Phil Yin has been appointed general manager of AIXTRON AG, a German manufacturer of MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition) equipment used to produce advanced compound semiconductors for devices such as light-emitting diodes, lasers and fiber optic components. AIXTRON's systems center around a "planetary reactor," in which multiple wafers revolve while gaseous materials (such as gallium arsenide) are deposited on them. AIXTRON Taiwan announced it has received funding to set up a research and development center in Taiwan focusing on production-oriented technology transfer. Taiwan’s Department of Industrial Technology, Ministry of Economic Affairs, is funding the three-year project; other sponsors include HP's Product Development Center, Dell's Taiwan Research Center, Becker Avionics Research Center and Sony's Design & Engineering Center. . . . Brillian Corp., a Tempe, Ariz.-based provider of microdisplay products and systems, announced it will name John S. Hodgson to its board of directors when its spinoff from Three-Five Systems Inc. is completed in mid-2003. Hodgson is CFO for the High Tech Institute, a postsecondary technology and allied health care school. He was previously CFO of Simula Inc. and senior vice president and CFO of FEI Co., a semiconductor equipment manufacturer.