Dr. Ninghui Zhu Joins Block Engineering as VP of Manufacturing and Packaging

Marlborough, Mass., June 19, 2009 /XpressPress/ Block Engineering, a leading developer of MEMS, laser and FTIR spectroscopy sensors, announced today the addition of Dr. Ninghui Zhu as Vice President of Manufacturing and Packaging. Dr. Zhu will lead the design and packaging efforts at Block for all products, including the miniaturized laser and MEMS based spectrometers, and will serve as a member of the executive team. Dr. Zhu joins Block Engineering from Santur Corp., a leading manufacturer of tunable lasers for telecommunications applications.

Dr. Petros Kotidis, CEO of Block Engineering, commented, “We have seen strong customer interest in the marketplace for our next generation MEMS and laser-based, miniaturized spectrometers. Reliability, high performance and low cost are key requirements for our products and Ninghuis’ strong experience in packaging and bringing such products to market are critical elements to our success.” His experience with highly reliable telecommunications products will be invaluable as we bring our products to market in the near future.

Dr. Zhu added, “I am very excited to join Block at this critical stage of the company’s growth path. Blocks Technologies in the MEMS, lasers and optical spectroscopy areas are creating new opportunities for revolutionary products in military and commercial markets, and I look forward to becoming part of this great team.”

At Santur, Dr. Zhu was Director, Component Engineering, and was responsible for significant cost reductions of their products through innovative design changes, outsourcing and contract manufacturing initiatives. Dr. Zhu has had a distinguished career in the field of electro-optical packaging, having worked at some very well-known companies including Lasertron, EM4 and Intel, prior to joining Santur Corp. Dr. Zhu holds PhD and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Nanjing University of Technology, P.R.China.

About Block Engineering

Founded in 1956, Block Engineering is a leading developer of high performance FT-IR spectrometers for chemical detection and analysis to military, government, commercial, and industrial customers. Its Mobile Chemical Agent Detector (MCAD) system, in partnership with Northrop Grumman Corporation, and, PORTHOS, a portable FT-IR spectrometer system, remotely detect chemical threats as far as 3 miles and protect against chemical warfare agents and weapons of mass destruction. Blocks systems are currently used to protect critical infrastructure in the Washington Capital region. Following this success, Block has applied its extensive knowledge of spectroscopy and chemical detection towards revolutionary MEMS-based, miniaturized, laser and FT-IR spectrometers, such as the ChemPen, a low cost, FTIR chemical detector the size of a fountain pen.

Block Engineering is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA. For more information, visit www.blockeng.com.

Contact:
Ms. Flo Ramonas
508-251-3100

Source: Block Engineering