NanoLumens Lights Up CenturyLink's New Technology Center of Excellence With a Unique NanoWrap™ Solution

Last March, CenturyLink (www.centurylink.com), a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company, cut the ribbon on its new Technology Center of Excellence. The 300,000 square-foot state-of-the-art (LEED certification pending) R&D center features of a stunning array of NanoWrap visualization solutions from NanoLumens (www.NanoLumens.com), an industry leading manufacturer and marketer of visualization solutions.

The new building’s lobby is a palace of glass that incorporates 37,000 square feet of View Dynamic Glass, making it the single largest installation of electrochromic glass in the country. View Dynamic Glass leverages nanotechnology and pre-programmed intelligence to tint automatically in response to outside conditions and user preferences, eliminating the need for blinds or shades. But, even with that technology, the lobby is still very bright. The exceptional brightness of NanoLumens’ technology, which can be adjusted as the ambient light levels change throughout the day, assures that the video on the solutions will remain clearly and crisply visible at any time, under any conditions. 

“The NanoLumens displays create a stunning effect in the lobby, and it’s fair to say that this sets the lobby apart from any other atrium like it,” said Ben Cating, Senior Consultant-VP of Idibri (www.idibri.com), the Addison, Texas-based consulting firm hired by CenturyLink. “It’s more than just a video installation — it’s a visual achievement.”

The center also includes a technology research and development lab, a network operations center, a customer experience center and a collaborative office and meeting space.  But, said Cating, the space also needed to make a definitive statement that immediately established the facility as a cutting-edge technology location. NanoLumens NanoWrap solutions helped the client make this visual statement and capture the attention of customers as they walk through the door. 

Three columns in the building’s three-story-tall atrium are wrapped with NanoLumens’ 5MM NanoWrap displays in a 42-inch-diameter circular panel that covers 12 feet of vertical surface on each column. The NanoLumens LED panels, made up of thousands of Nixels™, NanoLumens’ patented display module, turn these architectural elements into archi-technological elements. They provide a continuous stream of full-motion video that’s visible throughout the entire lobby and from any angle. Each display can show different video content or all three columns can play synchronously, with content fed over IPTV via fiber from a cloud-based Cisco-AppSpace content delivery system.

The NanoWraps are attached to the columns by a unique circular mounting system, incorporating a custom metal frame around the column in which the panels are attached. This system was carried out by AV systems integrator American AVL, based in Ruston, LA.

“CenturyLink wanted to make this lobby a unique technological experience for visitors and guests,” Cating emphasized. “We looked at a lot of possibilities, and video would keep the columns as an integral part of the aesthetic design. But attaching conventional flat displays to them would have ruined the flow they create visually. Only the flexibility of the NanoWraps, which we could literally wrap around the columns, offered us the solution that we needed. NanoWraps were the only way we could address this particular form factor. The result is striking to look at.”

“The space- and energy-efficient NanoWrap solution offers quiet, low energy consuming cylindrical visualization wherever a customer would like to place it,” emphasized NanoLumens Executive Vice President of Business Development, Karen Robinson. “Whether that’s hanging overhead, in a fixed position on its own, or around the columns of a building, NanoWrap solutions are made to equip customers like CenturyLink with the perfect visualization solution that’s just right for them– no matter what size, shape, or curvature is needed.”

To download additional hi-res images, click here. All photography is courtesy of Idibri Consulting. 

Growing Use of Drones in Commercial Markets Creates New Career Opportunity for Trained Operators

Anyone looking for an exciting new career in a field that offers nearly limitless growth potential in virtually every type of commercial market application should seriously consider becoming certified as an unmanned aerial vehicle pilot, unmanned systems engineer, or unmanned systems project manager, according to John Minor, Provost of Phoenix, Arizona based Unmanned Vehicle University (www.uxvuniversity.com), the only university in the world that is licensed to offer graduate degree programs in Unmanned Systems Engineering and Project Management Certificates in unmanned systems technology.

“According to the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the world’s largest non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of the unmanned systems and robotics communities, the rapid adoption of drones in a wide variety of commercial markets is going to create more than 100,000 jobs and $82-billion in economic impact over the next ten years,” Minor said today.  “I don’t think there’s another career field creating as many opportunities as this anywhere in the United States, let alone the world.”

The key to capitalizing on this exciting new career opportunity, according to Minor, is unmanned systems training and education, or, more specifically in the case of unmanned aerial vehicles, pilot certification.  “Every high value added career in America today requires education,” Minor emphasized.  “Education doesn’t always mean a four year degree but it does mean high quality, specialized training from an institution that has a proven track record of education by professionals and subject matter experts in that particular field.  In the field of unmanned aerial vehicles that institution is Unmanned Vehicle University.” 

Minor pointed out that every standard being contemplated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that the operator of a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle be certified to operate that vehicle.  “The simple truth is that you are not going to be in a position to capitalize on this rapidly growing and expanding career opportunity unless you have the right education and the certification to flourish as a certified vehicle operator, unmanned systems engineer, technologist, or unmanned systems project manager.”

And there is a wide range of career opportunities just waiting to be filled in a variety of commercial markets, according to Minor — Delivery and fulfillment, Logistics, Security and Law Enforcement, First Responders, Wildfire Management, Search and Rescue, News Gathering, Photography, Film and Television Production, Oil, Gas and Mineral Exploration, Disaster Relief, Live Event Production, Agriculture, and Real Estate top the list of an ever growing number of commercial markets.  “As FAA regulations become finalized, and they will, you are going to see drones incorporated into just about every industry known to man,” Minor asserted.  “I’m not exaggerating.   Drones reduce risk, save money, and dramatically increase the productivity of every field they are used in.”

Amazon’s ongoing testing of drones, which just recently received FAA approval, is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Minor.  “Major news organizations, film and television production companies, law enforcement agencies, government agencies like the EPA, major agriculture businesses and search and rescue organizations are all already focused on incorporating drones into their daily operations.  A lot more will follow. All individuals seeking job opportunities in the Drone Industry, those transitioning to a second career, or those who want to start up a new drone-related business should kick start their ambitions by taking the flight training and/or unmanned systems academic or certificate courses that Unmanned Vehicle University offers.”

According to Minor, “Unmanned Vehicle University’s role in the unmanned industry is to provide the world’s best drone pilot training, educate the public about the economic impact and the good that drones can provide and to provide significant opportunities for research into new unmanned system technologies and operations that will make drones, safer, more reliable, more effective, more efficient, and more useful to mankind.

Drones Are Coming to Houston as Part of a Three-Day Career Seminar!

 Anyone interested in learning everything they need to know to start a career as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilot should make a point to attend a special three-day seminar on “The Fundamentals of UAVs” being hosted by Unmanned Vehicle University (www.uxvuniversity.com) from March 27—29 in Houston at the Houston Marriott South Hobby Airport Hotel located at 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston, Texas.  Unmanned Vehicle University, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is the only university in the world that is licensed to offer graduate degree programs in Unmanned Systems Engineering.

The first-of-its-kind seminar is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive introduction unmanned aerial vehicles and the many high paying career opportunities this rapidly growing field is likely to create over the next ten years.  “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have already revolutionized the way our military conducts field operations,” Unmanned Vehicle University Provost John Minor said today. 

“Now, they’re revolutionizing the way that Americans live and work every day,” Minor asserted. “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working hard to establish the guidelines under which drones can be used in commercial applications as diverse as agriculture, construction, real estate, security, news gathering, and media production, but the one thing they have already made very clear is that properly certified training and education is mandatory. With the imminent commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicles now at hand, we will be hosting on a series of three-day seminars around the country to show how individuals can get in on the ground floor of this exciting new industry.”

For $1,999, participants will receive a comprehensive introduction to one of the fastest growing career opportunities in the world. According to Minor, UAVs are predicted to create 70,000 high paying careers over the next several years at salaries that range from $90,000 to more than $200,000. “Our three-day seminar is optimal for people looking to increase their UAV employment opportunities, start their own UAV business, or begin a career as a UAV Pilot,” Minor said. “Plus, the seminar counts as four credits towards a university undergraduate or graduate degree program.”

In addition, participants will receive free DJI drone upon completion of the three-day seminar. For more information on registration, visit http://www.uxvuniversity.com/. Any active duty member of the United States Armed Forces will automatically receive a $100 discount off the $1,999 seminar fee. Please call 602-759-7372 or email jroetzer@uxvuniverstiy.com to claim your coupon code for online ordering.