INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457

IUPUI HOSTS FIRST GRADUATES OF ONLINE PROGRAM THAT ENROLLS STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE NATION

INDIANAPOLIS - Thanks to a one-of-a-kind online program at the
Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI, 23 students from Oregon to Connecticut will be certified to work in the growing field of servicing medical laboratory equipment when they become the program's first graduates in May.

The Clinical Laboratory Equipment Technology certificate program is the only program in the nation to offer certification for biomedical electronics technicians. The program began in 1999 as a resource for Roche Diagnostics to train employees for this position, but has now grown to include more than 80 students from companies across the nation. Students typically complete the program within two years.

"Hiring qualified individuals and developing current employees presents a challenge to any laboratory diagnostic company because of the uniqueness of our business," said Al Gould, manager of service training for Roche Diagnostics. "In addition, providing validation of an individual's qualifications through certification is becoming the 'norm' in all businesses."

"The program provides instruction to participants all over the country without travel. Students can learn anytime, anywhere they can connect to the web," said Barbara Christe, assistant professor of electrical engineering and director of the program. "This is ideal for companies looking to further train and certify their employees, because the content we provide is generally not available anywhere else."

The graduates will visit the IUPUI campus on May 1 to meet each other for the first time and to take their final exam. The Purdue School of Engineering and Technology will also host a dinner in their honor at 5:30 p.m. in the President's Room at University Place Hotel and Conference Center, 850 W. Michigan St.

For more information about the program, please call (317) 274-7591 or log on to http://php.iupui.edu/~bchrist2/ .

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