Southern Indiana engineering program wins accreditation
The engineering program at the University of Southern Indiana has received the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology's approval. The endorsement by the Board is the result of years of hard work by the faculty, students, and community backers of the university engineering program at Evansville to gain accreditation. University president H. Ray Hoops hopes the accreditation will attract more students to the university and help fulfill the demand for qualified engineers in the southwestern Indiana region. At present, engineering students at the university specialize in civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering.
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company buys Lummus Global for U.S. $950m
Texas-based engineering firm Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) will purchase Swiss engineering giant ABB Ltd.'s Lummus Global for U.S. $950 million. The deal will see completion in the fourth quarter after receiving approval from the regulatory authorities and CB&I shareholders. Lummus, which has 2,400 employees and reported sales of U.S. $988 million last year, will hand over all activities to CB&I, including its proprietary process technologies, project management, and engineering and procurement services to the oil and gas industry. Fred Kindle, ABB president and CEO, stated that the plan to divest Lummus stems from the company's desire to give full attention to its central business in power and automation technology. ABB posted US$729 million as net profit in the three months through June, which is nearly double the net profit in the same period last year.
TDI Engineering award to Sorenson's VP-200® Videophone
Sorenson Communications' deaf-friendly design of its second-generation videophone, VP-200® videophone, bagged the prestigious Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.'s, (TDI) Andrew Saks Engineering Award at the 17th Biennial International TDI Conference in San Mateo, Calif. Founded in 1968 as a national advocate for equal telecommunications access for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, TDI's biennial award goes to companies which achieve outstanding design, electronic, or engineering accomplishment, improving telecommunications access for the hearing impaired. Sorenson Communications' VP-200® videophone provides American Sign Language (ASL) users with crisp video images and smooth hand movements, crucial for their communication. Leading provider of Video Relay Services (VRS) for deaf and hearing impaired individuals, Sorenson Communications™ was the first company to design a videophone for the hearing-impaired and provide VP-200® videophones free of charge to those individuals who use ASL and have a high-speed Internet connection.
