Also in the news . . .

Jim Higdon has been named president of CVI Laser Corp. (Albuquerque, NM); Higdon was formerly vice president of operations and chief financial officer for the company. Former CVI president and company founder Yu Hahn will remain chairman of the board. . . . Schott Glass Technologies Inc. (Duryea, PA) has received ISO 9001 certification. . . . Ultra Tec Manufacturing Inc. (Santa Ana, CA) has acquired the surface-technology product line of particle-characterization-equipment manufacturer Malvern Instruments Ltd. (Malvern, England). Ultra Tec produces polishing and cutting equipment for fiberoptic, semiconductor, and electro-optical applications. . . . Breault Research Organization Inc. (Tucson, AZ) has been named exclusive distributor of MACOS S-MACOS software, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for design and perturbation analysis of controlled optical systems. Applications include large telescope and laser communications systems design. . . . Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. (Santa Rosa, CA) CFO John Markovich has resigned; vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary Joseph Zils will be acting CFO until a replacement is appointed. . . . Optical design software company Kidger Optics (Crowborough, England) has signed Richter Enterprises (Del Norte, CO) as exclusive North American distributor.