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By Bob Calverley
USC Chronicle
DigitalXpress and the School of
Engineering have signed a memo of understanding for the St. Paul-based provider of satellite communications
services to deliver the school’s graduate degree courses to American corporations, starting in September.
The DigitalXpress-USC alliance enables employees of companies across the United
States to increase their knowledge base or to earn graduate-level degrees in a broad range of engineering
sciences from the convenience of their workplace. Courses are offered for the master of science degree
in several disciplines, as well as a variety of specializations within each field, including computer
science, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering and systems architecture and
engineering.
Interactive television courses are delivered from USC’s University Park
Campus in Los Angeles over the DigitalXpress satellite network in one-way broadcast video and two-way
interactive audio. Additional course materials are provided to complement the on-air segments. Most of
the USC engineering courses are taught by tenure-track faculty members.
Companies wishing to receive the USC graduate courses will be equipped with
simple DigitalXpress downlink gear, consisting of a small (0.9 meter) receiving antenna and a VCR-sized
receiver that connects to a television or other video distribution system. Existing DigitalXpress clients
can access the courses as a benefit of their participation in the DigitalXpress network.
To ensure continuity of service, USC will continue to provide direct broadcasts
to existing clients.
Once companies have installed the DigitalXpress downlink gear, they can also
take advantage of DigitalXpress services for company-specific broadcasts, including corporate communications
and employee training. The Digital-Xpress satellite network can serve multiple purposes without requiring
several sets of hardware or vendor connections.
“USC has been delivering engineering courses to corporations in Southern
California via micro-wave for 26 years,” said Leonard Silverman, dean of the School of Engineering.
“The partnership with DigitalXpress now gives us an opportunity to offer advanced continuing technical
education and degrees to a national audience. Earning a degree through our program typically leads to
significant career enhancement.
“With DigitalXpress as our partner, we can now offer the same high-quality
educational opportunities that our existing corporate students in Southern California and Arizona already
receive. We are enthusiastic about this new business/education partnership and are eager to send our
courses nationwide.”
Joel Wright, vice president of marketing and business development for
DigitalXpress, said the company has high hopes for the relationship with USC.
“We are pleased to inaugurate our business-education partnership with USC’s
highly acclaimed engineering school,” Wright said. “This history-making event clearly reflects our commitment
to be the market leader in providing corporations with business education and communications solutions.”
DigitalXpress specializes in high-quality, low-cost satellite-to-desktop
digital video, audio and data information distribution systems for businesses.
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