It is the man behind the curtain, Penn's own Big Brother -- it controls every light switch, temperature and fire alarm on campus. Housed under a bridge and near the train tracks, it even collects data for future research.
It's the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition -- SCADA for short -- a system located in the Facilities offices at 3101 Walnut St.
Inaugurated more than 20 years ago, the system was transferred to the Left Bank about two and a half years ago.
SCADA's job is to monitor and regulate every maintenance activity happening in any Penn building, mobilizing repair units and fixing malfunctions as they occur. The monitoring system includes both an Operations Center, where the monitors are housed, and a Call Center, where malfunctions are reported.
SCADA's principal monitor is divided, with each area controlling a different aspect of maintenance.
A blue screen monitors the alarm system, while the red and green numbers in the upper right corner measure and monitor electrical and water consumption. The Excel sheet at the bottom left corner collects data around campus, adding the numbers up and providing new input for decision-making.
"It's a very powerful system," Campus Maintenance Services and Facilities Services Director Mike Coleman says. "It deals with high issues and maintains the flow."
As the main mode of facility control, SCADA is "very intricate, and it looks very complex," says College senior and work-study student Aysha Kassim, who spends about 15 hours per week in the Call Center.
The system is composed of a huge monitor and seven accompanying computer screens, each examining a set of nodes -- small servers -- that are connected on location to microprocessors designed to automatically respond to different environmental stimuli, including light, temperature and humidity.
SCADA brings the various nodes to a unified system, giving the operators -- two per shift and three in emergency situations -- control over maintenance 24/7.
Each building is monitored through its specific file, which can be opened on the screen by the operator on duty. Each one of these files displays all the points of connection -- locations like light switches that SCADA can control -- that are present in the building.
Currently, there are about 100,000 contact points on campus -- all controlled through SCADA from the Left Bank -- and the numbers keep growing with every new construction and technical improvement.
"SCADA has grown up as the University has grown up and the technology has grown up," Coleman says.
As the system has grown, so has the University's reliance upon it.
"We receive calls for anything from broken toilets to leaks," Kassim says.
Normally, the Call Center receives 400 calls per week. However, during periods of intense climactic distress -- such as now -- that number can climb to 1,200.
"It becomes very hectic at times," Coleman says. "But that is the exception, and you can't design things for the exceptions."
When a problem is identified, the operators verify if it can be "troubleshot from here," says Control Room Supervisor Mark Murphy -- and usually that can be done with a few adjustments.
If that is not the case, one of three first-response teams of mechanics is dispatched.
SCADA is also equipped with a fire alarm system and is connected with Penn's Fire Department, so that both are contacted when a fire alarm is activated.
Additional information comes from the system's Web site and the phone calls coming in from the Call Center located a few feet away.
"During the day, the system works in conjunction with the Call Center," Coleman says. "They're joined at the hip but separated during the day."
After 7 p.m., all calls are routed to the Operation Center and handled from there.
"The environmental situation is taken into account," Murphy says. "If there is too much variation [between the necessary value and the current one] we receive a signal."
Though well-suited for an area as vast and intricate as Penn, SCADA was first developed to manage a set of systems in oil fields. The idea was then applied to campuses around the country with great success.
"When you start having many buildings, you start to centralize the systems -- it makes sense," Coleman says. "The University is a city within the city. Things have to come up in some organized fashion."
