The US Defense Department presented its highest civilian award, the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, to Robert Q. Fugate, senior scientist for atmospheric compensation at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. Illumination Technologies Inc. has promoted Robert Perry to the post of national sales manager. Anwar Chitayat, founder and CEO of Anorad Corp., has been nominated for the 1998 National Medal of Technology Award sponsored by the US Department of Commerce. Optical Research Associates has hired Gary M. Atkinson as chief financial officer. David W. Welp was named senior vice president and president of Raytheon TI Systems. Nanometrics Inc. has elected William N. Fate, Roger Ingalls Jr. and William A. McGahan as vice presidents. The American Laubscher Corp. has appointed Sarah B. Carpenter to the position of product specialist of microstructures. Gary A. Mezack has assumed the post of vice president/general manager for Veeco Instruments Inc.'s line of atomic force microscope products. M. Scott Faris has joined Ocean Optics Inc. as its first chief operating officer. Faris will focus on operational issues, acquisition and merger opportunities and investment capital options. Welch Allyn Lighting Products Div. has added Dale E. Brabham and Timothy D. Russell to the company's metal halide arc lamp engineering team. Alain Bourdon, laser product sales manager for Polytec PI, will be responsible for New Wave Research's scientific line of products, including MiniLase and MiniLase PIV. The board of directors of Infinite Group Inc. has appointed Clifford G. Brockmyre as chief executive officer. Brockmyre, who has been serving as president, will hold both positions. Founder and former CEO Carle C. Conway has retired but will continue as a member of the board. PRC Laser has appointed James P. Rutt as vice president of sales and marketing. He will be responsible for worldwide sales and marketing of the company's line of CO2 industrial lasers. The company also named Walter Wilson as director of engineering. Gradient Lens Corp. has named Douglas S. Kindred president, succeeding Duncan Moore, now an associate director of technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology. J. Randy Alexander is the new executive vice president at Premier Laser Systems Inc. Alexander will be responsible for sales, marketing and strategic business units. TopoMetrix has appointed Michael M. Moore as president, chief executive officer and chief financial officer. Thomas Freda assumes the position of vice president at Prior Scientific Inc. Freda was previously the company's national sales manager. David A. McNally has joined Luxtec Corp. as vice president and general manager of the company's subsidiary, Fiber Imaging Technologies Inc. Paul Golata was named sales and marketing manager of Balzer Thin Films Inc.'s US headquarters in Golden, Colo. Cymer Inc., a supplier of excimer laser illumination sources for deep-ultraviolet photolithography, has promoted Pascal Didier to the new position of senior vice president of worldwide customer operations. Commonwealth Scientific Corp. has named Todd Hylton chief technology officer. Hylton will oversee process development and technology efforts to complement the company's essential production systems. Opto Power Corp., a subsidiary of Spectra-Physics Lasers Inc., has appointed Franck Leibreich as European product marketing manager. Eastman Kodak Co. has named Lois J. Powell as executive director of government and John Cahill as director of government accounts for the Health Imaging Div. Kodak also named David S. Ledgerwood as general manager of Aerial Systems, a business center within the company's Commercial & Government Systems unit. Zygo Corp. has formed the Zygo Machine Vision Group, headquartered in a new facility in Newbury Park, Calif. The group provides applications-specific machine vision solutions for customers in the data storage, semiconductor and other high-technology industries. Lambda Research Optics Inc. has completed the expansion of its facility from 7700 to 12,000 sq ft. The expansion will improve Lambda's ability to fabricate optics, including cylindrical lenses, which are in high demand for ArF and CO2 laser applications. Spectra Science Corp. has formed a manufacturing division, Millennium Textiles, in Bremen, Ga., that will produce 100 percent spun polyester fabric, incorporating the company's Laser Thread identification technology. Sifam Ltd. has opened a facility for the manufacture of fused couplers and WDMs. Much of the plant will be devoted to components used in erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, such as tap couplers and WDMs. Pirelli Cables and Systems North America has opened new headquarters for its Telecom Systems Div. in Columbia, S.C., to accommodate growth and free manufacturing space at its Lexington, Ky., plant. Acton Research Corp. has opened a second operating facility in Acton, Mass. The facility will provide an additional 20,000 sq ft for spectral instrument manufacturing, systems development, and sales and administration offices. UK laser manufacturer Exitech Ltd. has opened a representative office at the new British Industry Center in Yokohama, Japan. Ciena Corp. has acquired privately held Terabit Technology Inc. in a stock transaction along with $1.1 million cash. Leica Microsystems Group has acquired German firm Jenoptik Silmetric GmbH from Jenoptik, renaming it Leica Microsystems Jena GmbH. Laser Photonics Inc. has agreed to sell certain company assets, including those of subsidiary Laser Analytics Inc. for $1.3 million to American Lasers Inc.