Daily News Briefs

Matt Novak was hired as an optical engineer by Breault Research Organization Inc. (BRO), of Tucson, Ariz. Novak previously held engineering positions with 4D Technology Inc., Veeco Instruments Inc. and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In those positions, he performed the optical design and breadboard construction of a Raman spectrometer proposed as a science instrument for a future Mars Rover mission. He was also the lead alignment test engineer for NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and was involved in designing metrology instruments for DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) filter characterization, in situ film-deposition metrology and simultaneous phase-shifting interferometry. BRO provides optical engineering services for the aerospace, automotive, biotechnology, consumer electronics, defense, medical, semiconductor and telecommunications industries. . . . Intel Corp. said it plans to build a new 300-mm wafer fabrication facility at its site in Chandler, Ariz. The factory will begin production of microprocessors in the second half of 2007 on 45-nanometer process technology. Construction for the $3 billion project is set to begin immediately. Intel currently operates four 300-mm fabs, in Oregon, Ireland and New Mexico. Intel also said it will invest $105 million dollars to convert an existing inactive wafer fab in New Mexico to a component temporary test facility. . . . Micro-Photon-Devices,(MPD) of Bolzano, Italy, has named PicoQuant, of Berlin, Germany, as the sole European distributor of its PDM-series single-photon sensitive avalanche photodiodes, used in single-photon counting applications including single-molecule spectroscopy.