Established in 1911, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is the territory’s oldest institute of higher learning. Today, HKU is internationally recognized as a comprehensive, researchfocused university, with many scholarly and research achievements to its name. HKU strives to attract and nurture outstanding scholars from around the world through excellence and innovation in teaching, learning, research, and knowledge exchange. Their students strive to contribute to the advancement of society by becoming leaders of regional and global significance.

THE CHALLENGE

In 2012 Hong Kong officials announced a new education policy, prompting HKU to expand its curriculum and launch a 4-year undergraduate program. In order to accommodate the inevitable population growth of the campus with incoming undergraduates, staff, and faculty, HKU needed to expand its facilities.

The Grand Hall in the Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre is a 750-seat presentation space that needed to accommodate a wide range of functions: cinema screenings, speeches and lectures, musical performances, professional presentations, and videoconferences.

THE SOLUTION

Designer Shen, Milsom & Wilke and integrator China-Tech Engineering Co., Ltd, decided on a system that allowed for a high channel count, guaranteed QoS (quality of service), fast installation time, and easy set-up for the Grand Hall. The only solution that could accommodate the varied audio requirements of the space was an AVB (Audio Video Bridging) DSP. Biamp Tesira® was selected as the system solution.

The Tesira system uses AVB to transport low latency, time-synchronized mixed media data streams (audio, video, email, etc.) over the HKU Ethernet networks. The HKU technical team can control and monitor the Tesira DSP by using a rack-mounted PC in their control room. The HKU Tesira system connects with every piece of thirdparty equipment in the Hall, including digital consoles, loudspeakers, control software, and microphones. Using easily customizable presets, every aspect of the audio experience can be conveniently and effectively controlled and monitored from a single location or remotely via PC.