Jim Zou joined ADVA Optical Networking (now Adtran Networks), Germany, in 2016, currently leading emerging initiatives within Global Business Development. He is part of the Product Solution team for new technology introduction. He actively participates in critical SDOs like O-RAN Alliance, ITU-T SG15, CableLabs, OIF, Quantum Communication Networks Task Force at TSAC Singapore, Smart Tunable MSA, and other industrial MSAs. Prior to that, he was a Principal Engineer leading EU- and national-funded research projects in the area of optical access and quantum security. He received the PhD degree in Optical Communication and Photonics Integration from Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, in 2015.

He is currently serving on the OFC (the biggest technical conference in the optical communication industry) technical program as Subcommittee Chair, and also an Associate Editor for IEEE/Optica Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, looking after the topics of access/metro networks and quantum security. He has co- and authored more than 65 scientific papers, and holds several international patents which lead to commercial products.