Briefly ...

Staff -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 12/1/2005

• Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., Buffalo Grove, Ill., announced the introduction of the first commercially ready wireless building automation system, APOGEE Wireless, which uses a mesh topology.
• U.S. Dept. of Energy and Social Security Administration officials last month dedicated a new solar array atop SSA's downtown Chicago office building, the city's largest federal solar energy installation and also one of the largest in the Midwest.
• The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Engineering last month was awarded the 2005 Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Presidential Award for Diversity. In the 2002–2003 academic year the college conferred nearly half of its 160 bachelor's engineering degrees on minority students.
• The smart materials market is expected to hit $12.3 billion in 2010, according to a report from Business Communications Co., Inc., Norwalk, Conn. The term refers to a class of materials able to respond dynamically to external stimuli such as heat, humidity, ultraviolet light and pressure.