Industry Briefs

• 07/20/06

:: NEWS

TABLET TRENDS. Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering has announced an industry alliance with Fujitsu Computer Systems and Microsoft to support the school’s new tablet computing initiative, which requires all incoming engineering freshmen to purchase tablet PCs. The alliance will offer students hardware and software purchasing power and support, as well as training and assistance. And at Winona State University (MN), a deal with Gateway was recently extended to include $6.5 million in M285 convertible notebook PCs and associated training, technical support, and services—all part of the WSU Laptop Program.

SOFTWARE TRAINING RESOURCE. Atomic Learning, a provider of web-based software training and tutorials, has launched a new website for the higher ed community: highed.atomiclearning.com. The site provides training for more than 100 applications, including specialized software programs, delivered via brief videos that answer frequently asked questions.

FACILITATING COURSE MANAGEMENT. A new software provider—ClassTop—officially opened its doors in June, in response to research identifying low instructor adoption rates for learning management systems (LMS) in higher ed. “The university instructors, CIOs, and instructional designers we interviewed said that their LMS is prohibitively time-consuming to use,” says Jared Allgood, ClassTop’s CEO. “ClassTop bridges the gap between a university’s implementation and an instructor’s adoption of an LMS by allowing instructors to work in a comfortable client-side environment, and then synchronize their content with the LMS.”

DISHING UP NUTRITION INFO. Professional services vendor Aramark has announced CampusDish, a new web portal that provides nutrition and dining information to college students via the web, dining-hall kiosks, and podcasting. Through the portal, students can download audio and video podcasts about dining menus, nutrition information, special events, promotions, and healthy eating options, and view meal plans, order catering and gift baskets, and apply for employment opportunities.

:: M&A, ETC.

STRATEGIC INTEGRATION. The newly integrated NEC Corporation of America has been established from the combined resources and assets of NEC USA, NEC America, and NEC Solutions. The company will offer a broad portfolio of IT, network, and visual display solutions.

CAREER SERVICES TECHNOLOGY. Enterprise vendor Jenzabar has announced a strategic partnership with CSO Research, a provider of automated career services solutions. CSO Research’s Interfase system, which manages resumes, cover letters, job listings, interview schedules, career fairs, counseling notes, and other career services, will now be available through Jenzabar’s web portal, allowing institutions to leverage career services for recruitment and retention.

:: PEOPLE

TWO EXECS TO MERU. Wireless infrastructure vendor Meru Networks has announced two new executives: Michael Tennefoss joins the company as VP of marketing; Dan Steimle as CFO. Prior to Meru, Tennefoss served as VP of marketing at Echelon, a provider of control automation networks. Steimle comes to Meru from telecommunications equipment supplier Turin Networks (www.turinnetworks.com), where he was VP and CFO.