Business briefs

21 Mar 2003

Including news from Coreco, Raytheon, Three-Five Systems and Agility Communications and more.

•  A USD 6.75 million optoelectronics packaging facility will open in Scotland this summer. The objectives of the Livingston-based plant are to accelerate the commercialization of prototype devices, develop new packaging technologies, and provide environmental test, reliability and qualification services. The center is the brainchild of the Scottish Optoelectronics Association and has funding from both Scottish Enterprise and the European Regional Development Fund.

•  Coreco, the Canadian provider of computer vision hardware and software, has announced its financial results for fiscal 2002. Revenue amounted to USD 19.3 million, a 26% decrease from the USD 26.0 million achieved in 2001. Net income for the 12 months ended 31 December 2002 was USD 939,526 versus a loss of USD 3.9 million in the previous year.

•  Raytheon, the US defense contractor, has won a USD 173.7 million order for laser-guided bombs. The contract involves producing Paveway II laser-guided bomb-kits for the US Air Force and Navy. The work will be primarily carried out at Raytheon's facilities in Tucson, Arizona and Sherman, Texas.

•  Three-Five Systems, US, plans to spin off its LCoS microdisplay division into a separate public traded company this summer. The spin-off will be named Three-Five Microdisplay Incorporated and will trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol TFMD. It will sell liquid crystal on silicon microdisplay products for the high-definition television and video game markets.

•  Agility Communications, the Californian tunable laser specialist, has been awarded a USD  5.5 million contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The contract is for the delivery of widely tunable diode lasers with monolithically-integrated modulators for use in military applications.