News Briefs

Argon ST Inc., a maker of systems and sensors for military, communications, intelligence, surveillance and other applications, was awarded contract modifications totaling $9.1 million for engineering changes and development efforts to modernize the AN/SLQ-25A torpedo countermeasures system for Naval Sea Systems Command. Argon ST is prime contractor for the project, which will be performed by the Argon ST Engineering Test Center in Fayette County, Pa., with support from Argon ST's engineers in northern Virginia. . . . El Segundo, Calif.-based Bell Industries Inc., a manufacturer of magnetic components used in electronic applications for computer, medical, lighting and telecommunication equipment, announced that its board of directors has appointed director John A. Fellows as the company's president and CEO, succeeding acting President Russell A. Doll. Prior to this appointment, Fellows, who was elected to Bell's board in May, was a private investor. From August 1998 to April 2004, he was CEO of RMH Teleservices Inc., an international provider of technology-related services. . . . Applications are being accepted for the UK Micro and Nanotechnology (MNT) 2006 Quality Mark awards, launched by the Micro-systems Manufacturing Association (MMA) in partnership with the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE). The MNT Quality Mark awards, to be announced in September 2006, are based on IMechE's annual MX Awards for excellence in UK manufacturing. Recipients of the 2005 MNT Quality Mark awards were BegbrokeNano (Oxford Materials Characterisation Service), Epigem, Farfield Sensors, Intertek ASG, Trikon Technologies and QinetiQ Nanomaterials. The deadline for entries for the 2006 awards is March 1; for information and forms, contact John Ling at the MMA: j_ling@imeche.org.uk . . . PDF Solutions Inc., a San Jose, Calif., provider of process-design integration technologies for manufacturing integrated circuits, named Tsugio Makimoto chairman of the board of directors of PDF Solutions Japan KK. Most recently, Makimoto was an advisor to Sony Corp., where he was previously a senior executive vice president.