TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 24 -- Lasertel Inc., a designer and manufacturer of high-power semiconductor lasers for the graphic arts and other markets, today announced that it has appointed Mark McElhinney to the position of Vice President of Engineering. Lasertel Inc. is a subsidiary of Presstek, Inc. Before joining Lasertel, McElhinney was the director of engineering at ADC, in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, where he oversaw the development and manufacturing release of high power laser products. Prior to that, he was a founder and technical director of Spectracom, a start-up laser company, which was later acquired by ADC. McElhinney has served in various other engineering roles at Pirelli Cavi in Italy and Motorola in the United Kingdom. He holds a Ph.D. in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) research from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He is an author of numerous publications in his field of expertise. Lasertel's Chief Operating Officer Bernie Walik said, "We are extremely pleased to have attracted someone of Mark's caliber to direct Lasertel's technical functions and resources. As vice president of engineering, Mark's focus will be on the development of external business; the design, development and launch of next generation laser products; quality assurance, as well as all other functions of the engineering department at Lasertel." Lasertel Inc. was founded in 2000 to design, manufacture and produce high- power semiconductor lasers for the graphics, industrial, defense and medical industries. Lasertel also offers customer specific products (CSPs), including fiber-coupled, multimode lasers with wavelengths, apertures, connectors and packaging designed to meet the customers unique specifications. Presstek, Inc. is a leading developer of digital laser imaging and chemistry-free plate technologies for the printing and graphic arts industries. Marketed to world-leading press manufacturers and directly to end users, Presstek's patented DI, CTP and plate products eliminate photographic darkrooms, film and toxic processing chemicals, reduce the printing turnaround time and lower the production costs. The company's Lasertel subsidiary supplies it with the valuable resources necessary for its next generation laser imaging devices.