Optiled, an Irvine, Calif.-based manufacturer of LED lighting systems, has opened an office in Tokyo, to be headed by Hiromitsu Nagoshi, who has joined the company as managing director of Japanese operations. . . . Eikos Inc., a Franklin, Mass., maker of carbon nanotube inks for highly transparent conductive coatings and circuits, has announced a collaboration with Kent Displays, a Kent, Ohio, developer of cholesteric display technology. Eikos will work with Kent to integrate its Invisicon transparent conductor technology into Kent’s cholesteric display production process. The cholesteric "no power" LCD technology was originally developed at Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute, then was licensed to Kent Displays. . . . Essex Corp., of Columbia, Md., announced it has received six new awards, worth a total of $7.7 million, for defense-related projects, including a $5 million delivery order to continue work on an advanced optical processor project for integration into defensive radar systems. Initial funding of $500,000 is being used to prepare the system for field testing later this year. A separate award of $750,000 is being used to extend the operating range of the radar system's optical processor. The other four awards expand existing projects with intelligence and defense customers.