Re: Announcement from RSI

[Harold Cline <hjcline(at)home.com>]

Follow-up announcements will be posted to comp.lang.idl-pvwave in the
form of FAQ's.

Harold Cline, RSI

> 
> >> ANNOUNCEMENT <<
> 
> Posted on behalf of David M. Stern, Founder of RSI
>   by Harold Cline, IDL Product Manager
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
>  Kodak Announces Acquisition of Research Systems, Inc.,
> 
>  ROCHESTER, N.Y., and BOULDER, Colo., Sept., 25, 2000-Eastman Kodak
>  Company's Commercial & Government Systems (C&GS) business unit and
>  Research Systems, Inc., (RSI) today announced Kodak's acquisition of
>  RSI, a leading designer of software used by scientists, engineers and
>  others to extract information from images captured by sources such as
>  satellites, aircraft and meteorological devices.
> 
>        Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. RSI is based in
>  Boulder, Colorado and employs 140 people worldwide.  It will operate
>  as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kodak as part of Kodak's C&GS business
>  unit.
> 
>        RSI's software allows customers to "visualize" and interpret
>  complex data collected from remote sensing platforms such as earth
>  observation satellites and diagnostic instruments in a variety of
>  applications. The union of RSI's products with C&GS government and
>  commercial offerings will enable Kodak to win new business in such
>  markets as engineering, meteorology, oceanography, physical sciences,
>  insurance, construction, mineral exploration, medical and
>  government. The RSI acquisition augments Kodak's extensive image
>  analysis capabilities.
> 
>        "RSI's history of profitable growth, coupled with our
>  imaging-as-information initiatives, will result in a powerful force in
>  the remote sensing and imagery-derived information business," said
>  Carl A. Marchetto, president of C&GS. "This will enable Kodak to
>  provide complete end-to-end solutions to our customers who not only
>  want the best imagery but also integrated tools to extract information
>  as well.
> 
>        "Our joint efforts will ensure continued growth for both
>  organizations in the market segments we share and in those we choose
>  to pursue in the future," said Marchetto.  "There is significant value
>  to be derived from information that is extracted from remotely sensed
>  imagery and this is just one more step as we move to capitalize on
>  that value for our customers and shareowners."  "We very much look
>  forward to this new association with Kodak and we are pleased that we
>  now will be able to more aggressively pursue growth opportunities
>  which should take RSI to an even higher level of success in the
>  marketplace," said David M. Stern, founder and chief technologist of
>  RSI.
> 
>        RSI's key offerings include four market-leading products.  The
>  company's flagship product, the Interactive Data Language (IDL), is a
>  fourth generation software language for advanced scientific research.
>  The Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI) is a revolutionary image
>  processing application supporting data analysis from broad spectral
>  and radar sources.  RiverTools is a software tool kit used for digital
>  analysis of terrain and river networks.  IDL On The Net (ION) is a
>  sophisticated yet easy-to-use system that brings the power of RSI's
>  software to the Internet.
> 
>        Kodak's C&GS unit provides innovative image information
>  solutions to government agencies and commercial customers.  Examples
>  include aerial imaging, digital imaging systems for commercial imaging
>  satellites, and optical systems for land and space telescopes.  Kodak,
>  based in Rochester, New York, is the world's biggest imaging company,
>  with 1999 sales of $14.l billion, delivering "Images as Information".
> _________________________________________________________________
> 
> Additional information will be available soon on
> www.ResearchSystems.com,
> or address specific questions to info@ResearchSystems.com.