News Briefs

Bookham Inc. said it has expanded an agreement with AMS Technologies AG to distribute its components to the telecommunications market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Munich-based AMS will now distribute Bookham's telecommunications components in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and Ireland. The portfolio includes transmitters, receivers, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), transponders, transceivers and a new line of tunable laser-based devices. . . . The first bimonthly meeting of the northeast chapter of the Laser Institute of America (LIA) will be held Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Host Hotel, 366 Main St., Sturbridge, Mass. The chapter's co-chairmen, chosen at LIA's regional meeting last summer, are Ron Schaeffer of Nashua (designated chair), Bo Gu of Boston, Robert Brown of Hartford, George Andrews of New Haven and Bill Shiner of Worcester. Those involved with laser technology -- including researchers, users, safety officers and providers of lasers and equipment related to the use of lasers -- are invited. For more information, visit: www.laserinstitute.org . . . Mike Scott, former chief technology officer at Bookham Inc., was recently appointed chairman of the Ottawa Photonics Cluster (OPC).