TECHburgher :: Putting some sizzle in the Pittsburgh technology sector.

The week before Christmas typically sees a complete slow down of business across the board. Those of us trolling for local tech news only find dribs and drabs. You’d especially think so with the recession  and all the related hoopla. For some reason this has not been the case here in Pittsburgh. Press releases keep rolling in. Despite the doom and general gloom, bright spots abound. Check out these news releases from Council member companies. Great stuff!

Eaton’s Electrical Group Solidifies Participation In U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s PaYS Program

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation today announced its Electrical Group has signed an agreement formalizing participation in the U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s Partnership for Youth Success (PaYS) program.

The program was developed to help the Army attract, train and deploy talented young people who want to serve their country, but also want to secure their future professional and career success. As part of the agreement of the PaYS program, Eaton will consider appropriately qualified soldiers for employment once their Army service is complete.

“Eaton’s Electrical Group represents the type of quality company that the Army is privileged to partner with in promoting the care and future of our young soldiers,” said Lt. Col. Michael Matthews, commander of the Harrisburg Army Recruiting Battalion.

Enlistees in the program will gain specific job training and qualifications while in the U.S. Army. Once the service is complete, the soldier will be considered for employment by partner companies such as Eaton. This unique program is part of the Army’s effort to partner with America’s business community and reconnect America with the Army.

Plexcore® Printable Ink Improves Performance in Advanced Polymer OLED Devices

Plextronics, Inc. — an international technology company that specializes in printed solar, lighting and other organic electronics — announced  that its conductive ink has been shown to improve the performance of certain P-OLED devices.  P-OLEDs (Polymer Organic Light Emitting Diodes) are a fast growing, new generation of display technology, which promise to replace liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in many existing applications in the coming years, as well as create exciting possibilities for new product forms such as flexible or even wearable displays. 

Plextronics requested an independent validation of test data obtained from its Plexcore® Organic Conductive (OC) ink by Cambridge Display Technology, Inc. (CDT) – a subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. Data produced by CDT on Plextronics’ behalf show improved P-OLED operating voltages and voltage stability compared to other solution processed HIL alternatives that have been previously reported. 

For blue P-OLED test devices, a two volt reduction in initial operating voltage was achieved with improved voltage stability over the lifetime of the devices (less than 0.5V increase), a significant improvement over other solution processed HIL alternatives that have been previously reported.  Improving voltage characteristics in P-OLEDs is critical to reducing the power consumption of these devices, while maintaining or improving device lifetimes.  

Nation’s Largest Educational Institution Selects Panopto Lecture Capture System

Panopto, Inc. announced that Miami Dade College has chosen CourseCast as its lecture capture standard.  With eight campuses and over 160,000 students from across the world, Miami Dade College is the largest and most diverse college in the nation.
 
Miami Dade delivers nearly 300 academic programs spanning vocational, associate, and baccalaureate degrees and serves a large, dynamic, and increasingly diverse spectrum of student needs. Lecture capture technology is seen as a vehicle to help fulfill those needs. In particular, enabling a higher degree of student retention of class material, offsetting commuting expenses, and transcription and translation services are all seen a key enablers of Miami Dade’s strategic vision for achieving greater student outcomes.  

Karl Herleman, Miami Dade College’s Vice Provost/Chief Information Officer explains: “Miami Dade College has been on the forefront of incorporating technology that directly benefits our students and faculty. It is clear to us that lecture capture technology is becoming an increasingly core component of the higher learning infrastructure, and our early trials support this.”

“We evaluated several competing vendors in this category, and while we were originally attracted to Panopto for its business model, we were pleasantly surprised with their architecture and impressed with the product’s overall quality.” said Mark Nestor, Medical Campus Chief Information Officer, and program sponsor. “Faculty adoption has been encouraging. CourseCast’s ease of use, flexibility and scalability makes it a simple solution for our instructors as well as our IT staff – which is critical for a successful adoption at a campus of our size.”

Brad Winney, Panopto’s President and CEO stated: “Miami Dade College has been great to work with. From a vendor’s perspective it is always rewarding to be told that you have a great product, but more importantly, to be told so by an institution that aggressively pursues technology on behalf of its students is even more gratifying. Miami Dade was well aware that lecture capture is quickly becoming a utility that students are simply going to expect, and that a product like CourseCast would meet student needs.”