Lambda Research Corp. of Littleton, Mass., has selected Corine Cupillard to head its European sales team, which was expanded to support increased regional demand for the TracePro optical and illumination design software. Cupillard previously was a corporate account manager for Comsoft, a software licensing reseller. Lasers and optics industry professional Dr. Wenko Süptitz was named head of Photonics and Precision Technology, a trade association that includes 94 optics manufacturers. The group is part of Spectaris, the German industry association for optical, medical and mechatronic technologies. MicroVision Inc., a Redmond, Wash., manufacturer of ultraminiature projection display technology, has appointed two industry veterans to its executive team. Steven P. Holt, named chief financial officer, will help accelerate strategic growth initiatives, enhance operations and optimize profitability. Michael J. Franzi will serve as vice president of marketing and business development for the company’s PicoP display technology. Test, measurement and embedded systems provider National Instruments of Austin, Texas, has promoted Eric Starkloff to senior vice president of marketing. Since joining the company in 1997, he has led teams that pioneered industry adoption of systems platforms such as PCI and CompactRIO. Former global marketing director of Schott Advanced Optics, Agnes Huebscher has joined Edmund Optics of Barrington, N.J., as its European marketing director. In her new role at the optical components company, she will be responsible for all marketing in Europe, including trade shows, advertising, customer mailings and email campaigns. Ichiro Takesako, a Sumitomo Precision Products Co. Ltd. executive, has joined the board of directors at Visualant Inc. of Seattle. His appointment is, in part, the result of a joint research and product development agreement between the companies. Visualant provides chromatic-based authentication, identification and diagnostic technology. Photonics professional Dr. Marc Christensen has been named dean of Southern Methodist University’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering in Dallas after serving as its interim dean since July 2012. In 1997, he co-founded Applied Photonics, a free-space optical interconnection module company. Optics manufacturer REO of Boulder, Colo., has named Dave Berge vice president of operations. He previously was managing director at Delphi Medical Systems/Peak Industries, a manufacturer of medical devices and life sciences, data storage and imaging equipment. In California, L. Jeffrey Atherton has been appointed director of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The immense laser system is entering a new era as an international science facility. Ed Moses will remain the principal associate director for the NIF & Photon Science Directorate. Carly Robinson and Sydney Kaufman, both PhD candidates at the University of Colorado at Boulder, were named 2013-14 Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows by SPIE, The Optical Society (OSA) and the Materials Research Society. In these roles, Robinson, who is studying atmospheric chemistry, hopes to serve as a resource to policymakers on science-related issues, and Kaufman, who is completing her doctorate in chemical physics, will pursue her interest in energy development policy. SA Photonics of Los Gatos, Calif., has promoted Dr. Michael Browne to the position of general manager of vision products. He will manage a team of photonics engineers focused on developing next-generation vision systems for military and commercial markets, including head-mounted displays and digital night-vision systems. Escatec, an electronics manufacturing services provider, has selected Wolfgang Plank to head its MOEMS (micro-optoelectromechanical systems) facility in Heerbrugg, Switzerland. A micro-assembly expert, Plank has worked for Escatec as R&D project manager for about two years.