News Briefs

Military contractor BAE Systems of Burlington, Mass., has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase I of the Integrated Battle Command (IBC) Program, which will provide military commanders with simulation software to use in planning strategic campaigns. BAE Systems received one of two competing contracts -- valued at $3.5 million each -- for Phase I. Phase II will be competitively awarded to a single contractor at the conclusion of Phase I in June 2006. Communications and Electronics Command at Ft. Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting agent. The IBC tools will be installed and evaluated at the US Joint Forces Command in Suffolk, Va., during Phase I. . . . Nonlinear Dynamics Ltd of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, a provider of bioinformatics solutions to the life science industry, has appointed Martin Wells as international sales manager. Martin joins Nonlinear from Helena BioSciences, where he worked for 13 years. . . . Aixtron AG, a Germany-based provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced it has received a purchase order for a Thomas Swan 3 x 2-in. close coupled showerhead (CCS) gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxy reactor at National Central University's Optical Science Center in Taoyuan County, Taiwan. The company says the system will be used to provide high-quality GaN-based epitaxial materials for research on a wide range of LEDs for next-generation, solid-state lighting. . . . Geneva-based Acol Technologies SA, a maker of high-brightness LEDs, has opened a new sales office in Moscow, Russia, to expand its European presence. The company says the new office will be managed by Greg Kwolek, who joins the organization as sales executive for Europe. Prior to joining Acol Technologies, Kwolek was distribution sales manager for Eastern Europe at Maxtor Corp., a supplier of hard disk drive storage products. He has also held sales and sales management positions at Quantum Corp. and Incom Poland.