Bench test solutions equip university lab

The laboratory enables instructors, lab managers and students to focus on gaining the critical hands-on skills they need to excel in the real world.

The new 100-seat laboratory allows first and second year students to perform practical electronics experiments on 50 benches.

Each of the 50 benches is equipped with Tektronix and Keithley products including: a digital storage oscilloscope, arbitrary function generator, triple output power supply and digital multimeters.

In addition, the benches have a PC with two large 24-inch monitors, along with soldering and fume extraction capabilities.

Each bench is connected to a TekSmartLab server via Wi-Fi to provide total connectivity and accessibility.

Instead of using USB thumb drives to connect to oscilloscopes, students can now retrieve test results wirelessly by scanning a work station specific QR code with their smartphones.

TekSmartLab allows students to remotely access and control instruments, download courseware, obtain results and produce reports using smartphones, tablets or PCs.

TekSmartLab also enables professors and lab managers to proactively manage classes before during and after lab sessions -- from batch instrument configuration, remote autoset disable, centralised status monitoring and wireless retrieval of test results, to managing inventory with serial number identification and measuring utilisation per student.

“This is Europe’s largest education laboratory bench refurbishment we’ve completed yet with TekSmartLab. We are very excited in the partnership with TTid and the opportunity to work with a prestigious University like Warwick in supporting this project. We are leading the way in not only providing better teaching, but providing  a full learning experience using real-world, state-of-the-art Tektronix solutions,” said David Farrell, vice president, EMEA Commercial Operations at Tektronix.

“A programme of major investment in new state-of-the-art teaching laboratories is providing unparalleled facilities for our students. This new installation of the TekSmartLab solution provides access to the very latest internet-enabled electronic test equipment and defines a new UK standard in student laboratory facilities,” said Nigel Stocks, Head of School of Engineering, Warwick University.