Have you ever wondered what it takes to replace a projector 25 feet above the ground or what goes into refreshing classroom technology at UC Berkeley? If the answer is yes, then here is a glimpse into this process as our engineers, Vince Barma, Nich Caldwell, and Steve Johnson, refreshed 100 Lewis over the Winter Break in December 2021 - January 2022.
Looks Can Be Deceiving
While they both may look like just a bunch of wires and metal boxes, the Old Rack and New Rack couldn’t be more different from each other! The team has to replace and rewire the entire rack with all new equipment as the various pieces of equipment are part of a long, complex chain to route audio and video signals in the classrooms. This means not only a week of tearing out and installing the equipment, but also spending several days to prep, test, and preconfigure equipment before the installation date.
There’s a Basement in Lewis Hall?
Speaking of wiring, a fun perk of working as an AV engineer is finding new nooks and crannies on campus. For 100 Lewis, the team worked with the Lewis building coordinator to access the cable runs beneath the classroom!
Final Touches
For instructors and other presenters in our classrooms, the Touch Panel, Confidence Monitor, and Input Panel are where the magic happens. For the 100 Lewis technology refresh, the user interface changes consist of:
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Updated programming on the Touch Panel, which includes controls for the camera
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Addition of a Confidence Monitor to give instructors a visual to confirm the projection and video camera feeds going to Course Capture
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Realigned and clearly labeled A/V inputs
We hope this glimpse into the 100 Lewis classroom technology refresh helps you understand the steps involved in transforming our classrooms to support instruction at UC Berkeley. Please feel free to reach out to the Classroom Technology Services team at classroomav@berkeley.edu if you have any questions or feedback.
