Health Sciences Learning Center
University of Wisconsin - Madison

History

The 250,000 square foot Health Sciences Learning Center was conceived and designed to support recent and evolving changes in student learning, medical research, clinical practice and information technology. The building serves the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, which all had previously been maintaining their own instructional spaces in separate buildings.

Challenge

The goal of the project was to create a new learning community where students could come together to share knowledge, rather than work independently. The program required that the facility would offer a range of learning environments for medicine, nursing and pharmacy, all in one centralized location.

Solution

As the audio visual system integrator, AVI Systems worked directly with the university’s IT department on the design and installation of technology for rooms in the new building that include the library, computer laboratories, classrooms and distance learning facilities.

Project Details

Four large lecture halls are equipped with cutting-edge audio, video, computer and distance education capabilities. Distance education technology allows the medical and nursing schools to expand distance education programs, delivering live instruction from the Health Sciences Learning Center throughout the State. The Clinical Assessment Center features 24 examination rooms set up for a clinic or hospital setting. Students practice clinical skills on mock patients. Rooms are equipped with digital recorders facilitating easy analysis of their interactions.

The master control room allows monitoring and control of individual room audio visual systems, sharing audio and video conferencing devices with various rooms, and routing video content from room to room. The IP-based e-control system provides system control, equipment monitoring, system diagnostics and Audio Visual Help Desk.

The Library contains 16 group study rooms, 19 research workstations and seating for 350. Inviting locations to study and relax are scattered throughout the building.

Result

The final design of the Health Science Learning Center is award worthy. It achieves its goals of "connecting" and "collecting" information for the various schools and programs, all in one central location. It encourages students to collaborate in new, non-traditional ways (in the atrium over coffee, in soft seating, etc.) and provides the technological infrastructure to support highly advanced studies.

Due to a high level of teamwork and cooperation by all parties throughout the process, the building was a tremendous success. It was built on schedule and within budget.

Beyond

The Health Science Learning Center project offers just one example of how AVI Systems implements our full range of audio visual integration capabilities. From hotels and convention centers to colleges and universities, and from broadcast and production studios to corporate facilities around the world, virtually every industry benefits from using leading-edge technology.

Contact us to discover how our engineers and technical support team can design a seamless, integrated system for your organization, too.