Channel Newsletter - Fall 2021
Dear students and colleagues,
We used to publish the Channel newsletter to welcome everybody in the new semester. This year we decide to adopt a more concise format to cover updates about our IT services.
Challenges in the past 2 years have substantially increased adoption of digital or online means for our day-to-day activities. This has placed much demand on cybersecurity as well as high-quality online connection anytime anywhere. We are pleased to inform you that:
- Staff and student email services are now guarded by Microsoft Defender that protects us from harmful contents even if we “click” into them inadvertently;
- University-owned computers running Windows 10 can now be enrolled for better protection by Microsoft InTune that detects and fends off cyber threats automatically;
- Access to Microsoft services (as well as other applications in the future) can now be via passwordless technology that eliminates the need (and risk) of passwords;
- Wi-Fi 6 and 5G indoor antenna systems are being deployed in most public locations of the campus, enabling faster access even when there are more users.
To prepare for the new semester, some revamps to the classroom were completed to optimize the classroom experience for mixed-mode teaching and learning:
- Retire the old composite video input, analog wireless mic system as well as the tailor-made handset for PRS, and upgrade A/V facilities at LSK-G012 to align with all other lecture theatres;
- All lecture theatres are upgrade to support up to 10 Mic4Me digital wireless mic at the same time;
- Feedback display panels are installed at the back of some classrooms for “Gallery” view when doing Zoom (remember to bring your own device);
- Support “extended mode” at the lectern presentation PC such that instructors can choose to show different contents on different displays;
- Add a rotatable panning mount for the lectern webcam to allow easy adjustment of camera views.
To encourage sustainable use of hardcopy printing, we implement a new charging scheme that favors the use of color and double-sided printing to maximize the information density of printouts, but disincentivizes excessive printing. More space is made available at the Computer Barn for students to use their own notebook computers, and high-end workstations capable of running complicated software applications efficiently are installed. In addition, students can also connect to the Virtual Barn from remote to access software required for their studies. Advanced students and researchers may benefit from the University’s latest high-performance computing cluster, namely HPC3, that amasses sizable computational power applicable in many research disciplines.
Taking this chance, we would like to thank all those who provided feedbacks to us in the past year, especially those who participated in our yearly satisfaction survey. We are grateful for users’ appreciation of our work, and more importantly the constructive feedbacks that informed us how our effort should be directed to improve the University’s IT environment.
Wish you all a rewarding IT experience in the new academic year and please stay safe!
Best,
Samuel Kwan,
Director of ITSC