The Problem
In response to the ever-growing Biotech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area, Solano Community College wanted a space that would be utilized to prepare students for real-world lab experience. PCD was chosen to design-build an audiovisual system that teachers would utilize in order to educate students on practical applications in a lab setting in order to enhance their job opportunities.
PCD’s Approach
Working under General Contractor Rudolph & Sletten, PCD did installations in each classroom to allow teachers to present content from local laptops or PCs to the 90” flat-panel TV in each room. The teacher station is conveniently located in the front of the classroom, while the equipment rack is hidden into the cabinetry of the teaching wall. Sterile anatomy labs with cameras and PA systems are utilized to coach students while simulating biochemistry procedures. The entire system for every room is controlled locally by PC and also remotely by the IT support team using a Utelogy control platform.
PCD’s Solution
PCD installed Sharp 90” commercial displays and Chief Manufacturing mounts for the classrooms and used Kramer video switchers and twisted pair solutions to deliver the signal to the various inputs and outputs designed per classroom. The Utelogy platform of control in the cloud was implemented providing a complete solution for the teacher station switching between the local PC, the Laptop, the Document Camera and a DVD player. Using Wolfvision ceiling mounted document cameras was the only logical high-quality solution to obtain the resolution needed for high-quality presentation of the sterile cadaver rooms while dissecting and explaining to the adjacent classroom what they are working on in the laboratory.
The Result
These interactive audio-visual installations allow biotech students to obtain real-world lab experience through state-of-the-art technology, giving students hands-on experience as they job hunt among the Biotech companies of Northern California such as Genentech, Biomarin and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT:
Karen Morgan Photography