efforts.
I believe that the Tieman Group is embarking on the most interesting project this industry has experienced in several years, said Pedersen. My desire with this project is to enable blind people to access a wide variety of mainstream technologies as opposed to proprietary devices that are out of date the day they are released.
The hiring of Pedersen by Optelec is the first of a number of strategies to effectively present to this vibrant industry a palatable and necessary alternative to portable information management.
Optelec is most excited to have Mike join the Optelec team, said Larry Lewis. Ive known Mike for quite some time. He offers a stellar mix of experience developing adaptive software as well as tremendous intuition and ingenuity managing mainstream development efforts. His skill sets are the perfect ingredients for Optelec to technically cement a number of commercial relationships with mainstream as well as adaptive technology companies. The end result is that Optelec will redefine the standards for portable information management through increased mobility with, and connectivity to, mainstream products.
The Braille Voyager refreshable braille display has been Optelecs premier blindness product. For 2004, Optelec has announced plans to unveil a new portable product aimed at the blind consumer.
Optelec U.S., Inc.
Optelec, a member of the Tieman Group, is the U.S. market leader for products that allow individuals with impaired vision, including macular degeneration, to perform many of their normal activities and to remain independent. The company's premier product lines, the ClearView video magnifier and the Voyager Braille display, combine outstanding optical technology with ease of use and have received broad endorsement from users and eye care professionals. Optelec, headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, continually develops new products for individuals with impaired vision. The company's products are available exclusively through authorized dealers and licensed eye care professionals. For more information, call 1-800-826-4200 or visit the Optelec web site at www.optelec.com.