News Briefs (Feb. 23, 2006)

ACOL Technologies SA, a Geneva, Switzerland-based company developing high-brightness LEDs and light engines, and Micro Lamps Inc. of Batavia, Ill., a North American supplier of lighting products, have signed a distribution agreement for the entire ACOL product line of high-brightness LEDs and LED light engines, which are used in solid-state lighting applications such as rail and road traffic signals, automotive lights, commercial signs and architectural effects. North American customers interested in purchasing LED devices from ACOL may now work directly with Micro Lamps. . . . Affymetrix Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif., maker of microchips that perform genetic tests, announced that Robert H. Trice, senior vice president for business development at Lockheed Martin Corp. and chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Global Inc., was elected to its board of directors. . . . PerkinElmer Inc. has opened a new technology center in Shanghai, China, that will consolidate three of its current Shanghai locations. The new center, at Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma Park, will house PerkinElmer's sales, customer service and technology support functions and will be the company's regional headquarters for greater China. . . . Optically based gas sensor manufacturer SpectraSensors Inc., a spinoff of the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory in San Dimas, Calif., announced that Jane F. Garvey, former head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has joined its board of directors. Currently, Garvey is executive vice president of APCO Worldwide and chairman of its transportation practice.