Semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics (ST) of Geneva was named one of the Top Ten Companies of the Decade at the inaugural Low Carbon Leader Awards presented by The Climate Group and published by BusinessWeek in mid-December. ST was acknowledged for reducing its CO2 emissions by 50 percent over the past 10 years and saving $173 million in energy, water and chemical costs last year through environmentally friendly management practices established by former CEO and honorary chairman Pasquale Pistorio. ST says it plans to continue reducing CO2 emissions by at least 5 percent a year, adopt renewable energy sources and promote reforestation. The Climate Group jury also rated Pistorio as one of the most influential individuals in the fight against global warming. . . . For the first time in its 62-year history, management of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., was opened to competitive bidding, and Los Alamos National Security LLC (LANS) has been awarded the contract by the US Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. The University of California, which has run the lab since it was created in 1943 and was at the helm during a series of alleged financial and security lapses in recent years, will retain its oversight through LANS, a consortium it formed with engineering and defense contractor Bechtel and nuclear facilities contractors BWX Technologies and Washington Group International. The government contract is worth up to $512 million over seven years, with a provision to extend it to 20 years. . . . Agilent Technologies Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., announced that Walter Hewlett will retire from its board of directors, effective March 1, 2006. Hewlett joined the board when Agilent was spun off from Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1999. Agilent is a test measurement company and developer of communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis products. . . . AXT Inc., a manufacturer of compound semiconductor substrates used in the fiber optic lighting and communications industries, has named GEO Semiconductor as its sole distributor in Europe. In addition, compound semiconductor industry veteran John Lockley, former European sales manager for Veeco MBE products, has announced that he will join GEO, effective Jan. 15. GEO has appointed Lockley to be account manager and handle all European sales for AXT. AXT's corporate offices are located in Fremont, Calif., and its manufacturing facilities are in China.