Elmhurst on ‘Best Value’ list

ELMHURST — U.S. News & World Report has placed Elmhurst College fourth in the Midwest among colleges and universities that offer the best value for the money. According to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings for 2017, Elmhurst shot up five spots this year in the Best Value Schools in the Midwest category, from No. 9 last year. U.S. News calculated the rankings by taking into account a school’s academic quality and cost. Elmhurst College also kept its No. 10 spot among 115 colleges and universities across the Midwest in the Best Regional Universities category, for institutions that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s degree programs and ranked 10th in the Midwest in the category of Best Colleges for Veterans. The category provides military veterans and active-duty service members with data on which top-ranked schools offer benefits that can help make a college education more affordable. “We’re very proud to see national rankings like U.S. News continue to affirm Elmhurst College as a higher-education institution of outstanding quality and value, not only for traditional undergraduates but also for graduate students and veterans,” said President Troy VanAken.

Waubonsee sets CTE events

AURORA — Individuals interested in a broad variety of career and technical programs will have the opportunity to sample programs through sessions scheduled this fall at Waubonsee Community College. The CTE Experience event will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the Aurora Fox Valley campus, 2060 Ogden Ave. Participants will learn about many of the college’s CTE programs in just one night, seeing specialized equipment and labs while having the opportunity to discuss programs with faculty and staff. For those seeking more detailed information about a specific program, Waubonsee offers ongoing CTE Essentials sessions from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays throughout the year at one of the four Waubonsee campuses. These sessions include facility tours, faculty talks, and information focused on program admission requirements and career prospects. To learn more and to RSVP for any of these events, visit www.waubonsee.edu/CTEevents.

Rubicon closes Malaysia plant

BENSENVILLE — Rubicon Technology announced plans to shut down its Penang, Malaysia facility by the end of the year. The Malaysia facility has been primarily engaged in producing polished and patterned substrates for the LED market and the decision was made in order for the company to focus on the optical and industrial sapphire market for the future. The company cited its high quality crystal, strong and developing U.S. customer base, and optical finishing capability as strong differentiators in the optical and industrial sapphire market and believes there are emerging applications in that market which will drive revenue and margin growth in coming years. “The sapphire industry continues to be very challenging with pricing for LED sapphire products continuing to decline throughout this year,” said Rubicon CEO Bill Weissman. “Given the market conditions, our strategy has been to build a business more focused on the optical and industrial sapphire market, where we have greater differentiation from our competitors and have interesting new technologies in development.”