Representatives of Raytheon Company have announced that effective July 1, 2003, its chairman and chief executive officer, Daniel P. Burnham, 56, has decided to step down as chief executive officer of the company. Burnham will continue to serve on the board as non-executive chairman.

The board of directors today named William H. Swanson, 54, currently president of Raytheon, to succeed Burnham as CEO. Swanson will assume his new responsibilities as president and chief executive officer effective July 1, 2003.

Burnham said he was proud of the company's accomplishments over the last five years and that Bill Swanson is the right leader to become Raytheon's next CEO.

Swanson has been with Raytheon for almost 31 years. He was named president of Raytheon in July 2002. Before assuming this position, Swanson was an executive vice president of the company and president of the former Electronic Systems, an $8 billion defense electronics business. He has held a wide range of challenging positions over his tenure with company, including manufacturing manager of the company's Equipment Division, senior vice president and general manager of the Missile Systems Division and chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Systems Company.

Burnham joined Raytheon on July 1, 1998, as president and chief operating officer from AlliedSignal, where he served as vice chairman and a member of the board of directors. Burnham was appointed Raytheon's chief executive officer in December 1998 and chairman in August 1999.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. received a contract from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on March 31 valued at approximately $160 million to manufacture components for eight additional F-2 production aircraft. MHI is the prime contractor for Japan's new F-2 support fighter, which is currently operational in Japan.

Lockheed Martin already is producing components for the first 57 F-2 aircraft initiated under six previous annual contracts. This seventh contract brings the total to 65 aircraft, and Lockheed Martin will continue to provide all the aft fuselages, wing leading-edge flaps and stores management systems; 80 percent of all left-hand wing boxes; and other avionics and avionics support equipment. Lockheed Martin components are shipped to MHI's Komaki-South facility in Nagoya, Japan, where they are assembled by MHI with other components to form the F-2.

Japan selected the F-16 as the basis for the design of its new support fighter in 1987. In mid-2000, the JDA's Technical Research and Development Institute completed extensive flight tests in Japan of four prototype aircraft designated XF-2. MHI delivered the first production aircraft to the Japan Defense Agency in September 2000. By the end of March 2003, 36 F-2s were delivered to the JDA.

In April 2002, Lockheed Martin successfully concluded activity on the fourth consecutive contract with MHI for Lockheed Martin components on the F-2. The fifth major contract concludes this month, and the company began delivering components per the sixth contract in February. This latest contract is effective immediately with deliveries beginning in March 2004. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 200 major airframe, avionics and avionics support equipment components in this successful partnership with MHI since component deliveries began in late 1998.

Representatives of Alcatel announced that the company has signed a major contract with ICE, the incumbent telecommunications operator in Costa Rica, to expand and modernize its national fixed network. Under the contract, valued at approximately US$ 109 million, Alcatel will provide its Alcatel 1000 MM switching systems, enabling the operator to offer advanced voice and data services. The network will be fully operational by December 2003.

This expansion enables ICE to address the growing demand for new telephone lines and Internet services in the country, as well as manage the fast-growing volume of mobile traffic.

This contract reinforces Alcatel as the primary switching supplier in Costa Rica with a 70 percent market share.

Representatives of Perot Systems Corporation have announced a six-year, $14.9 million information technology outsourcing contract with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Akin Gump). This agreement adds to a five-year, $6 million contract signed in October 2002 to provide service desk support.

Akin Gump, founded in 1945 by Robert S. Strauss and Richard A. Gump, is one of the world's largest law firms. With more than 1,000 lawyers, Akin Gump represents regional, national and international clients in a wide range of areas, including antitrust; banking and financial institutions; capital markets; communications; corporate and securities; employee benefits; energy, land use and environment; entertainment; estate planning, wealth transfer and probate; financial restructuring; government contracts; health; insurance; intellectual property; international; investment management; labor and employment; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; privatization; project development and finance; public law and policy; real estate and finance; taxation; and technology.

Perot Systems will establish and manage a regional data center that will enable Akin Gump to achieve centralized operations for the western United States and also provide redundant sites for improved business continuity and disaster recovery. In addition, the company will continue to provide around the clock service desk support for Akin Gump's offices worldwide.

Raytheon Company's Space and Airborne Systems was recently awarded an $8 million cost plus fixed fee contract to design and demonstrate the world's first Synthetic Aperture LADAR (Laser Radar) Tactical Imager (SALTI).

SALTI will provide the first airborne optical synthetic imagery capability to the warfighter. It will provide improved clarity of electro-optic wavelengths for imaging targets and will not suffer from the normal glint returns associated with common X-band synthetic aperture radar. SALTI promises to provide essential standoff and target identification to manned and unmanned airborne platforms with unprecedented resolution.

The contract was awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office with the Air Force Research Laboratory serving as technical and program execution agent. Contract work will be performed at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems facilities in El Segundo, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz; and Texas. Upon completion, Raytheon will deliver the SALTI system to DARPA's Advanced Technology Office.

Representatives of Zyvex Corporation, a molecular nanotechnology company, announced the sales release of the S100 Nanomanipulator System, a positioning and testing tool for nanotechnology research and development applications.

The S100 accommodates up to four quadrants of three-dimensional stages, which grasp, move, test, and optimally position molecular-level samples for scanning electron microscopes (SEMs). A joystick and illuminated keypad provide an unparalleled degree of control and resolution. Additionally, a selection of probes and NanoEffectors are available to enhance the range of testing.

The S100 Nanomanipulator System is part of Zyvex's mission of providing flexible, automated manufacturing at ever-decreasing sizes.

Based in Richardson, Texas, Zyvex Corporation is among the first molecular nanotechnology companies.

Representatives of Alcon, Inc. announced that the company has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its newest antibiotic product, Vigamox (moxifloxacin ophthalmic solution) 0.5%, after a six-month review. Vigamox solution contains moxifloxacin, a potent fourth-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic and is safe and effective for adults and children as young as one year old.

Vigamox solution, dosed only three times a day for seven days, treats bacterial conjunctivitis. Alcon has studied Vigamox solution extensively in three major clinical trials involving more than 1,400 patients.

Moxifloxacin is highly soluble, which allows it to be formulated at a higher concentration (0.5%) than other fourth-generation fluoroquinolones. It is very effective against many types of harmful bacteria that infect the surface of the eye. Vigamox solution also shows enhanced coverage of difficult-to-treat Gram-positive bacteria, a class including Staphylococcus and Streptococcus, which account for an estimated 80 percent of eye infections. It is also highly active against Chlamydia, as well as other emerging bacterial threats.

In addition to its therapeutic benefits, Vigamox solution is robust enough to be formulated without the preservative benzalkonium chloride, as a result of the inherent antimicrobial activity of moxifloxacin. It also has a near-neutral pH, resulting in a low incidence of stinging when applied in the eye - an especially important consideration for children. Furthermore, Vigamox solution provides excellent penetration into ocular tissues. Alcon expects Vigamox solution to be available within several weeks.

Representatives of Permeo Technologies Inc. announced the addition of Andrew Morbitzer as vice president of marketing and Bill Nelson as director of product management.

Morbitzer brings more than 10 years experience in developing successful marketing organizations for global enterprise security companies. In his new role, Morbitzer will be responsible for leading the development and execution of corporate and product strategy, worldwide communications and the positioning of Permeo as the worldwide leader in application security.

Prior to Permeo, Morbitzer was responsible for marketing at Imperito, an enterprise network security company, where he led strategy, product management and corporate marketing. Previously, he was vice president of marketing for Baltimore Technologies, a leading Internet and wireless security solutions provider, where he oversaw the successful launch of the company's hosted security services. Morbitzer has also held senior management positions with Cylink and IBM.

Bill Nelson, also a seasoned 10 year veteran in security joins Permeo to head up the product development area. Nelson was formerly a product director with NetScreen Technologies, Digital Link, Tiara Networks, and Hughes LAN Systems. Nelson has also held software development positions with IDEA and Retix.

Representatives of Electronic Design News (EDN) magazine announced at an awards banquet in San Francisco that two products and an analog engineer from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) were chosen as winners of its 2002 "Innovation/Innovator of the Year" awards competition. While TI's dual-core OMAP5910 took home the DSP award, the THS4302 wideband fixed gain amplifier won the Analog ICs semiconductors category. Receiving the award for "Innovator of the Year" was Dr. Badih El-Kareh for his role in the development of TI's BiCom-III process technology.

Dr. Badih El-Kareh led the team that developed TI's BiCom-III process technology - one of the industry´s first complementary bipolar silicon-germanium (SiGe) process. The development required several novel features to meet the needs of high-performance analog applications. The process is the first to integrate both NPN- and PNP-type bipolar transistors to take advantage of the exceptionally high speeds of SiGe. The complementary bipolar transistors enable op amp and high-performance mixed-signal product designs to increase speed up to three times while reducing noise by as much as one half. Devices designed with the process operate much faster, over wider operating ranges, and with greater precision than comparable products.

OMAP5910 is among the first heterogeneous processor (combining a RISC-based microprocessor and a DSP) developed and targeted for broad multimedia-rich applications, including biometrics, web pads, gaming consoles, personal medical instrumentation and point-of-sale terminals. Combining in a single device TI´s TMS320C55x DSP core and the TI-enhanced ARM925 microprocessor, the OMAP5910 processor optimizes the performance of both real-time, processing-intensive tasks and control functions. Performing both tasks with a RISC processor compromises performance. However, combining an ARM processor (suited to orchestrating command and control) with a DSP (ideal for computation-intensive signal processing tasks) optimizes system performance, as the system allocates specific tasks to the most appropriate device.

The first product in a new family of high-performance fixed gain amplifiers, the THS4302 increases speed three times over comparable devices. With high speed and low distortion, the device is well suited for driving high-resolution data converters for a wide dynamic range in digital signal processing. Manufactured using TI's new BiCom-III process, the high amplifier bandwidth benefits wireless infrastructure equipment, such as base stations and relay stations, with more channel capacity and wider bandwidth packed into less space. As well as being an attractive alternative to radio frequency (RF) amps, the THS4302 class AB operational amplifier (op amp) allows advanced semiconductor test equipment to keep pace with future generations of high-performance products that are now in development. Additional product designs, such as variable-gain and differential amplifiers, high-speed ADC and read-channels, are now making use of this new technology.