Fabless semiconductor company Phyworks Ltd. of Bristol, England, announced today it has hired Sam Mitani as director of business development. Mitani, who will be based in California, will focus on applications for 10-G electronic dispersion compensation and clock data recovery integrated circuits. He joins Phyworks from optical transceivers and components maker Picolight of Louisville, Colo., where he was West Coast sales director. He has more than 15 years of high-level experience in optical communication component sales, having previously worked for Network Elements, Oplink, Tyco and Photon. Mitani earned his BS in engineering from the University of Texas.