Who What Where

Scenechange and Green Hippo have merged to form Green Hippo Ltd. Nigel Sadler, formerly technical director of Scenechange, joins Green Hippo Ltd. as sales director. (www.hippotizer.com)

Wybron, Inc. has appointed Dusty Hudgins as western sales manager. (www.wybron.com)

Mark Leahy has joined High End Systems Inc. as the regional sales manager for Northern Europe. His territory includes UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States. He can be contacted at [email protected] (www.highend.com)

The ESTA Foundation has launched a new website at www.estafoundation.org. The ESTA Technical Standards Program publications are available for sale via download or hard copy.

4Wall Entertainment has hired Jim Schoenfelder to fill the newly created position of vice president of rental development. Schoenfelder will manage the expansion of the company's rental account base in New York. (www.4wall.com)

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted all of Color Kinetics' motions against Super Vision International, Inc. with respect to the validity and infringement of Color Kinetics' patents and inequitable conduct. The Court determined that there was no dispute of material fact and that Color Kinetics was entitled to judgment against Super Vision and that Color Kinetics' patents are infringed by Super Vision. The Court also found that Color Kinetics was not guilty of inequitable conduct regarding its actions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as alleged by Super Vision. The issue of damages will be determined at a later trial. Super Vision's patent infringement claim against Color Kinetics, relating to variable color lighting systems, is still pending. In other Super Vision news, Mike Bauer has been appointed president and CEO effective January 1, 2006. Bauer succeeds current president/CEO Brett Kingstone, who will continue as Chairman of the Board. (www.svision.com; www.colorkinetics.com)

Moving light technical specialist Scot Townsend has joined Clay Paky America as technical services manager, replacing Giovanni Zucchinali who has returned to Clay Paky in Italy. (www.claypakyamerica.com)

Lex Products has hired Steve Smith as business unit manager, stage and studio installation products. Smith will develop Lex's permanently installed product lines. (www.lexproducts.com)

Emma Thorpe has joined Martin Professional PLC's UK team as marketing coordinator. (www.martin.com)

Strand Lighting has appointed Kenneth Yeung as the new general manager of Strand Lighting Asia. (www.strandlighting.com)

Techni-Lux has added Felix Gallardo to its sales team. Gallardo has an extensive retail background and experience in music and touring production. (www.techni-lux.com)

Le Maitre Special Effects has moved distribution of ProStage Pyrotechnics for North America and Mexico to Central Florida. Mike Thouin will lead the new facility into operation. Ben Lembree will assist in the pyrotechnics distribution. After the transition, no pyrotechnics materials will be stored in the Ontario location, and all Canadian orders will originate from Groveland. In addition, Chris McKeown has moved from sales account manager to customer service representative. Ian Forster has been hired as account manager for the territories of Canada, North Central US, and Mexico. (www.lemaitrefx.com)

Lighting designer Randy Sabedra has been elected president of the Illuminating Engineering Society New York Section for a two-year term. He has served as the organization's vice president and co-chair of the IESNY Education Committee. (www.iesny.org)

Creative Technology North America has added Ken Maas as national sales director, based in the new Boston office. Eric Sigman joins the company's project management staff in Chicago. (www.ctnorthamerica.com)

Laser Design Productions is now the North American distributor for all Brash products. Demos are available by calling 702-450-7976. (www.laserdesignproductions.com; www.brashlive.com)

Lighting designer Avraham Mendall Mor of Lightswitch Chicago, has earned LEED certification. Mor is the second Lightswitch designer to achieve this certification, joining colleague Kelly Roberson. (www.lightswitch.net)

Leviton has appointed Donald J. Hendler as president and Stephen B. Sokolow as vice chairman of the board of directors. Harold Leviton will continue in his role as CEO, which he has held along with the position of president, since 1965. In addition, Leviton has appointed David Weigand to the position of product manager for lighting management systems. (www.leviton.com)

Design Partners, Inc. (DPI) of Hollywood, an association of lighting designers and directors of photography, elected Marisa Davis to partner. (www.dpi-ld.com)