HEAT's On.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: Brief Article

The State of Colorado, Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs have collaborated on what looks like the classroom of the future, including a state-of-the art voice/data/video network and digital blackboards that require no chalk. Located at Denver's Higher Education and Advanced Technology (HEAT) Center at Lowry, the classroom is a part of the Convergent Technologies and Innovations Laboratory (CTIL), a hub, flagship and lab for telecommunications education. Gov. Bill Owens dedicated the center last month.

A work in progress, the HEAT Center originated in 1992, when the Colorado Department of Education was granted a 154-acre parcel of the then-closing Lowry Air Force Base. The campus awaits a cosmetic and structural makeover, pending a potential $32 million from the State of Colorado.

Eleven of 13 HEAT buildings totaling 1 million square feet will have undergone multimillion-dollar renovations this year due to expertise and funding from companies including Lucent, Ball Aerospace and US West. The center's 3,000 students study...