Alase Technologies Inc., a provider of laser etching equipment, software and services for the laser processing industry, announced it has hired Jim Andre as senior service technician. Alase also announced it has tripled the space of its headquarters facility in Pepperell, Mass., and has added a laser engraving applications lab and expanded its laser etching job shop facility.. . . Applied Materials, a supplier of products and services to the semiconductor industry, has announced that Sasson Somekh has resigned from its board of directors. . . . Thermo Electron Corp. announced it has signed an agreement with Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (OCD) to be the exclusive representative of its clinical laboratory automation products in North America. The products are made by Thermo Electron Oy, based in Vantaa, Finland.