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Planar is first Sustaining Innovation Partner at Clemson Watt Center

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Planar is first Sustaining Innovation Partner at Clemson Watt Center
A student walks past one of the LCD screens in the Watt center.
A student walks past one of the LCD screens in the Watt center.

CLEMSON — Planar, a Leyard company and global leader in display and digital signage technology, has become the first Sustaining Innovation Partner for Clemson University’s Watt Family Innovation Center with a gift-in-kind of more than $1 million worth of cutting-edge display technology.

The newly combined company supplied the Watt Center with 191 large-format, high-resolution interactive LCD displays and 12 LCD video walls, including the video wall in the auditorium. It is one of the largest interactive LCD video walls the company has implemented.

Planar displays are front and center in the building’s ultra-modern main lobby.  Each classroom, hallway and study space throughout the building features Planar LCD displays that can be used by students and teachers for formal or spontaneous collaboration.

“Clemson University’s Watt Family Innovation Center is very appreciative of our partnership with Planar and their unique advanced technology video walls that are used throughout our 70,000-square-foot building,” said Charles Watt, former executive director of the center. “This 21st century interactive academic educational facility is significantly improving our students’ critical thinking and complex problem-solving skills as they prepare for entrance into the marketplace.”

The Watt Center, a cutting-edge, highly flexible facility in the center of campus behind R.M. Cooper Library, was designed to be an innovative hub where students, faculty and industry partners will collaborate, create, innovate and communicate using state-of-the-art technology and interactive learning systems.

Saadiqa Kumanyika, a lecturer teaching Women in Global Perspective, works with one of the classroom touch screens provided by Planar.
Saadiqa Kumanyika, a lecturer teaching Women in Global Perspective, works with one of the classroom touch screens provided by Planar.

Planar designs and manufactures display and digital signage solutions, including video walls, large-format LCD displays, interactive displays and other display solutions for large-scale data visualization. The company, headquartered in Oregon, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leyard Optoelectronic Co. Ltd.

“We are proud to partner with such an outstanding institution as Clemson University,” said Adam Schmidt, vice president of sales, North America, for Planar and Leyard. “Dr. Watt and the entire Clemson team have been great to work with, and the university’s reputation for excellence in the classroom, the community and on the field is highly deserved. The Watt Family Innovation Center is the finest example of how powerful and accessible the ‘classroom of the future’ can be, and we are honored that our display solutions are such an integral part of this accomplishment. We look forward to partnering with Clemson on future demonstrations of excellence for many years to come.”

The Planar gift is part of Clemson University’s The Will to Lead capital campaign, which was launched in 2006 in support of students, faculty, facilities and engaged learning. The campaign surpassed the goal of $1 billion in July, becoming the largest higher education fundraising effort in South Carolina.

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