Cad.Lab Names New Managing Director

Cad.Lab Inc., an Italian producer of software used in mechanical design, appointed Joseph B. Costello managing director and chairman of its board. Just three months ago, Costello resigned as chief executive of Cadence Design Systems Inc. to join Knowledge Universe, an education technology firm partly owned by former junk bond financier Michael Milken. “It was a case of misalignment,” Costello said. “What I wanted to do and what Milken felt he needed were a little different.” Costello said he plans to help Cad.Lab expand its sales presence outside Italy. Cad.Lab recently opened its worldwide headquarters in Santa Clara. Costello, 44, was widely credited with helping to build Cadence into a chip-design software powerhouse. He said he had also been approached in recent months about CEO vacancies at Silicon Graphics Inc., which has since named Hewlett-Packard’s Richard E. Belluzzo, and Apple Computer Inc., which has not yet named a permanent chief executive.