Michael Platt has been named manager of Schott North America Inc.'s manufacturing and research plant following a major fire there earlier this year. Platt has more than 30 years of optics manufacturing experience, having worked as a manufacturing planner, operations manager and, most recently, plant manager for Corning Inc. He has a background in the designing and machining of reflective and refractive optic glasses, precision components, and housing assemblies for the aircraft, aerospace and defense industries. A fire broke out in the facility's warehouse March 3. Although fire officials estimated the damage at more than $50 million, Schott said it re-established inspection, packaging and shipping operations just over a week later. Other operations including precision components, large optics processing and R&D were restored more recently. "We continue rebuilding and improving upon the Duryea facility with a focus on producing the highest-quality optic glasses through precise engineering, and we thank our customers for their patience during that process," Platt said. Schott is a multinational developer and manufacturer of glass, specialty materials, components and systems for use in optics, lithography, astronomy, optoelectronics and life sciences.