“HP provides excellent support and the workstations are very reliable.” — Huy Sinh Ngo, Chair of Architecture,

Savannah College of Art and Design

HP customer case study: College chooses HP workstationsIndustry: Education

At the renowned Savannah College of Art & Design(SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia, the goal of theSchool of Building Arts is to produce “renaissancedesigners and architects” capable of challengingand redefining the standards in architecturaldesign. This requires that the school keep studentsup to speed with design technology, which changesfrom year to year.

HP technology is playing a critical role in thatprocess.

Acknowledging the increased dependence onworkstations and PCs in the real world of design,the school’s administrators convened several yearsago to discuss the role of technology in the campusenvironment. Changes in school policy were madeto boost the quality and quantity of computingtechnology.

HP provides the ideal fitThough it initially used a vendor other than HP, theschool migrated to HP hardware at the request ofnumerous professors and administrators. As one

Objective: To equip its students with real-world design toolsand experience, the School of Building Arts atSavannah College of Art and Design sought tointegrate high-performance computer hardware inthe curriculum.

Approach:The school has acquired over 450 HPworkstations.

IT improvements: • Single vendor for service and support

• Long-term functionality reduces IT costs

Business benefits: • High-performance technology attracts top

students

• Students produce exemplary work

Architecture students thrive with HP workstationsSavannah College of Art and Design nurtures “renaissance architects”

professor notes, HP has an excellent reputation forperformance and reliability within the field ofarchitectural design.

“Our curriculum is designed to reflect the realworld of design,” says Huy Sinh Ngo, chair ofthe architecture department at SCAD.“Providing the best tools and the most reliabletechnology is essential to preparing our studentsfor the professional world. The job market forarchitects and interior designers remainsextremely competitive.”

Ngo oversees the college’s School of Building Arts,and over the past several years has approved theacquisition of over 450 HP workstations. Mostrecently, the school acquired 40 HP xw4400Workstations. Powered by the Intel® 975X Expresschipset, the xw4400 includes an Intel Core™ DuoProcessor E6700 at 2.67 gigahertz for high-poweredoperation of multiple intensive applications.

The HP xw4400 Workstation also powers complex,highly detailed graphics with the NVIDIA Quadro®

FX1500 video card with 256 megabytes of memory.High-performance video cards facilitate two-dimensional and three-dimensional visualization,and enhance design performance.

“These workstations deliver advanced performanceand long-term return on investment,” Ngo notes.“We can expect them to be functional and up tospeed for many years.”

Technology is crucial to learningSCAD’s School of Building Arts has approximately1,000 students majoring in architecture, historicpreservation and interior design. The school offersbachelor and master’s degrees in fine arts andeach of the three majors, as well as a master’sdegree in urban design.

Students are guided through a cross-disciplinary,multi-topical approach to learning, where they learnhow each discipline contributes to the completion ofa project.

A broad education is essential – many graduateswill find themselves working not only inarchitectural design, but in government agencies,economic development, civil engineering,construction and education.

“We want our students to think like renaissancethinkers, to understand all aspects of design, toquestion constantly, and to have a fundamentalgrounding in the disciplines upon which design andarchitecture are built,” Ngo notes. “At the same

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time, they also need real tools and training tocompete in the professional world. Technology isessential to enhancing both their level ofunderstanding and proficiency.”

HP workstations power Bentley softwareHP workstations at the school run applications frommultiple architecture and design software vendors,including Autodesk and Bentley.

One such application is Bentley MicroStation, asoftware solution used to design roadways,skyscrapers, industrial buildings, bridges and utilitynetworks. As a popular CAD application forarchitects, civil engineers and construction companiesworldwide, MicroStation is used extensively bystudents in the School of Building Arts.

SCAD deployed MicroStation running on HPworkstations to allow students to become fullyacclimated to the world of three-dimensionalcomputer-aided design (CAD). MicroStationoffers building, plant, civil infrastructure andgeospatial applications, each requiring robustcomputing power and hardware graphicsperformance.

“Using the Bentley software on HP workstationsallows our students to hit the ground running in 3D.

They learn to think in 3D and design in 3D,” Ngocomments.

Until only recently, designers typically would renderan initial design in 2D, and then built a 3D modelprior to actual construction. Now the process isreversed and simplified: using the power of HPworkstations, 2D information can be extracted fromintricate, detailed 3D models.

HP powers award winning designsStudents in the School of Building Arts enjoyworking with HP workstations, according to Ngo.

“They like the performance, reliability and ease ofuse,” Ngo says. “The workstations are flexible andintuitive with other devices such as USB devices andFireWire® interfaces.”

Ngo points out that one of his architecture studentsparticipated last year in an international yachtdesign competition sponsored by Palmer Johnson, aWisconsin-based producer of high-performanceyachts. The student used an HP workstation todesign the winning entry.

“The winning design was put into productionfollowing the competition,” Ngo says. “The studentwas offered a job with Palmer Johnson.”

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HP delivers across the campusHP technology extends beyond the School ofBuilding Arts. More than 5,000 HP workstationsand desktop PCs can be found in hundreds of labs,offices and classrooms across SCAD’s campus. AsNgo points out, whether students major in graphicdesign, photography or digital communications,they learn the tools of their trade using HPhardware.

“HP provides excellent support and theworkstations are very reliable,” Ngo comments.“HP helps us test and select products that providethe best fit. With previous vendors, there werealways issues and concerns. With HP, our concernsare a thing of the past.”

For more information on how working with HP can benefit you,contact your local HP service representative, or visit us throughthe Internet at our world web address: http://www.hp.com

© 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to changewithout notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statementsaccompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additionalwarranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

This customer's results depended upon its unique business and IT environment, the way it used HP products andservices and other factors. These results may not be typical; your results may vary.

Intel and Intel Core Duo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in theUnited States and other countries.

NVIDIA Quadro is a registered trademark of NVIDIA Corporation.

Bentley and MicroStation are registered trademarks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated.

FireWire is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries

4AA0-8543ENW, November 2006

Customer About Savannah College of Art & Design

Founded in 1978, SavannahCollege of Art and Design seeks toprepare talented students forcareers in the visual andperforming arts, design, thebuilding arts, art history andarchitecture. The collegeemphasizes learning throughindividual attention in a positively-oriented environment.

For more information, visitwww.scad.edu