INCAE Business School Relies on Shure MXA910 to Transform Classrooms into Cutting-Edge Spaces

With a history spanning more  than 50 years, operations in Central America and several countries of  South and North America, and bases in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, INCAE  Business School is ranked as 11th school in Latin America and the best  non-US school in the continent, according to the most recent ranking of  The Financial Times.

Even though 98% of INCAE’s teaching staff have doctorate degrees from  prestigious universities, the A/V technology the professors utilized on  a daily basis at the INCAE campus was obsolete. For Luis Rueda, INCAE’s  technology projects and procurement manager, the university needed to  update its facilities and improve technology in order to offer a better  service to its students.

INCAE´s representative also recalled that on many occasions they  received visiting students and guest teachers from other countries who  brought more advanced equipment that was incompatible with the  technology present in the classrooms. The decision was ultimately made  to embark on a renewal project that would put INCAE at the same level as  the world´s leading business schools.

The university needed to update its facilities and improve technology  in order to offer a better service to its students. INCAE decided to  modernize the technology in its classrooms so that the level of in-house  A/V innovation matched the school´s globally recognized academic  standing.

The project had several phases. The first phase included updating two  classrooms in Nicaragua and two in Costa Rica by installing Microflex®  Advance™ Ceiling Array Microphones (MXA910). In the second phase, various BLX rackmount wireless microphone systems were  installed. MXA910 provided the perfect solution for aesthetical and a  best in class results, within a tight budget.

Microflex® Advance™ has allowed the institution to be at the global  technological forefront, with a successful and innovative solution for  the education sector.

From the end user’s standpoint, the MXA910 also offers another  benefit. Before MXA910, students would have to pass a handheld  microphone to each other during virtual classes and live-streamed  Q&A sessions. Now the MXA910 creates a more dynamic and informal  atmosphere, since students can freely ask questions and participate  naturally without feeling intimidated by holding a microphone.

For Luis Rueda, Microflex® Advance™ has allowed the institution to be  at the global technological forefront, with a successful and innovative  solution for the education sector. Importantly, the MXA910 is fully  digital for networked set-up, management and control on Dante™ networks.  For Luis´ team, the MXA910 makes AV/IT support more effective and less  time consuming.

“Part of the implementation’s success has been the perfect  integration of Shure products with our IT infrastructure and with other  existing equipment. Also the synergy between Shure and the integrator,  the preand post-sale support, and the personal assistance we received  from Shure from the engineering stage up to the installation, were all  essential and fundamental to our successful implementation,” concluded  Rueda. In turn, INCAE’s students are surprised every time they have  virtual classes with professors from other countries, where in order to  participate they only need to speak aloud without using a hand-held  microphone. Without a doubt, this is an excellent example of Shure’s  technology facilitating education - without borders.