Distinguished engineer Valerie Maguire, BSEE, has retired following more than 30 years of service to the company and industry.

Maguire began her Siemon career when structured cabling was still in its infancy, assembling connecting hardware on the production floor while pursuing her Bachelor of Engineering degree at the University of Connecticut.

Since that time, she has played an instrumental role in Siemon's customer-focused innovation and advancing the industry.

With expertise focused on balanced twisted-pair and optical fibre cabling and transmission, Maguire engineered solutions that raised the bar on the performance of 100-ohm balanced twisted-pair components in support of growing bandwidth needs.

Her contributions included the integration of printed circuit boards with noise cancellation into outlets, test and qualification methods to ensure consistent patch cord modular plug terminations, and validation of the fundamental operation and performance of screened and shielded twisted-pair cabling.

In addition, Maguire's work resulted in the development of ground-breaking standards test methods and an industry patent.

Considered one of the industry's foremost experts on standards, Maguire previously held positions as a global sales engineer and director of standards and technology for Siemon, where she melded her leadership roles within TIA, ISO/IEC, and IEEE industry standards bodies and her technical expertise to educate the global ICT community and provide support for both internal and external Siemon customers.

"I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to dedicate my career to this amazing industry and contribute to the establishment of standards-based digital technologies that are now improving lives and increasing efficiencies around the world," Maguire says.

"Working alongside world-class transmission and subject matter experts to drive innovation, all with the support of my Siemon family, has truly been an honour.

"While I look forward to starting my next chapter, I hope to watch the company's continued success for many years to come."

"Valerie has been the sensei to our technical support group and to our customers," Chief technology officer and operations vice president John Siemon says.

"Every time she was involved in a project, it was a positive experience; our customers always walked away from a conversation with Val knowing more and being able to make informed decisions."

"If I had to pick one word to describe Valerie's character, it would be 'integrity'," Chief strategy officer and former president and CEO Carl Siemon says.

"That, combined with her knowledge, built trust in and respect for her work. Valerie will be greatly missed, and we wish her the very best in her well-deserved retirement."