Latest news with #BISM
CBS News
07-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Johns Hopkins students invent braille label printer for visually impaired workers at Maryland brewery
A group of engineering students at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland put their invention skills to work and delivered by building a printer that can add braille to beer labels. It's a tool that can also be operated by blind or visually impaired people. This isn't an ordinary beer can label. It comes from a machine that can print beer can labels in braille. And a team of students made it happen. "On our team this year. It was myself, Catherine, and then my other teammates were Sophia, Gabriella, and Crystal, and we're all seniors, or we were all seniors in the Johns Hopkins mechanical engineering department," said Catherine Pollard, a recent mechanical engineering graduate of Johns Hopkins University. Pollard explained that she spent part of her last semester creating this one-of-a-kind braille beer can label printer for Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (BISM). "We said, can you come up with an automated process to feed a roll of labels through a printer and put the Braille on that label exactly where we need it," asked Mike Gosse, the president of BISM, the state's largest employer of blind and low-visioned workers. "But how do we put Braille on other packaging and particularly cylindrical objects? We needed to do this, partly for our upcoming braille beer event, where we wanted to have a braille label on our beer can." The students took a few months to design and build a machine capable of punching braille text into plastic beer labels as well as card stock, glossy mailers, and other materials that commercial braille-friendly printers can't do. Pollard and her team also developed the software that allows a printer to communicate with a braille word processor, which the nonprofit can use in its office to create plastic labels. "Our goals for the project were defined by the requirements that we had. So there were a few applications that BISM wanted to use the printer in. One of these was printing rolls of labels. Another one was printing large sheets of paper," explained Pollard. Printer for the visually impaired Not only are the labels printed in braille, but the students designed it so that BISM employees with no or low vision can operate it. "But we wanted to have an automated process and a more accessible process, where you didn't have to be sighted to line up the label," said Gosse. "Accessibility means that blind people can go out and you can do almost every job that a sighted person can do, and that's why we want to make sure that when we think about everything we do here at BISM." "I think we delivered something that would improve their lives, and that's not something that you always get to see on the time scale of one year," said Pollard. According to Johns Hopkins, the students have already printed 400 labels for Blind Spot, a beer crafted by Baltimore's own Checkerspot Brewing Company in collaboration with BISM as part of an annual fundraiser for those with vision loss. The new printer will save BISM employees from having to use a manual press to punch braille dots into more than 1,000 labels for their next fundraising event in 2026. Janay Reece Janay Reece came back home to Baltimore to join WJZ in August 2023. Before coming back to the Charm City, Janay was a morning anchor and reporter for WDBJ7 in Roanoke, VA. She joined the WDBJ7 morning team after spending a year as a multimedia journalist in the New River Valley for the station.
CBS News
06-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Johns Hopkins students invent braille label printer for local brewery & visually impaired workers
A group of engineering students at Johns Hopkins University put their invention skills to work and delivered by building a printer that can add braille to beer labels. It's a tool that can also be operated by blind or visually impaired people. This isn't an ordinary beer can label. It comes from a machine that can print beer can labels in braille. And a team of students made it happen. "On our team this year. It was myself, Catherine, and then my other teammates were Sophia, Gabriella, and Crystal, and we're all seniors, or we were all seniors in the Johns Hopkins mechanical engineering department," said Catherine Pollard, a recent mechanical engineering graduate of Johns Hopkins University. Pollard explained that she spent part of her last semester creating this one-of-a-kind braille beer can label printer for Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (BISM). "We said, can you come up with an automated process to feed a roll of labels through a printer and put the Braille on that label exactly where we need it," asked Mike Gosse, the president of BISM, the state's largest employer of blind and low-visioned workers. "But how do we put Braille on other packaging and particularly cylindrical objects? We needed to do this, partly for our upcoming braille beer event, where we wanted to have a braille label on our beer can." The students took a few months to design and build a machine capable of punching braille text into plastic beer labels as well as card stock, glossy mailers, and other materials that commercial braille-friendly printers can't do. Pollard and her team also developed the software that allows a printer to communicate with a braille word processor, which the nonprofit can use in its office to create plastic labels. "Our goals for the project were defined by the requirements that we had. So there were a few applications that BISM wanted to use the printer in. One of these was printing rolls of labels. Another one was printing large sheets of paper," explained Pollard. A printer for the visually impaired Not only are the labels printed in braille, but the students designed it so that BISM employees with no or low vision can operate it. "But we wanted to have an automated process and a more accessible process, where you didn't have to be sighted to line up the label," said Gosse. "Accessibility means that blind people can go out and you can do almost every job that a sighted person can do, and that's why we want to make sure that when we think about everything we do here at BISM." "I think we delivered something that would improve their lives, and that's not something that you always get to see on the time scale of one year,' said Pollard. According to Johns Hopkins, the students have already printed 400 labels for Blind Spot, a beer crafted by Baltimore's own Checkerspot Brewing Company in collaboration with BISM as part of an annual fundraiser for those with vision loss. The new printer will save BISM employees from having to use a manual press to punch braille dots into more than 1,000 labels for their next fundraising event in 2026.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Berkley International Seguros México S.A.
MEXICO CITY, July 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of "aa-" (Superior) and the Mexico National Scale Rating (NSR) of " (Exceptional) of Berkley International Seguros México S.A. (BISM) (Mexico City, Mexico). The outlook of the Long-Term ICR is positive while the outlooks of the FSR and NSR are stable. BISM is a member of W. R. Berkley Insurance Group (Berkley Group), which on a consolidated basis has a balance sheet strength that AM Best assesses at the strongest level, as well as strong operating performance, a favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The positive outlook for the Long-Term ICR reflects the Berkley Group's favorable operating performance and balance sheet metrics. Berkley Group has grown its GAAP surplus organically over the most recent 10-year period. Additionally, Berkley Group has improved its financial leverage. These Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect BISM's substantial reinsurance support from its group through the Berkley Insurance Company (BIC). Additionally, the ratings factor in BISM's integration with its parent company, W. R. Berkley Corporation (W. R. Berkley), in terms of underwriting, ERM and capital commitments. BISM was formed in November 2016 and is one of W. R. Berkley's two Mexico subsidiaries. The company received regulatory approval for operations in June 2017 and issued its first policy in July of that same year. BISM offers a diversified slate of property/casualty products, backed up by treaty and facultative reinsurance contracts with BIC. BISM's strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is derived from its sound capital position, further strengthened by the 95/5 percent quota share and excess of loss contracts provided by BIC. Furthermore, AM Best recognizes W. R. Berkley's commitment to its subsidiaries through additional capital fungibility to the Mexico operation. BISM has been able to grow its business volume during the past eight years. Management and underwriting teams have successfully navigated changes in the market's economic dynamics in recent years. The company continues to take advantage of the reinsurance support received from the Berkley Group, which allowed BISM to generate positive bottom-line results in 2024, marking the fifth time since BISM began operations. This performance is also underpinned by premium sufficiency and further strengthened by investment income. If positive rating actions are taken due to the ultimate parent's operating performance showing continued and sustained outperformance of the strong peer group, BISM ratings would mirror those actions. A positive rating action could also occur if the ultimate parent's balance sheet metrics continue to improve, underpinned by improvement in its financial leverage while maintaining organic surplus growth. Negative rating actions could occur to the Berkley Group's insurance operations if the financial position of the ultimate parent weakens, requiring either the withdrawal of capital from the various insurance companies, an increase in financial leverage or a decline in interest coverage that is not supportive of the current ratings. BISM's ratings would reflect any rating actions taken as a result of the aforementioned scenarios. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Sebastian del Rio Associate Financial Analyst +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 117 Salvador Smith, CQF Associate Director, Analytics +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 109 Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318 Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
03-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Berkley International Seguros México S.A.
MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of 'aa-' (Superior) and the Mexico National Scale Rating (NSR) of ' (Exceptional) of Berkley International Seguros México S.A. (BISM) (Mexico City, Mexico). The outlook of the Long-Term ICR is positive while the outlooks of the FSR and NSR are stable. BISM is a member of W. R. Berkley Insurance Group (Berkley Group), which on a consolidated basis has a balance sheet strength that AM Best assesses at the strongest level, as well as strong operating performance, a favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The positive outlook for the Long-Term ICR reflects the Berkley Group's favorable operating performance and balance sheet metrics. Berkley Group has grown its GAAP surplus organically over the most recent 10-year period. Additionally, Berkley Group has improved its financial leverage. These Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect BISM's substantial reinsurance support from its group through the Berkley Insurance Company (BIC). Additionally, the ratings factor in BISM's integration with its parent company, W. R. Berkley Corporation (W. R. Berkley), in terms of underwriting, ERM and capital commitments. BISM was formed in November 2016 and is one of W. R. Berkley's two Mexico subsidiaries. The company received regulatory approval for operations in June 2017 and issued its first policy in July of that same year. BISM offers a diversified slate of property/casualty products, backed up by treaty and facultative reinsurance contracts with BIC. BISM's strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is derived from its sound capital position, further strengthened by the 95/5 percent quota share and excess of loss contracts provided by BIC. Furthermore, AM Best recognizes W. R. Berkley's commitment to its subsidiaries through additional capital fungibility to the Mexico operation. BISM has been able to grow its business volume during the past eight years. Management and underwriting teams have successfully navigated changes in the market's economic dynamics in recent years. The company continues to take advantage of the reinsurance support received from the Berkley Group, which allowed BISM to generate positive bottom-line results in 2024, marking the fifth time since BISM began operations. This performance is also underpinned by premium sufficiency and further strengthened by investment income. If positive rating actions are taken due to the ultimate parent's operating performance showing continued and sustained outperformance of the strong peer group, BISM ratings would mirror those actions. A positive rating action could also occur if the ultimate parent's balance sheet metrics continue to improve, underpinned by improvement in its financial leverage while maintaining organic surplus growth. Negative rating actions could occur to the Berkley Group's insurance operations if the financial position of the ultimate parent weakens, requiring either the withdrawal of capital from the various insurance companies, an increase in financial leverage or a decline in interest coverage that is not supportive of the current ratings. BISM's ratings would reflect any rating actions taken as a result of the aforementioned scenarios. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments.
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Johns Hopkins engineering students invent printer for Maryland brewery's braille labels
Engineering students at Johns Hopkins University invented a printer for a Maryland brewery that adds braille writing to beer labels, university officials said. Nonprofit Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (BISM) reached out to the university's mechanical engineering school in 2024, asking for a printer that could include braille writing. Inventing a beer label-friendly braille printer The students began designing and building the machine in September. University officials said the invention is able to punch braille text onto plastic beer labels and other materials that commercial braille printers are not able to accommodate. BISM is the largest employer of blind and low-vision workers in Maryland, according to university officials. The students were able to design the printer so that BISM employees with low or no vision can use it. Unlike other options, the students' printer has open hardware that makes it easier to operate. "You can reach your hand in and feel everything going on inside our printer. Having open hardware that allows people to touch all the components was important," said Catherine Pollard, a mechanical engineering senior and project team member. "We really took into consideration who would be operating the machine and how they were going to use it." The group of students also created software that helps the printer communicate with a braille word processor and photo design software that the nonprofit uses in its office. "Seeing how much adaptive technology BISM has already incorporated into their lives was inspiring, and it helped us understand how our product could slot into their day-to-day work," said Gabriella Hu, a senior in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The engineering students printed 400 labels for Blind Spot, a beer crafted by Checkerspot Brewing Company in Baltimore. The brewery works with BISM for an annual fundraiser that supports individuals with vision loss. The printer should prevent BISM employees from having to use a manual press to punch braille dots into thousands of labels next year, JHU officials said.
