Future-Thinking College Chooses Real-Time Science Education

Nashua, New Hampshire, 27th September, 2002

Glendale (California) Community College’s new Science Center is to feature SkyVision High Definition Video and Real Time DigitalSky systems, Sky-Skan President, Steve Savage, announced today.

Known as the Cimmarusti Science Center, this will be the first permanent DigitalSky system in a planetarium in the United States. “We’re immensely proud that our Real Time system will be installed in this incredible new education center at Glendale,” Mr Savage said.

In addition to the Sky-Skan digital planetarium system, the center will include other state-of-the-art facilities linked to JPL and NASA; an advanced chemistry laboratory, seismographic station and global positioning system for earthquake and weather studies.

The Sky-Skan equipped 30-foot pitless planetarium will seat 51 and the DigitalSky system will be used not only for Astronomy but many forms of science education.

In announcing the decision, Dave Davenport and David Hurst of the Glendale College planetarium design team said, "Our choice for the projection system for the Glendale College Planetarium is Sky-Skan’s SkyVision with DigitalSky. Sky-Skan understands that our goal is to have the best teaching planetarium we can afford. They have put together a package that will get us to this goal.”

“This is the perfect location for DigitalSky,“ Mr Savage said. “We developed this system to be a working tool for science educators; flexible enough to develop materials right at the college and powerful enough to demonstrate twenty-first century science in all its captivating glory,” he said.

“The software used by SkyVision and DigitalSky provides a powerful way to manipulate the sky and demonstrate a wide variety of astronomical concepts in a way that is both visually beautiful and scientifically accurate. The stars projected by the DigitalSky starfield are clear, bright and have realistic colors,” Dave Davenport and David Hurst said today.

As well as utilizing the DigitalSky system, the new planetarium will feature Sky-Skan’s High Definition SkyVision, the same system installed earlier in 2002 at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. “SkyVision in High Definition offers the best pictures of the Universe that can be seen on Earth,” Mr Savage said. "The theatre will play stunning feature productions in surround sound that will enthrall Glendale College students and also students of the Glendale Unified School District," he said.

Dave Davenport and David Hurst concluded, “Sky-Skan’s development and support teams have an excellent reputation in the planetarium community. They are known for the quality of their work and for being state-of-the-art. We look forward to working with them and with the system they have designed to meet our needs. Sky-Skan understands that we have a limited budget now and that we will need to continue keeping costs down in the future.”

This will be Sky-Skan’s 27th SkyVision installation.

Sky-Skan will be providing support to college staff as well as installation of the planetarium equipment, including LED cove lighting, a system to illuminate the interior of the dome in vivid, programmable colors. Sky-Skan’s SPICE Automation will keep all the visualizations and sound effortlessly under control and provide simple button-push access to curricula changes on demand.

Development of the new 21,410 square feet science center and refurbishment of the physics-biology building and the chemistry-math building began in 1998 when Glendale College received a $2 million federal grant for a joint NASA/JPL science education center. Brothers Larry and Ralph Cimmarusti presented an additional gift in 1999 making the science center a reality. Almost $600,000 has been raised in additional private donations as well. The science center is due for completion in June 2003.

For further information: Steve Savage, President, Sky-Skan, Inc. 603-880-8500. Information on SkyVision High Definition video, DigitalSky and Sky-Skan may be found on the Internet at www.skyskan.com.
More information on Glendale Community College’s Cimmarusti Science Center, may be found on the Internet at www.glendale.edu.

About Sky-Skan

For over 35 years, Sky-Skan has been the world’s leading provider of media technologies and facility design for domed theaters. Sky-Skan’s products and services include the SPICE Automation Show Control System, dome screen oriented video and audio systems, specialized image creation software for video and still pictures on domed screens and complete turn-key facility design and construction management services. Sky-Skan has kept its lead in a highly competitive field through continuous R&D and development of industry leading products like the High Definition SkyVision Full-Dome Projection System and its latest tool, DigitalSky: a real-time digital star field and graphics system.

There are over 26 SkyVision installations completed to date and over 250 SPICE Automation systems installed in planetaria, large format film theaters, domed media theaters, museums and science centers the world over. Recent SkyVision installations include the first of its kind dual projection SkyVision system at the National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution) in Washington DC and world’s only offset full-dome video system at the Museum of Transport and Communication in Lucerne, Switzerland. Sky-Skan maintains sales, production facilities and technical support on 3 continents with its offices in Nashua, NH, USA, Munich, Germany and Melbourne, Australia.