Photonics Firms & Faces, 3/10/99
A roundup of personnel changes, company relocations, patents, and other items of interest in the photonics industry.
By: Kristin Lewotsky
Applied laser system specialist Lasertec International Inc. plans to apply for Nasdaq Small Cap status; in afternoon trading, shares were at $2.75 on the over-the-counter bulletin board, off $0.25 from yesterday's close…
Blue Sky Research has named Al Shugart to its board of directors. Shugart is expected to help the micro-optics company in its move to the data storage industry…
Laser and machine equipment firm Stocker & Yale Inc. has established a new $3.5 million credit facility with Norwest Business Credit. In addition, Gary Godin, formerly of Data Translation, has joined senior VP and CFO.
Photonics startup Novalux Inc. has named Malcolm Thompson to the position of president and CEO. Thompson was previously president and CEO at imaging specialist and Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) spin-off dpiX Inc. Thompson is chairman of the board of the United States Display Consortium (USDC)…
Galileo Corp. has named Thomas Mathews to the post of VP, finance and CFO…
DRS Technologies Inc. has named Prasad Akkapeddi as VP and general manager of the company's NJ-based DRS Photronics unit. Akkapeddi was previously director of technology and planning at Raytheon Optical Systems Inc...
Fiber optic components manufacturer LaserComm Inc. has named former Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. director of strategic planning Mark Barratt to the post of VP of business development.
Cree Research Inc., major competitor in the blue LED race, has appointed Mike Dunn to the position of general manager, optoelectronics. Dunn was previously optoelectronics group manager for Hewlett-Packard's Japanese operations.
James Pearson has stepped down as the executive director of SPIE, effective April 30. Pearson will be taking the position of Executive Director of the Instrument Society of America…
APA Optics Inc. has appointed William Franta to its board of directors. Franta is VP of marketing for Centron…
Medical laser manufacturer BioLase Technology Inc. has signed Sweden & Martina S.p.A. as Italian distributor, with a first-year minimum purchase agreement in excess of $1 million. As part of the agreement, Sweden & Martina has ordered and paid for 12 Millennium systems.