FMI has released its Third Quarter Engineering and Technical Professional Services Update. The Design Index has been slowly rising since April. As of September, the index is in the black. Gross revenues for the top 19 publicly traded design firms exceeded $30.6 billion, with combined earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization topping $1.9 billion. Only one firm had a negative EBITDA, and only three reported negative income for Q3 2012. The median debt to cash ratio is positive at $282 million in debt to $398 million in cash. However, the mean ratio still lags, with debt exceeding cash at $726 million in debt compared to $630 in cash and short-term investments. Click here for the report.