what's new
FYI
By Lindsey Aspinall

PEOPLE

Vision Service Plan (VSP) has named Elaine Leuchars the vice president of human resources. She has been with VSP for 12 years.

Stacy Lee, a new lensconsultant with Younger

Stacy Lee has joined Younger Optics as a retail lens consultant to Northern California and parts of Oregon, Montana, and Colorado.

George Fredo has been appointed the director of sales for Quantum Innovations, Inc. Prior to joining Quantum, Fredo was a sales representative with Signet Armorlite.

CooperVision's Nikki Iravani, OD, was promoted to vice president of clinical research and professional/ academic affairs, while Harvard Sylvan, OD, has joined the company as director of professional development. In addition, Mark Andre, FCLSA, now leads CooperVision's academic program.

Mike Brown has joined Practical Systems, Inc. (PSI), as the technical sales manager in the Southeast territory, and is responsible for sales growth and customer relations.

AWARDS

Essilor's Definity announced winners of its "Going Pro" promotion. There were two grand prize winners. The Essilor Laboratories of America Grand Prize Winner was Burt Rubin, an optician with Dr. Raffaele Petrosino in Wakefield, Mass. The Independent Distribution Division Grand Prize Winner was Mary Braun of Eye Care Professionals in Green Bay, Wis.

Optical Dynamics Corporation was a product category winner of the second annual Nanotech Briefs® Nano 50T Awards for the company's nanoCLEAR AR System.

BUSINESS UPDATES

(l to r): Tanith Belbin, Vistakon president Naomi Kelman, and Ben Agosto

Rudy Project has launched the "Show Us Your Rudy's" campaign on its Website, which will showcase photographs of loyal consumers and athletes wearing their Rudy gear.

Olympic Silver medal skaters Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto made an appearance at the Vistakon booth at the American Optometric Association (AOA) meeting held in Las Vegas.

PPG Industries, Inc., has introduced the "Trivex Lens Material User's Guide" in order to serve as a single source for ECPs seeking advice on prescribing, recommending, and processing lenses made from Trivex material. The guide is available through casters and distributors of Trivex lenses or online at www.ppgtrivex.com.

Eyefinity and Walman Optical announced that all of the Walman/ Soderberg labs have integrated with Eyefinity's ordering interface, thus enabling lab orders to move immediately into the production systems and resulting in faster processing.

CIBA Vision has recently launched its new Clear Care Website, www.clearcaresolution.com. The site is designed to demonstrate the unique features and benefits of Clear Care, a one-bottle lens care system.

HOYA Vision Care, Americas, recently announced an exclusive partnership with Callaway Golf Eyewear. HOYA will provide lens technology, designs, and prescription services for Callaway Golf Eyewear, including eight-base prescription sunglasses. The lens designs are available from +3.00D to –5.00D.

Bausch & Lomb received FDA approval to add a cold oxygen plasma treatment to the manufacturing process of gas permeable contact lenses made with Boston materials. Bombarding lens surfaces with ions in a vacuum may reduce lens hydration time, thus improving comfort for wearers without changing finished lens properties.

Thai Optical Group has partnered with Transitions Optical, Inc., in order to offer a broad range of Transitions lenses to a larger market. The partnership was sealed in June during a signing ceremony at the Thai Optical Group facility in Bangkok, Thailand.

Hydrogel Vision Corporation, manufacturer of Extreme H2O disposable contact lenses, has ceased business in Utah as a result of the new Utah law requiring CL manufacturers to sell products to mail order outlets, mass merchandisers, and other alternate distribution channels.

The Vision Council of America's (VCA) membership has expanded with the addition of eight new members to the organization. Davis Vision and Ice Tech Advanced Lens Technologies join the council's lab division, while Heidelberg Engineering is set to participate in the lens processing Division. In addition, Ocusoft, Inc., Quantum Innovations, Inc., and Retail Eye-wear, Inc. will be participating in the supplier division and Toki Eyewear Masunaga Group, Inc., and VisaV Eyewear will be participating in the eyewear and accessories division.

Alain Mikli was voted a top eyewear boutique in New York City. Zagat Survey recently gave it top quality honors in its 2006 New York shopping guide.

The Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry, (ARBO), has announced that online certificates are available through the OE Tracker Website. The site offers the ability to print a certificate online for any event that reported attendance to OE Tracker. ECPs should register online at www.arbo.org.

WaveLight, Inc., recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary as an ophthalmic medical device manufacturer of laser systems for the ophthalmology and aesthetic industries.

SynergEyes, Inc., recently closed a Series B round of financing totaling approximately $16 million. Stuart Sorenson, corporate partner in the San Diego office of Duane Morris, LLP, led the deal for the company with the assistance of Dawn Messick, an associate. Heller Ehrman represented the lead investor, DeNovo Ventures.

SAVE THE DATE

►Sept. 27, 2006. Eschenbach's seminar: "Low Vision Care...What's It All About?" in San Francisco. For more information, call 800-487-5389.

►Oct. 3-4, 2006. Eschenbach's seminar: "Low Vision Care...What's It All About?" in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Clearwater, Fla. For more information, call 800-487-5389.

►Oct. 11-13, 2006. International Optical Fair at Tokyo Big Sight in Japan. For more information, visit www.ioft.jp/english.

►Oct. 12-15, 2006. The EastWest Eye Conference in Cleveland. For more information, visit the Website www.eastwesteye.org.

►Oct. 18, 2006. Eschenbach's seminar: "Low Vision Care...What's It All About?" in Salt Lake City. For more information, call 800-487-5389.

►Oct. 27-30, 2006. Silmo, at the Porte de Versailles, Paris. For information, visit the Website www.silmo.fr.

►Nov. 2-3, 2006. Lighthouse International "Pediatric Low Vision Care" two-day course in New York. For information, visit www.lighthouse.org/ce or call Cathy Czeto at 212-821-9487.

►Nov. 3-5, 2006. The Optometric Management Symposium on Contemporary Eye Care, Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. For information, call 800-549-3656.

►Nov. 8-10, 2006. Hong Kong Optical Fair, Hong Kong Convention Center. For information, visit www.hkopticalfair.com.

►Nov. 9-11, 2006. OLA annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., at the Gaylord Palms Resort. For information, call 800-477-5652.

►Nov. 11-14, 2006. American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.aao.org.

►Dec. 6, 2006. Lighthouse International "Low Vision Management of AMD: A Practical Approach," Denver. For information, visit the Website, www.lighthouse.org/ce.

►Dec. 7-10, 2006. American Academy of Optometry at the Denver Convention Center in Colorado. For information, visit www.aaopt.org