Kelley Taptich, senior director of admissions at DeVry University’s Fort Washington Campus, gave a presentation on career-focused degree programs offered at DeVry University that prepare students for in-demand career fields at the University's National Open House event held in Fort Washington, Pa., on August 7th.

These days, it seems it’s all about those growing career opportunities.

On Saturday, Devry University locations in Fort Washington and Center City were part of a national open house program focused on healthcare technology and information services careers, industries where job growth is projected.

In Fort Washington, the school offered 50 students and adult learners the chance to meet with faculty and staff around its college of engineering and information sciences program, organizers say.

Prospective students could talk shop with administrators about majors that include computer technology, network administration, biomedical engineering, game simulation and multimedia design. Career service counselors also were on-hand to discuss the job market.

DeVry’s programs often cater to national growth markets, like healthcare technology, which is expected to see an increase in job demand of 20 percent through 2018, and computer and information systems — which expects a 17 percent growth through the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Computer network, systems and database administration is expected to see a 23 percent increase.

Though its Center City campus — which opened in 2004 — was predominently business-oriented, in the last year, the DeVry campus’s focus has shifted to tech. “We found in the last year that we’re getting a lot more interest from employers in our technical majors,” President of the Center City campus Adena Johnston says.

Update: removed company names.

If you’ve ever kept a cheat sheet or post-it note by your desk to help you navigate your company’s bloated software, Electronic Ink wants to help.

“A lot of software is given to coders without any consideration of the end user and how they want to use the application,” says Jim Richardson VP of business development at Electronic Ink and a Temple grad.

Electronic Ink, located a stone’s throw from City Hall, is a design firm that helped IBM design OS/2 and helped Citibank create and design the first ATM machines.

“Think about it,” says Richardson of the design challenges posed by ATMS, “getting people to move from the bank lobby to the corner without any training [is remarkable].”

The company of roughly 100 employees specializes in helping businesses simplify applications and software, often through simple design tweaks to help end users stop from pulling their hair out and to help save companies money. The company has racked up hundreds of clients since its early days of ATM design.

We chatted with Richardson about making financial markets safer through design, saving one utility company millions and why his firm plans to no longer be Philadelphia’s best kept secret.

Jim Richardson, VP of Biz Dev at Electronic Ink

As always, edited for length and clarity

Well, I’ve been here two months and it’s interesting. The biggest challenge is moving from being one of 22,000 to a more entrepreneurial environment [of 100 employees].

For people who don’t know, can you sum up what Electronic Ink does?

We are a design firm that focuses on improvement and making technology usable for end users. We get in the middle between the technology and the user and bring a layer of design to the business process that allows the user to use to the technology as intended… our focus is to make technology useful.

Can you give us an example?

I’ll give you two that resonate pretty clearly. We were hired by [a large stock exchange] to help them bring a level of sanity and usefulness to their fraud detection software. These specialists would monitor thousands of buy/sell trades every hour as tabular data – in the form of home-grown Excel worksheets. They called us in, and we were able to recognize not what they wanted, but what they needed was a more visual system that allowed them to see trends in a graphical format.

The second example is that we were hired by [a utility company] that manages the energy grid in 14 states. They had these engineers that were stations at a circular desk that and were surrounded by seven monitors looking at the distribution of power across the grid. They found that a single human could not absorb all that data and keep the distribution of that power within pre-defined high and low metrics. If anyone grid got [out of whack], PJM was being fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We then developed a cheap graphical representation of the data on a single monitor where they can quickly see how power is being used. Since then, the fines have gone down exponentially.

It sounds like Electronic Ink is a design firm in the broadest sense of the word. Sometimes we think design as images on a screen, but this is design as it applies to everything.

I like to describe it as design around business process… We had a client where we changed the term “remuneration” to “paycheck” to increase use. Some of these are very simple.

Can I say that all I can think of throughout these examples is: “I wish these guys would tackle SEPTA?”

[laughs] Give us a name and we’ll talk to the folks at SEPTA.

How does Electronic Ink interact with the robust design community here in Philadelphia? How come we haven’t heard much from Electronic Ink?

Hopefully we’ll change that in the next couple weeks to make it so we are no longer the city’s best kept secret.

Every Friday, Technically Philly brings you an interview with a leader or innovator in Philadelphia s technology community. See others here.

That’s why we’re psyched to see Saturday’s all-day DIY Days, featuring an impressive list of innovative speakers ranging from writers to filmmakers to musicians to game developers, all there to try to figure out the future. Represented organizations include Wired, Weathervane Music, P’unk Ave, Philly.com’s Phrequency and more. Hell, even the Blair Witch Project made it on the list.

Our guess, which is hardly a guess? All are secret techheads. Gadget geeks. Media monsters. Which is why you should be there. You’re thinking: this must cost like a million bucks, right? Two Grants? A Benji?

What’s that? It’s free? Gosh it’s good to do it yourself.

Another hot development? Looks like a group of gamers is getting together to explore the possibility of bringing a LAN Party biz to the city. The complaint is that there’s plenty of LAN locales in the ‘burbs, but nothing that you can bike or walk to (unless you’ve got Schwarzenegger legs). As always, we’re psyched to see some more developments in Philadelphia’s gaming community, including this one from Philadelphia LAN Party.

For the Web developers, Philadelphia Drupal Camp is sold out, but waiting for last minute cancellations. And maybe you know somebody, wink wink. If you can’t make it in, you can always sharpen up on the basics with HTML for Beginners.

A few other events and plenty of links to our comprehensive events calendar, after the jump.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Monday, July 27: In this age of new media, it isn’t an inconvenience to know HTML. We tear up a little bit thinking that someone is willing to teach the language for free, as it’s practically as much a necessity for creatives as food, shelter and Photoshop. Join HTML for Beginners to refresh your memory on that markup or finally learn what the hell a DIV tag is. 7:00 p.m. Delaware County. RSVP. [view more events]

Friday, July 30: It’s a tough call for us: do we publicize the events that are already booked solid? Well, we gotta hand it to Philadelphia Drupal Camp for selling its tickets out like there’s no tomorrow. You never know how these things will turn out: they’re hoping to open some spots if anyone decides to drop out. But don’t count on it, Druppy. Mugging is not out of the question. Kidding. Kinda. All day. University City. DETAILS. [view more events]

Friday, July 30: Golly, when we were just tykes rattling away on our Dell PCs and homebuilts, we dreamed of having a car to head out to a LAN Party. It was the stuff that gaming dreams were made of. Now, a group is getting together to see to it that a permanent spot is initiated in Philly to house those get-togethers. Join Philadelphia LAN Party to help the planning process. A gaming party accessible by public transportation? We’re stoked. We’ll be the dudes hauling Blanda‘s gigantic workstation. 2:00 p.m. University City. RSVP. [view more events]

Saturday, August 1: We haven’t heard much hype ’bout this one, and why not? DIY Days is an all-day event with one of the most impressive list of local creative media entrepreneurs we’ve seen. It’s got a healthy dose of tech, and for those of us with art in our blood, filmmaker-, musician- and writer- innovators, too. An expected topic throughout the day: How do we monetize this stuff? Amen, folks. Amen. All Day. Center City. RSVP. [view more events]

If you have an event that you think we should be listing, email us. We promise that no email falls in to the contact form netherworld.

Even when the sun is shining and thoughts are drifting toward lounging at the Jersey shore, you aren’t afraid to grab a few drinks and stick to your meetup schedule.

Every event on our calendar this week is part of a monthly series, and most involve beer.

On Tuesday, grab a brew with Philly.rb at their pub night. We hear that they specifically hit on people using Ruby puns. And by “hear” we mean “hope.” The next day, IdeaBlob hosts BlobLive, its monthly open mic for entrepreneurs. Step on up and give an elevator pitch to complete strangers.

To close out the week, Philly Mapping and GIS host “Mappy Hour.” Talk cartography and get in on the group’s open source map project at a local watering hole.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Tuesday, July 21: Like they do every month, the Philly Ruby User Group will be grabbing some brews and talking Ruby, possibly on Rails. This week they set up shop at T.A. Flannery’s Saloon. While we’ve never been, being a Saloon, we assume that grown men can challenge other men to duels in the street outside. You know, like Hamilton. So bring your knowledge of databases and a revolver. On second thought, leave the revolver at home. 6:00 p.m. Rittenhouse. DETAILS. [view more events]

Wednesday, July 22: Bloblive is described by its creators as “open-mic night for entrepreneurs.” Attendees get a few minutes to stand up in front of attendees and give their best elevator pitch to the room typically eliciting advice and support from their peers. Bonus points if you can give your elevator pitch in the form of a short rap song. Bonus points from us anyway. 7:30 p.m. Art Museum Area. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday, July 23: Philly Mapping and GIS has its monthly “Mappy Hour,” a social gathering for all those interesed in the group’s open source map project. The group is taking a break from mapping University City to kick back a few beers and welcome new members. Just don’t show up late claiming you “couldn’t find the place.” 6:30 p.m. Center City. RSVP. [view more events]

If you have an event that you think we should be listing, email us. We promise that no email falls in to the contact form netherworld.

Two high-profile, Web-based Philadelphia startups each announced more services to their products recently.

Center City-based, event-planning social network i-Meet.com announced today its partnership with PlannerNet, a service aimed at helping its nearly 10,000 member organizations to find, rate and contract for project-based labor.

That move follows a host of new add-ons to PhindMe Mobile, a mobile Web direct-to-consumer advertising company based at Drexel University’s Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship, which came earlier this month, according to a company press release.

The new service offered by i-Meet, the brainchild of 17th and Oregon’s own John Pino, is said to identify professional meeting and event skills that are available worldwide, helping to match planner experience and projects for event organizers. It’s a move Pino hinted at during an interview with Technically Philly in May.

“In this challenging, economic environment, companies are becoming more inclined to staff their events on a project by project basis,” Pino says in a company press release. “By connecting our worldwide social network to PlannerNet, we’re… delivering qualified talent”

PhindMe’s new features are more varied, ranging from native smartphone applications to Twitter functionality.

The service will be able to publish a client’s mobile Web site as a native app for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android operating systems, a release from CEO Chuck Sacco read. Now a company’s existing blog or any other RSS feed can be easily integrated for mobile users. PhindMe additionally boasted the addition of Twitter-powered mobile pages, featuring custom Twitter feeds and remote mobile page editing. The site also announced it would now accept international payments.

If an interview we had with Sacco from April is any indication, these new features aren’t what are on his mind.

“Our future is less about cool new features and more about ensuring we have the most efficient ways to distribute our products,” Sacco told us. “Hopefully you’ll see some new distribution deals for us where we get our products into the hands of some big players and become known as the new standard for the mobile web.”

The software giant is said to be courting five major ad firms with the help of banker Morgan Stanley.

To refresh your memory, Microsoft acquired the agency, which has offices in Center City, in 2007 when it purchased Razorfish’s then-parent company, aQuantive. Since, many suspected that Microsoft would eventually sell the Razorfish brand.

But, according to the Wall Street Journal and other sources, the lack of credit in the market and a potential conflict of interest for buyers are putting the prospects of a sale in serious doubt.

To help sweeten the deal, Microsoft is offering advertising inventory across its Internet properties such as Bing, XBox Live and MSN.com as well as the use of the company’s “ad technologies.” Which, we can only presume, means the Bill Gates’ secret chamber of hamsters running on wheels that power the interwebz.

Some estimates even have Razorfish selling for as low as $400 million, roughly equal to its 2008 revenue.

However, it may take more than the above incentives to persuade prospective buyers. By agreeing to use Microsoft’s ad technologies, the company is forcing buyers, who are advertising agencies that often buy advertising against Google and Microsoft search results, to get into bed with Microsoft.

To top it all off, Microsoft may not even be not fully committed to selling the company in the first place. Because of Microsoft’s reluctance, the lack of a credit market and the potential of alienating Google, the chance of a deal happening in the next few months is “less than 25 percent.”

Razorfish, formally known as Avenue A | Razorfish, counts Center City among one of its sixteen worldwide offices and is responsible for the current Philly.com design, among other projects.

All in favor of giving the city that can claim to be the birthplace of this nation an extra day off for Independence Day say “aye.”

Great. Now that we gave ourselves an extra day for the weekend, you’ll be delighted to know that this week’s calendar features BBQs, hacking and happy hours galore.

Refresh Philly is taking a short break from trying to solve our city government’s technology problems to get together for a happy hour at Triumph. Come for the fellowship, stay to measure the huge brewing equipment to see if you can fit it in your basement.

The happy hours continue on Wednesday with Center City district‘s Sips event. PANMA and various marketing groups will be on hand to help you join the association that is right for you on what is the self-proclaimed “happiest happy hour.”

You will have to finish working on your time machine by Thursday as Philly Startup Leaders host a BBQ (previous coverage here) at the same time the Philly Cocoa Heads hold their monthly meetup.

And on Saturday, cap it all off with relaxing stroll through The Hacktory at the group’s Open Hack event.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Monday, July 6: Refresh Philly gets together for their bi-monthly happy hour giving new members a great chance to come out and get acquainted, while current members can catch up with one another. The event is being held at Triumph Brewery, which has the best burgers in Old City apart from the Snow White diner (yeah, I said it). One strange aspect of the happy hour: it’s being sponsored by a Washington DC-based Web design firm. 6 p.m. Old City. RSVP. [view more events]

Wednesday, July 8: Drink specials abound as Center City’s creative associations gather for a happy hour at Lucky Strikes. Though I personally believe bowling alleys to be the 5th circle of the underworld, the event will also feature free appetizers. Groups like PANMA, The Greater Philadelphia Film Office and various marketing and advertising associations will be in attendance waiting to accept you with open arms and $4 cocktails. 5 p.m. Center City. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday, July 9: Philly Startup Leaders are celebrating summer in the city with a BBQ on South Street. Come for the community, and stay for the door prizes, which include an iPhone. See our complete coverage of the event from last week for more details. 5:30 p.m. South Street. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday, July 9: If the holiday gave you enough BBQ to hold you over for a couple of weeks, head on over to the old Indy Hall for a the monthly meetup of the Cocoa Heads. The crew from TweetDeck will be on hand to talk about their trials and tribulations in porting the app onto the iPhone. The group is admittedly more suited for beginners, so come out and get a head start on developing the next iPhone app that doesn’t involve bodily functions. 7 p.m. Old City. RSVP. [view more events]

Saturday, July 11: Kicking around in my brain somewhere is a fan fiction where MacGyver discovers the Hacktory and we finally get the flying car, the cure for cancer and a way to buy Septa tokens at the Tioga El stop. The nonprofit is holding an Open Hack, which is exactly what it sounds like: a loosely structured block of time where the Hacktory opens up its space to all those interested. At the very least, go to congratulate  them for their $10,000 grant. 1 p.m. Fairmount. RSVP. [view more events]

You’re thinking, “I wish I could design a map using Twitter that was a good user experience and utilized Google Book Search.”

Well Technically Philly reader, you’re in luck! Our fair city has a diverse slate of events this week that will make your strange hypothetical dream a reality in no time.

Get started after work on Tuesday and join the pun-loving OpenStreetMap enthusiasts over at the Prohibition Tap Room for “Mappy Hour.” Although, you shouldn’t have too much to drink, as it is awfully hard to chart the trails in Fairmount Park when you can’t walk straight.

PhillyCHI (which is not a box score for the upcoming Phillies-Cubs series) is getting together Wednesday to listen to Kyle Soucy, their former chair, talk usability testing. This is the first time in weeks that the group has held an event in city limits, so you best take El out to University City if you have been meaning to catch PhillyCHI in action.

On Thursday, you can either continue the usability theme with the UX Book Club meeting over at P’unk Ave, or you can head to Center City for the June Philly Tweetup.

Round out the week on Friday as University City continues its Google obsession with a meeting about how Google Books and Google Scholar affect librarians. Librarians, whatever you decide, please leave the card catalog alone. That thing is awesome.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Tuesday, June 23: There are two kinds of events held by Philly’s OpenStreetMap group: the drinking kind and the mapping kind. This one is the former as the group is socializing and talking cartography in Center City. If you have a GIS (geographic information systems) itch to scratch, we recommend you show, as they are beginning to plan their next mapping party set for the end of the summer. 6:30 p.m. Center City. RSVP. [view more events]

Wednesday, June 24: If you’re new to the concept of usability testing read Don’t Make Me Think, then head on over to this week’s PhillyCHI meeting where Kyle Soucy will teach you everything the laymen needs to know. Demos will be available as Saucy covers everything from different testing techniques, to making sure you should be testing in the first place. And she would know, Saucy has had clients as large as the pharmaceutical company giant Pfizer and is the former head of PhillyCHI. 6:00 p.m. University City. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday, June 25: Make it two days of UX in a row at the venerable P’unk Ave for a chat about the book Art and Fear with the UX bookclub. Kind of like Oprah’s book club, but less “Tom Cruise jumping on couches” and more “books about avoiding mission creep in design projects.” If you can’t make it out, or you haven’t read the book, next month’s pick is A Project Guide to UX Design. We expect a report on our desk by Friday. 6:30 p.m. Passyunk Square. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday June 25: If user experience isn’t your cup of tea, this month’s Philly Tweetup should provide you with a breezy alternative. The city’s Twitterers will be gathering at McGillins, a bar that is easy to miss being tucked away on Drury Lane. We hope the city’s most popular users don’t all show up at once, lest the Center City cell phone towers crumble under the weight of a tweet every 3.4 seconds. 6:30 p.m. Center City. RSVP. [view more events].

Friday, June 26: As any journalist can tell you, Google can shake up entire industries and turn them upside down. Google Book Search has recently been catching heat from the publishing industry and the U.S. Government and Google Scholar has caught the attention of researchers. Affected by both, local librarians and publishers are gathering at Drexel to talk about the search giant’s role in their respective industries with Drexel’s iSchool. No word on whether a Bing session is planned. 9:00 a.m. University City. RSVP. [view more events]

That makes this week a good time to catch up on those groups and events that you have been meaning to get around to, but haven’t had the chance.

We hate to break it to you, but Monday this week is a empty void on our calendar giving you no excuse to take off today. Tuesday, however, be sure to make it out to The Federal Reserve Bank for some practical talk on social media with the Entrepreneurs Forum.

Continue the social media trend the next night out in the burbs, with a seminar on how to make money using Twitter. Then, make like Washington on Thursday and venture on over to Swanky Bubbles in Cherry Hill for the growing NJ and Philly Tech meetup.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Tuesday, June 9: The Entrepreneurs Forum will be hosting a panel discussion at the Fed on 7th and Arch about ways to leverage Twitter, MySpace and Facebook for businesses. Though, we aren’t quite sure what self-respecting business would use MySpace, record labels excepted. Francis X. Taney of law firm Muchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney is heading up the discussion that promises to get underneath the hype surrounding social media and focus on what’s important: how it can make you money. Bring your Web 2.0 bingo cards for added fun. 5:30 p.m. Center City. RSVP. [view more events]

Wednesday, June 10: It may be a little bit of a hike, but try to make your way out to Royersford to hear Chatterbox Social Media and L.B. Marketing present on how to make money on Twitter. Since Twitter doesn’t even know how to make money on Twitter, we are all ears. Though, I’ll admit, any sentence with the word “Twitter” and “marketing” makes me want to run to the woods, lock myself in a cabin and just hang in an IRC chat room for old time’s sake. 6:30 p.m. Royersford. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday, June 11th: Head over the Ben Franklin Bridge to hang in Cherry Hill for the NJ and Philly Tech meetup. According to the Meetup group, the group is growing, so catch it before it explodes. If enough members show, the meetup will change from a social gathering to a tech discussion. If the discussion is not enough to satisfy you, just thank your lucky starts you are in beautiful South Jersey, birthplace of the city’s best looking tech blog writers. 7:00 p.m. Cherry Hill. RSVP. [view more events]

Every Monday morning, Technically Philly will preview the best free tech events in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. See others here. Check our comprehensive events calendar here.

Assuming the feeling is mutual, while we’re not expecting you to spend your evenings relaxing in parks or sipping cocktails on sidewalk cafes, we are sayin’ it’s an excuse to get to some local tech events.

There’s something going on every day of this week, if you have an hour (or five) to spare.

On Monday, Refresh Philly is brainstorming up ways to improve Philly with special guests Johnny Goldstein of Envizualize and Livia Labate of IA Design Games to help smooth out the process and explain how they get their ideas out on paper.

Tuesday, talk mobile apps for social change with the Net Tuesday crew, but don’t get too hippie-dippy on us. Web Analytics Wednesday is flying in two speakers from behavioral analytics firm Quantivo to discuss the obvious.

Drexel’s 2009 Entrepreneur Conference happens Thursday, an all-day event with a great lineup of speakers there to talk all things innovation and business.

Finally, on Saturday don’t miss HigherEdCamp, which we covered late last month. After hosting our own BarCamp unconference, we have high expectations for this meetup about all things post-secondary education.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Monday, June 1: Brainstorm ways to Refresh Philly with help from Johnny Goldstein of Envizualize and Livia Labate of IA Games who have some tips on getting those thoughts to paper in creative ways. 6 p.m., Center City. RSVP. [view more events]

Tuesday, June 2: Members of the Net Tuesday crew return from the 4th annual NetSquared to report on interesting mobile apps for social change they saw at the conference. And no, that doesn’t mean the iPhone breathalyzer app. 6 p.m., Old City. RSVP. [view more events]

Wednesday, June 3: You wanna talk about clout? Let’s do that. Web Analytics Wednesday has two peeps from Quantivo flying in from California to discuss behavioral analytics for the Philly scene. Oh yeah, the first round of drinks is on them. You can bet your metrics there’s gonna be a second round. 6:30 p.m., Old City. RSVP. [view more events]

Thursday, June 4: Desperate times call for desperate measures, and entrepreneurship is often better for it. Reps from Elizabethtown College, Morgan Lewis, Drexel, Disc Makers and Wawa will help prove the point at Drexel’s 2009 Entrepreneur Conference. 8:00 a.m., University City. RSVP. [view more events]

Friday, June 5: Springboard Media will host a free session for learning how to backup your most important files. Whether it’s your Stoya video collection or your work files, don’t miss it. 5:00 p.m., Center City West. RSVP. [view more events]

Saturday, June 6: Philly’s latest BarCamp-style unconference, HigherEdCamp, will be held this weekend to discuss higher education among local university innovators and techies. Be sure to check our coverage of organizer Dave Konopka for more. 9:00 a.m., University City. RSVP. [view more events]

Every Monday morning, Technically Philly will preview the best free tech events in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. See others here. Check our comprehensive events calendar here.