Something that seems to go unrecorded are the times when a student creates a project with an end result that then greatly benefits the college. In this example we need to go back to the summer term of 1970. A 3rd year student from Electrical Engineering undertook a project to create a simple video effects generator. This unit was able to make split screens, squares and so on. It became an essential tool within the TV Studio from the moment it was made until the day the studio was closed down. In the photo, the arrow indicates the unit installed in the first TV studio in January 1975. Recently I found some 8mm film that I shot showing the student with the unit that he made. We paid for the workshop to fabricate a case and you’ll see that in the film and following videos. In more recent times (in the second TV studio) we fitted it into the equipment rack and you’ll see that at the end.
There were many videos where we took advantage of being able to use split screens. Such an example is the APL video I made with Professor Bob Spence (1933-2024) in 1975, you’ll see a clip from that. And, in the two clips showing the unit working, yes, it really is a very young version of me!
So, a worthwhile project that created something that lasted in use for 37 years and NEVER ever had a single fault.
Colin Grimshaw February 2021