Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) made several key announcements in January. In a product-distribution agreement with Photogen Technologies (Knoxville, TN), Coherent Laser Group will market and sell the firm's PulseView software and computer interface, which were developed for characterization and validation of ultrafast-pulse lasers. The firm also will form a Santa Clara-based Telecom Business to drive its active and passive fiberoptics product strategies. The group will draw on technology and resources from its Tampere, Finland, semiconductor growth facility, its Santa Clara semiconductor packaging and test center, and its Auburn, CA, optical-fabrication and coating plant, where an 80,000-sq ft expansion should be completed by the end of the year.—Paula Noaker Powell