Daily News Briefs

OptiTechure Inc., part of Avian Group USA, has received a contract to design and supply a scanning wavelength illuminator system, including on-site installation and optical alignment, for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Building and Fire Research Division. This will add capability to an existing laser-based scatterometer, allowing goniometric colorimetry of nonisotropic materials, the company said. Previously, Avian Group designed and constructed the NIST reference reflectometer and reference gonio-reflectometer for the NIST Optical Technologies group and a reference scatterometer for the NIST Building and Fire Safety research group. Avian Group is an Ohio-based developer of systems for the measurement of transmittance, reflectance, radiance, irradiance, color, fluorescence and imaging. . . . The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) will cosponsor, with Northrop Grumman Corp., 2006 Engineers Week (EWeek), scheduled for February 19-25, 2006. The program is designed to raise awareness of the societal benefits of the engineering profession to middle-school educators and hence to students. EWeek was founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. According to the National Science Board, the most recent occupational projections from the bureau of labor statistics for 2000-2010 predict that employment in science and engineering occupations will increase about three times faster than the overall growth rate for all occupations. . . . Richard C. Benson, head of Penn State's mechanical and nuclear engineering department, was appointed dean of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute College of Engineering. Benson was formerly head of the mechanical engineering department at Penn State. He previously chaired the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester.