Sweden shows its technological project for the future of higher education with Panasonic

The University of Mälardalen, in the city of Eskilstuna, it has a new academic building and an AV over IP network to manage and control more than 2.000 terminals connected with projectors and remote cameras of this manufacturer.

Build a modern university building, which is complemented by an advanced technological infrastructure to offer blended learning in higher education have been the premises of the University of Mälardalen (MDH) when it considered joining its two headquarters on a large campus to create the best center in Sweden to study and work.

MDH is one of the largest higher education centers in the country, with almost 17.000 students from different business courses and programs, and with research facilities from different internationally recognized disciplines.

One of the main challenges in ensuring the success of the project was how to implement a modern technological infrastructure that could be adapted to the needs of both students and teachers., as the facilities are brand new and everything has been designed to cater to future educational needs.

The magnitude of the first installation, that has already been completed, it's awesome, with a total of 140 classrooms and meeting rooms. Among them are five large auditoriums, traditional and active learning classrooms, computer and group rooms for student areas.

To these are added meeting spaces and conference rooms dedicated to staff. The technological public tender, for a total of 2,28 millions of euros, was awarded to the Swedish company ITM Meeting Solutions.

"Our solution was a single audiovisual network over IP based on Crestron and its DM-NVX technology, to send all image signals, sound and control of equipment over this network, thus avoiding the need to lay cables everywhere and proposing a solution designed for the future", explains Johan Kinnerfors, CEO of ITM Meeting Solutions.

One of the characteristics of the project is that the same audiovisual equipment is used throughout the building.. Panasonic was the supplier of choice for projectors and cameras, that were supplied by the local distributor Special-Elektronik.

"On the old campus, the technological configuration was different in each room -points out Jonas Karlsson, Director of COMPUTER Systems Administration at the University of Mälardalen-. Teachers encountered vastly different technology in each classroom, and were not familiar with the configuration and, if there were any problems, had to request assistance. The whole process was inefficient from a teaching and maintenance point of view.".

In the new facilities, the technology of each teaching environment has been unified and a blended learning system has been planned., with students present in the room and/or attending via Zoom. All audiovisual equipment is managed through a control panel connected to the network.

The IT support team can also monitor the status of audiovisual equipment over the network and be proactive in identifying and rectifying faults in any of the most 2.000 devices connected via IP.

In total, seven panasonic remote cameras and forty Panasonic projectors have been installed throughout the building for conference recording and live streaming. In each of the nine traditional classrooms there are two MZ770 projectors from this manufacturer, equipped with ET-ELW20 lenses.

"The teaching staff can easily set up the room the way they want., by selecting the input source of the projectors simply by pressing a button through the control panel," explains Dragan Todorovic, Chief Technology Officer, ITM Meeting Solutions-. For example, content can be displayed through a projector and students participating via Zoom can be displayed on another screen".

Teachers and students also have the possibility to present content or share screens through HDMI or USBC through their tablets, laptops and phones, with projectors and a Cynap wireless presentation solution from Wolfvision.

A similar installation, with a single projector, it is also used in the five computer rooms of the university and in the innovation room, as well as in the two smaller auditoriums.

The Panasonic PT-MZ770 projector is a flexible Solid Shine laser model with low maintenance needs, designed with a compact and lightweight housing with advanced collaborative technologies for education.

This equipment offers brilliant images, with a power of 8.000 lumens and WUXGA resolution, can use interchangeable lenses for greater installation flexibility in any classroom and is designed for ultra-low noise operation (28 Db).

Incorporate collaborative technology, as wireless projection of 5 Ghz from multiple devices, streaming and secure networking, PC-free presentation and audio loop-through.

Panasonic's PT-RZ21 laser projectors are used in the three largest auditoriums and in the computer studio to deliver impressive image quality with a compact and lightweight equipment of 20.000 Lumens, which features a dust-resistant liquid cooling system for maintenance-free operation of 20.000 hours.

"The projectors of the larger auditorium project on a screen of 7 M. wide in a room with capacity for three hundred people -adds the CEO of ITM Meeting Solutions-. Due to the proximity of the teams to the area where the students sit, Panasonic also collaborated on the design of a specific sound box that dampened noise levels below the 30 db".

Each of the auditoriums has Panasonic AW-HE40H Full HD remote cameras, with integrated pan/tilt system, enabling recording and live streaming of lectures using the Kaltura visual content management solution, as well as the possibility of retransmitting the lectures to neighboring auditoriums in case of possible saturation of the number of students.

The six group rooms have a projector of 1 Panasonic PT-RZ570 laser DLP chip, a team especially suitable for educational environments, with a brightness of 5.400 Lumens, WUXGA resolution, contrast ratio of 20.000:1, omnidirectional installation and up to 20.000 maintenance-free operating hours.

The completion of the audiovisual network and the deployment of the equipment lasted only four months. "We decided to use only Panasonic products for three main reasons.: image quality, the ease of use and reliability of the projectors," adds Johan Larsson, project and system design manager at Special-Elektronik-. It was a simple choice because we are used to working with them and rarely have problems with the equipment.".

Now that higher education institutions are closed due to the pandemic and have begun to carry out blended classes, the audiovisual technological solution in the new facilities "has been a blessing, as it has allowed students to continue with their distance learning. In many ways, the absence of students and a large part of the teaching staff made it the perfect time to install and test them".

currently, university staff only use a small part of the new technological functionalities of the facilities, but this will change. "Students are already very familiar with the technologies., but the transition to new teaching methods will be gradual, as staff become familiar with the tools available and learn how to use them", Emphasizes Larsson

The new facilities and their technological infrastructure are the basis of the future success of the university, adds this expert: "We have managed to create the best place in Sweden to study and teach, and this will help us attract national and international students of the highest level, as well as having opportunities to carry out innovative research".

Other articles on Crestron, ITM Meeting Solutions, Panasonic, Panasonic Europe, Special-Elektronik, University of Mälardalen Sweden