Blackmore Appoints Optical Telecom Veteran as Chief Operating Officer to Accelerate Global Manufacturing Capabilities for Velocity-Enhanced FMCW Lidar Systems

Former Oclaro COO Craig Cocchi brings optical telecom expertise, deep supply chain knowledge and organizational leadership to fast track Blackmore’s growth and market expansion

Craig Cocchi joins Blackmore Sensors and Analytics, Inc. as chief operating officer. (Photo: Business Wire)

BOZEMAN, Mont.--()--Today, Blackmore Sensors and Analytics, Inc., the BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures-backed pioneers behind the world’s first Doppler lidar for automotive applications, announced the appointment of Craig Cocchi as chief operating officer.

His operational expertise will help Blackmore address demand as interest continues to shift from conventional amplitude modulated (AM) lidar systems to those using a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) approach. FMCW lidar instantly delivers precise, real-time velocity measurements of every detected point to make autonomous vehicles smarter and safer than those struggling with the inadequate data created by AM pulse-based lidar systems.

Cocchi’s highly relevant experience in - and strategic connections to - the optical telecom space is critical. Specifically, he will expedite Blackmore’s adaptation of frequency domain techniques, mirroring paradigms seen in other chipset-driven industries such as wireless communications, automotive radar, GPS, and optical telecom. He will connect Blackmore to the existing telecom supply chain, which will lock in the scale, redundancy and pricing OEMs and suppliers require. This will ensure Blackmore’s Doppler lidar systems meet OEMs’ demands at the chip level and at mass market scale.

Cocchi will also expand Blackmore’s manufacturing and supply chain operations to address increasing demand across a number of applications beyond automotive, including defense, transportation and aerospace industries.

Most recently, he served as chief operating officer at Oclaro [NASDAQ: OCLR], where he was responsible for $600 million in annual revenue. Cocchi successfully managed the daily execution of delivery, cost and quality for all Oclaro operational sites, including those in the UK, Italy, Japan, China, Thailand and Malaysia, and oversaw approximately 1,400 employees. Earlier in his career, he was responsible for managing all operations at Lumentum [NASDAQ: LITE], representing over $800 million in annual business serving telecom, datacom and laser systems for micro and macro machining. Lumentum finalized its $1.8 billion acquisition of Oclaro on December 10.

Blackmore is the only company that brings more than 10 years of experience with the Department of Defense to perfect their FMCW approach. As a result, Blackmore is currently shipping the world’s first Doppler lidar system, which instantly understands the real time velocity of objects at long distances.

“Craig’s wealth of knowledge and insights into supply chain operations will help Blackmore quickly source materials that have proven their reliability in demanding optical telecom applications,” said Dr. Randy Reibel, CEO and co-founder of Blackmore. “With his oversight, this combination of reliable materials and established lidar performance will swiftly move Blackmore toward mass production of our lidar systems.”

In previous roles, Cocchi served as executive vice president of operations at Fabrinet, where he was EVP of Operations and was a member of the CEO’s staff, contributing to Fabrinet’s five-year operational strategic plan. He also held various positions at Read-Rite Corporation over a 10-year period, including vice president of the wafer fab operation, responsible for supporting all disk drive customers and the management of 400 operations employees.

About Blackmore Sensors and Analytics, Inc.

Blackmore is pioneering the development of compact and robust Doppler lidar sensors, and supporting analytic tools and software, for a variety of rigorous, mission critical automotive, industrial and defense environments. Where cost and performance specifications limit more traditional sensors, Blackmore's technology brings the advanced tool sets of modern radar into the optical domain, enabling a new era of unprecedented lidar system performance. Blackmore is based in Bozeman, Montana. Please click here for images and video, and for more information visit: www.blackmorelidar.com.

Contacts

Alexandra Laurelli
Finn Partners
Alex.Laurelli@FinnPartners.com
650-303-6933

Release Summary

Today Blackmore Sensors and Analytics, Inc. announced the appointment of Craig Cocchi as chief operating officer.

Contacts

Alexandra Laurelli
Finn Partners
Alex.Laurelli@FinnPartners.com
650-303-6933