Corning Inc. announced that it has begun shipments of MetroCor fiber to Level 3 Communications Inc. for installation in metropolitan networks that Level 3 has built across North America.
   Lightwave Electronics, manufacturer of diode-pumped solid state lasers for industrial applications, announced that it has started delivery of a new higher-power version of its model 210UV laser.
   Newport Corp. will demonstrate its next-generation technology in manual, semi-automated and fully automated tools for fiber optic component manufacturing at OFC 2001 (March 19-21) and invites attendees of the conference to stop by its booth to receive Newport's daily give-away.
   Pehong Chen, founder and CEO of BroadVision, and his wife, Adele, announced that they will donate $15 million to Stanford University to establish a new institute for the study of particle astrophysics and cosmology. The institute will capitalize on the strengths and worldwide reputation of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and the university's Physics and Applied Physics Departments.