News Briefs

NP Photonics Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., a supplier of single-frequency fiber lasers for optical-sensing applications in the oil and gas and security/military markets as well as in medical imaging and general research sectors, has received additional Series A2 funding of $2 million from Enterprise Partners of La Jolla, Calif., Sierra Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., and Shepherd Ventures, a venture capital firm located in San Diego. Shepherd Ventures managing partner, George C. Kenney, will now serve on NP's board of directors. NP Photonics, a spinoff company from the University of Arizona's Optical Sciences Center, announced in July that it had received $5 million in Series A2 funding from Enterprise Partners, Sierra Ventures and BB&T Capital Markets|Windsor Group of Reston, Va., with representatives from Enterprise and Sierra added to the company's board. . . . Fairchild Semiconductor senior vice president and chief financial officer, Matthew W. Towse, has resigned, effective immediately. Fairchild Semiconductor, a supplier of high-performance power products used in electronic applications in the computing, communications, consumer, industrial and automotive segments, says Towse, a 14-year veteran of the company, will stay on as an advisor until Dec. 31 to help ensure a smooth transition. . . . AMD has opened its 300 mm Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany. The company says the new facility will help it nearly double its output in the next three years, meet growing demand for AMD 64-bit processors and achieve aggressive growth objectives. The company intends to make 90 nm production shipments in the first quarter of 2006 and begin 65 nm production by the end of 2006. AMD has set a goal to be substantially converted to 65 nm in Fab 36 by mid-2007. AMD produces microprocessors, Flash memory devices and low-power processor solutions for the computer, communications and consumer electronics industries. . . . New York-based L-3 Communications, a provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization, training and government services, has named Kevin Mallon as president of its Electron Technologies Inc. (ETI) subsidiary in Torrance, Calif. ETI provides integrated high-power microwave amplifiers, satellite bus and payload electronics to space and defense customers. Most recently, Mallon served as ETI's deputy general manager; he was formerly ETI's strategic development director and chief scientist.