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     Announcements Press Releases In The News |
Summer 2004 Report If you would like more information on any of these projects or stories, please contact Jeff Wilde, Partner, at (212) 725-6800 or jwilde@smwinc.com. Helping to Get the Message Across A New College Campus From the Ground Up Young Cardiologists in Training Wowing ‘Em in Taipei We Won! Helping to Get the Message Across New York Tolerance Center, New York City
Acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, New York City Owner: Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles Size: 18,000 square feet Completion: Spring 2004 Challenge: The New York Tolerance Center (NYTC) is a training facility where professionals--educators, law enforcement officials, and others--learn about issues of prejudice, diversity, and cooperation. It includes a series of multimedia spaces, theaters, and classrooms all in close proximity. Shen Milsom & Wilke needed a way to keep noise from spilling from one space to the next. Solution: Special acoustical treatments are used throughout the NYTC. At the Hall of Memory theater, where films depict appalling instances of intolerance in our world, Shen Milsom & Wilke specified acoustic tile for the ceiling and special finishes for the seats and floors to keep the films’ drama within the hall. The half-height glass walls are specially sealed to keep noise levels outside to a minimum. In the Millennium Machine just outside the hall, where interactive technology is used to highlight global human rights issues, perforated metal acoustical material reduces echoes and maintains clear audio from the sound system. An 80-seat theater above the NYTC entry hall required special isolation from all of the adjacent spaces, including ceiling acoustical treatments and acoustical panels on side and rear walls. These measures contain the theater’s sophisticated sound system and keep noise from from leaking into the theater from the surrounding displays. A New College Campus From the Ground Up Cy-Fair College, Houston
Technology master planning, multimedia/audiovisual: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Houston Size: Five buildings on 200 acres Completion: August 2003 Challenge: The scale of this project was daunting: a brand new community college campus requiring an array of multimedia capabilities plus the infrastructure to support them. Equally daunting was the tight budget. Yet technology was one of the Cy-Fair’s top priorities—for the convenience of the staff and administration, to assist educators in presenting their materials, and to make courses richer and more accessible to students. Solution: To keep costs in line, Shen Milsom & Wilke first focused on creating a solid, campus-wide infrastructure to accommodate additional equipment and capabilities that will be incorporated as funding permits. There is wireless access throughout the campus and a wide-area network (WAN) links the campus to other campuses in the North Harris Montgomery Community College District. Each of the 82 classrooms and 22 computer labs are equipped with a projector, VCR/DVD, instructor computer, and cable TV. Shen Milsom & Wilke focused on finding reliable audiovisual products from single manufacturers so that the functionality is identical. This allows the campus to move equipment around as needed without much reconfiguration. Touch-panel controls make it easy to operate. Additional equipment is contained in portable carts and moved from room to room, as needed. Distance learning is important to every community college. Shen Milsom & Wilke answered Cy-Fair’s needs with a special classroom where the action can be recorded or Webcast. The room includes a “smart” podium, cameras--including a ceiling-mounted document camera, DVD/VCR inputs, and push-to-talk microphones. Activities from distant classrooms are displayed on high-quality monitors and a rear-projection screen. Young Cardiologists in Training Live...From the Heart, Museum of Science and Industry
Multimedia/audiovisual, acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Chicago Size: 1,800 square feet Completion: September 2003 Challenge: The Museum of Science and Industry wanted to offer young people in grades six through twelve a rare opportunity to watch open heart surgery and, at the same time, learn about cardiovascular health and careers in the health sciences. Solution: Live...From the Heart is a cardiovascular education program with a videoconference classroom, or E-Suite, where students participate “real time” in coronary bypass surgery. They can watch the procedure and talk with the entire surgical team at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, IL. With technology designed by Shen Milsom & Wilke, the 35-seat classroom is equipped with videoconferencing and networking capabilities. It includes two flat-panel displays that move on an arm-and-rail system for easy viewing, microphones embedded in the ceiling so chairs and tables can be reconfigured, and a touch-panel console that allows the instructor to control the technology and interactions with the operating room. Cameras in the room train automatically to places where sound.is sensed. They also provide images of the students so that the operating room staff can see their young audience. The equipment allows recording and Web casting. Acoustics were designed to accommodate the videoconferencing and 35 boisterous young people. The air handling system was hushed and hard surfaces were minimized to limit reverberation. Wowing ‘Em in Taipei Microsoft Technology Center, Taipei, China
Multimedia, acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Hong Kong; Zane Au, project manager Completion: Winter 2003 Size: 600 square feet Challenge: Microsoft wanted a place in the heart of the Taipei financial district to wow their top Asian clients with their latest technologies and services. Solution: Shen Milsom & Wilke designed a multimedia envisioning center that includes three vignettes depicting Microsoft’s powerful technology for work, home, and on the move. Each vignette includes a ceiling-hung 61-inch plasma screen to tell the story, while an impressive lighting and audiovisual show is played out on a backdrop of multiple plasma screens. The presentations are recorded on a hard disk and stored on an MPEG2 digital player. This made synchronizing the multiple displays easy and affordable while saving on equipment space. The show is controlled with a touch panel screen, but Microsoft intends to port the user interface to a WLAN-connected Pocket PC control. Besides the show sequence, a main stage presentation employs seamless video switching technology; presenters can switch between videos and static computer graphics smoothly. The center includes an executive briefing center where Microsoft meets with customers and partners. Audiovisual equipment in this space includes videoconferencing equipment. Sound isolation was important to prevent clients from overhearing different presentations. Shen Milsom & Wilke consulted with the architects to devise a careful layout to isolate sound. Acoustically rated doors were also used. We Won! Awards from Presentations Magazine 2004
Executive Learning Classroom at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley Architect: Goring & Straja Architects, Emeryville, CA Multimedia/audiovisual, acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke/Paoletti, San Francisco; Ben Shemuel, project manager Size: 2,600 square feet Completion: September 2003 This 75-seat distance-learning classroom includes a sound system, two 120-inch projection screens, a high-resolution video projection system, and a control room. A digital annotation tablet allows instructors to whiteboard and to highlight computer content. An in-ceiling document camera transmits hard copy and transparencies. Tracking cameras automatically transmit images of students and instructors. Auditoriums: 2nd prize Lawson Hall at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL Architect: Phil Gatton, Southern Illinois University Multimedia/audiovisual, acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Chicago; Bill Nattress, project manager Completion: Autumn 2003 This cluster of 10 pie-shaped rooms, including four lecture halls, comes together at a central core where all audiovisual systems are managed. Doubling as class and presentation rooms, each space includes a smart lectern with touch-control panels and side-by-side projectors that can display two images on one screen. Shen Milsom & Wilke, an international technology consulting practice founded in 1986, offers comprehensive services in the areas of telecommunications, audiovisual/multimedia, and acoustics. The firm has offices in New York, Princeton, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, London, Dubai, and Hong Kong, and a staff of more than 140 professionals. Shen Milsom & Wilke was named one of the 100 fastest growing A/E/P firms in the nation by Zweig White & Associates for the years 2001 and 2002. To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to unsubscribe@smwinc.com. You need to send from the e-mail account in which you receive the newsletter. No subject or content is needed. If you cannot send from that account, or wish to change your subscription e-mail address, mail us at smw@smwinc.com. |
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