Sofradir, a maker of advanced infrared detectors for military, space and industrial applications, has announced that Thales Land and Joint Systems, a provider of defense systems including optronic equipment, systems and services, has selected Sofradir's Scorpio 640 x 512-resolution, mercury cadmium telluride midwave infrared (IR) detector for its new line of gyrostabilized electro-optical turrets called Agile (airborne gyro stabilized IR light equipment). The companies said the systems can potentially be used in unmanned aerial vehicles, light helicopters, surveillance airplanes, marine vessels and applications in law enforcement, day and night surveillance and search-and-rescue operations. Sofradir plans to deliver 40 units of the Scorpio detectors to Thales over the next 12 months. Sofradir, which is based near Paris, is demonstrating Scorpio at Eurosatory, an armament exhibition being held there this week.    . . .    Yushi Kaneda has been appointed an assistant research professor at The University of Arizona Optical Science Center. Kaneda was formerly with NP Photonics and has previously worked for Sony Corp. He received his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1998. His research interests include fiber lasers; solid state lasers; diode-pumped, Q-switched and continuous lasers; and nonlinear optics.    . . .    Merrill M. Apter has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing at nLight Photonics, a Vancouver, Wash., manufacturer of high-power semiconductor lasers. Apter was formerly vice president of Coherent Inc.'s Semiconductor Laser Group and previously worked at Spectra Physics' Semiconductor Laser Diode Group and Ensign-Bickford Aerospace Co.    . . .    Veeco Instruments Inc., a Woodbury, N.Y.-based developer of nanoscale applications in the data storage, compound semiconductor/wireless, semiconductor and scientific research markets, announced it has appointed Jeannine Sargent as senior vice president of business development. Sargent was most recently CEO and president of Voyan Technology, a software company serving the semiconductor industry. Prior to that, she held senior marketing posts at Gasonics (now part of Novellus) and Tencor Instruments (now KLA-Tencor).