NEW McMaster digital spaces & tools: McMaster Smart Campus pilot initiatives launching this fall

September 2, 2022

This fall, McMaster’s Smart Campus approach begins to roll-out with pilot projects focused on enhancing the digital experience on campus for students and instructors alike.

McMaster’s Smart Campus approach is a compelling path to a more digitized and innovative future and is focused on creating a sustainable and equitable future through digital spaces and ‘smart campus’ initiatives.

Funded in part by McMaster’s 2021 Cisco Fast Future Innovation Award from Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration program and launching this September, two proof of concept elements of the Smart Campus initiative will be available to the McMaster community:

New active classroom at Peter George Centre for Living and Learning

A new active classroom (B138) in the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning (PGCLL) will be available this fall term. This new space will offer an enhanced teaching and learning experience through:

  • Automated AV for instructors
  • Pre-heating and cooling functions based on class scheduling
  • Energy savings to support institutional ‘net zero’ sustainability goals with heating/cooling based on occupancy
  • Responsible occupancy data collection to inform future planning and improvements

Feedback will be collected over the fall term to inform future improvements, projects and initiatives.

Digital wayfinding for easy navigation across campus

Also being piloted this fall is a new free digital wayfinding app to help you navigate around campus.

This new tool will provide an accessible, step-by-step blue-dot navigation experience that helps get you from door to door on campus. User testing is underway with future updates and enhancements planned. If you are interested in trialing and providing feedback for this new app, learn more here. More information about this digital wayfinding tool and how to use it will be shared later this term.

About McMaster University Smart Campus

“McMaster University Smart Campus”, is an institutional effort that is working to create smart classrooms and buildings throughout campus by automating and synchronizing individual building systems. These systems include and are not limited to HVAC, air quality, security access, and AV and lighting control through class scheduling systems. This initiative will support end-to-end building and system automation linked through an application that coordinates building technologies for an optimal classroom experience.

Smart Campus is a truly collaborative effort involving teams from across the institution including Facility Services, University Technology Services (UTS), Campus Security, Campus Classroom Technologies (Library Services), Office of the Registrar, and DeGroote School of Business (DSB) and others.