French company iXblue SAS, which provides photonics solutions for maritime technologies, has appointed Fabien Napolitano chief executive officer and named Thomas Buret chief operating officer (COO). Fabien Napolitano, CEO (Courtesy of iXblue) Buret steps into the role formerly held by Napolitano, who was COO since June 2017. Napolitano joined iXblue in 2000 when the company was founded. He was initially tasked with developing iXblue’s first inertial navigation systems, after which he successively led acoustic activities and headed the inertial navigation activity. He was also chief technology officer. Thomas Buret, COO (Courtesy of iXblue) Buret joined the company in 2002 as a research and development engineer. He was also previously in charge of the company's space and maritime activities and had been the head of the navigation department since 2017.