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Customer Installation Education

University of the West of Scotland, London Campus

First choice for Reliability & Service

Where IT support teams are not on-site, Sharp/NEC’s reliability, service and remote management are vital for the smooth and efficient provision of teaching and learning technology at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) state-of-the art London campus.

Located in the historic docklands area, the UWS London campus is right in the heart of the city’s financial and business district. Offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business, management, health, social sciences and music, nearly 1000 students and teaching staff are located here, many drawn from outside of the UK sparking a global perspective to academic life at UWS.

The Challenge

On the 7th floor of the Import Building, the London campus offers modern and dynamic, flexible work and learning opportunities.

The light and airy spaces benefit from floor to ceiling windows, fantastic to enjoy the panoramic views but an added consideration when specifying visual displays to ensure content is easy to read in the bright ambient light conditions.

With the university’s three main campuses located in Scotland, monitoring and maintaining AV equipment at a distance is a challenge. Equipment reliability and the ability to manage the estate remotely was fundamental; a requirement fulfilled by Sharp NEC Display Solutions.

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‘We chose Sharp/NEC because of its reliability and service. I am located on our Paisley campus, 430 miles away, I can’t just nip down the corridor to fix issues at our London campus!’ says Finlay Wilson, Technical Developer at UWS. ‘We have been using NEC monitors and projectors for over 10 years, in classrooms and high-profile areas, with very few problems. Any issues we have had, have been sorted very quickly, with swap out the next day.’

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The Sharp/NEC Solution

Installed by Sharp/NEC integration partner GVAV, the campus’ well- equipped teaching spaces can be adapted for individual and collaborative group work. Four NEC 5000AL laser projectors deliver teaching material in the lecture theatres and classroom spaces.

‘The projectors were at a great price point and gave us good brightness with minimal maintenance, plus flexible installation options with its lens shift capabilities.’

Six 55” V Series UHD displays and two 65” CB Series interactive whiteboard displays are mounted at the head of several group study tables in the collaboration spaces. Finlay stated, ‘because of the floor to ceiling windows in the new campus, the anti-glare surface on the screens was a must, to cut down on reflections.’

A huge 86” UHD V Series display is located in the reception area providing digital signage to welcome staff and students.

UWS is taking full advantage of Sharp/NEC’s free monitoring and control software, NaViSet Administrator 2, which enables administration of all NEC devices connected to the university network from a centralised location. This offers much-needed peace of mind, enabling Finlay and his team to keep a close eye on equipment in London and pre-empt any potential issues, all from his office in Scotland.

‘Through NaViSet, I can change schedules, alter inputs and check on the usage of the equipment. As a ‘green’ campus, being able to switch the equipment on and off to minimise power consumption supports our sustainability goals.’

The Result

‘We have previously used NEC monitors and projectors in another UWS project in 2018/19 which involved the fit out of our Lanarkshire campus. This included a 24-screen video wall, 160 monitors and 18 projectors. Choosing to work with NEC again on this project was easy, with such a big distance between campuses, I don’t want to have problems!’

The technology-rich, flexible teaching and study spaces now in place at the London campus encourage interaction and collaboration amongst the students which greatly enhances their success in learning.

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