Recognizing that any lengthy disruptions in its huge fiber-optic network would be intolerable, AT&T needed a way to ensure that telecommunications could be restored quickly, under almost any circumstances. The company got that assurance from Hossein Eslambolchi, who revolutionized the network's design and architecture by leading the team that invented FASTAR - Fast Automated Restoration System - which can restore facilities in seconds.

Forty of his patents, including FASTAR, are for devices that recognize the potential for disruption, such as a cable cut, and initiate preventive measures. In the event of failure, these systems can begin self-healing and rerouting traffic within moments, usually before customers know anything is wrong. One of Eslambolchi's inventions radically improved the accuracy of locating underground cables. Another - the cable sheath removal tool - upgraded the method for restoring damaged cables.

The combined system offered seamless protection, reduced network operating expenses by $1 billion, and sharply improved reliability over a three-year period.

Now AT&T's chief technology officer and president of AT&T Labs, Eslambolchi, who joined the utility in 1989, is a prolific inventor who holds 89 patents in various telecommunications fields, including Internet protocol and data networking, software, speech and network management, security and reliability. In October 1999, he received the company's highest technical honor when he was appointed an AT&T Fellow. In 1997, he received both the New Jersey Thomas Alva Edison Award and the AT&T Lab Science and Technology Medal.

An honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa, Eslambochi graduated with highest honors from the University of California, San Diego, with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and a B.A. in mathematics. He received both his master's and doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego.