News Briefs

Global photonics products supplier Melles Griot announced that Bruce Capron has joined Melles Griot Optics Group in Rochester, N.Y., as director of sales and marketing. Capron will manage all North American sales, marketing, applications engineering and customer service activities related to the group's optical components, optical systems, coatings, electronic shutters and electro-optic assembly businesses. Additionally, he will support Melles Griot sales and marketing activities in Europe and Japan. Most recently, Capron served as sales manager at LSI Solutions, a laparoscopic medical device developer and manufacturer. The company also has named John Wojcik as the Optics Group's Midwest regional sales manager. Wojcik will develop and manage technical sales to OEMs. Formerly, he held sales management positions at Newport Corp., Rockwell Automation and Aerotech Inc., and has been involved in the technical sales of optics, lasers and instrumentation to regional high-tech industries. . . . Salira Systems Inc., a provider of Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network systems based in Santa Clara, Calif., has named Yanming Liu as company president and CEO. Liu was inventor and one of the principal developers of Dow Corning's award-winning Leaf optical fiber for long-haul, regional and metropolitan networks, introduced in 1998 and cited as one of the most important product developments in the fiber optics industry. Salira is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Communication Technologies Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. . . . The leading suppliers of silicon wafers forecast year-end wafer shipments for 2005 to be 2 percent higher than in 2004. According to the SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) Consensus Forecast, total wafer shipments will increase by about 7 percent in 2006. SEMI is a global industry association serving companies that provide equipment, materials and services used to manufacture semiconductors, displays, nanoscaled structures, microelectromechanical systems and related technologies. The Consensus Forecast, a survey of SMG members, expects silicon shipments to reach 6862 million sq. in. in 2006, 7287 million sq. in. in 2007 and 8192 million sq. in. in 2008. Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products and consumer electronics.