UNO’s College of Engineering presents Technical Excellence Award to M S Benbow & Associates
NEW ORLEANS—(March 3, 2009)—The University of New Orleans’ College of Engineering recently presented the John Noll Crisp Award for Technical Excellence to MSB Consulting Engineers at its Thirteenth Annual Engineering Recognition Awards Ceremony. The prestigious award recognizes the firm’s role as Lead Consulting Engineer and Project Manager for the Louisiana Region One Interoperable Communications System. MSB’s Leo L. Holzenthal, Jr. was given special recognition for his contribution as Project Manager.
The Louisiana Region One Interoperable Communications System provides emergency communications for police, fire and medical service providers in the four southern Louisiana parishes of Orleans, Plaquemines, Jefferson, and St. Bernard. The system also provides computer dispatching at fifteen E9-1-1 centers and public safety offices located within these parishes.
“This project exemplifies the spirit of the John Noll Crisp Award,” said Dr. Russell Trahan, Dean of the College of Engineering. “The system is the first of its kind to employ all digital voice transmission in a public safety radio system covering such an expansive geographic area.”
The John Noll Crisp Award for Technical Excellence, named after retired UNO Dean of Engineering John N. Crisp, recognizes significant engineering and technical accomplishments by a local corporation or other entity. The awards ceremony was held in late January at the Homer L. Hitt Alumni Center on the UNO campus.
The award winning project is an advanced P25 mixed spectrum 700/800 MHz digital two-way radio transmission system and provides communications services throughout the entire region including water and marsh areas. Service also extends to portable in-vehicle radio coverage on all accessible roads, as well as inside physical structures within the metropolitan New Orleans area. In addition to digital voice radio capabilities, the system provides secure, high-speed wireless data access to subscribers throughout the region.
The project was both a technical and institutional success. “This communications system allows over 70 primary public safety agencies throughout the region to talk to their officers and to other outside agency personnel in a direct fashion that was never possible before,” explains Leo L. Holzenthal, Jr., the MSB Consulting Engineers Project Manager.
The systematic approach applied to this project required that all participating agencies cooperate in the development of their own communications operations. “The technical skill and cooperation demonstrated by so many municipal entities is unprecedented. Without such a partnership, the design and implementation of this system would not have been possible,” emphasizes Michael S. Benbow, CEO of MSB Consulting Engineers.
UNO and MSB Consulting Engineers recognize and congratulate the following organizations for their contribution in the planning and implementation of the LA Region One Interoperable Communications System:
Jefferson Parish
- Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office
- Jefferson Parish Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
- Jefferson Parish Department of Telecommunications
Orleans Parish
- New Orleans Police, Fire & EMS Departments
- City of New Orleans Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
- Orleans Parish Communications District Department of Information Systems
- New Orleans International Airport Department of Information Technology
St. Bernard Parish
- St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office
- St. Bernard Parish Government Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Plaquemines Parish
- Plaquemines Parish Government Telecommunications Department
- Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office
Motorola Corporation
About MSB Consulting Engineers
MSB Consulting Engineers is a professional engineering firm that provides multi-discipline professional engineering services to public and private industry sectors. The firm offers engineering services in the fields of electrical, mechanical, civil and structural, instrumentation and controls, telecommunications, drafting and design, and project management. The company was founded in 1978 and represents clients throughout the Gulf South. The company’s corporate office is in Metairie, Louisiana with branch offices in Madisonville, Louisiana and Houston, Texas.
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