Baja event to be streamed live

  Tuesday, May 20, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

Three years ago, Pittsburg State University became the first university in the world to provide a live, online broadcast of a Baja SAE competition. With the Baja SAE-Kansas event returning to Pittsburg this week, it’s time to do it again.

Director of Broadcasting Troy Comeau and a team of broadcasting students will be on site Saturday and Sunday providing a live, online video stream of the dynamic events and the four-hour endurance competition. The stream can be viewed at www.pittstate.tv beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 24. 

“We’re incredibly excited to again provide the live stream for Baja SAE-Kansas,” Comeau said. “We take a lot of pride in being one of, if not the only university to provide this type of broadcast during a Baja event. It means a lot to us to know that family and friends from around the world will get to see the competition live.”

A crew of approximately 10 PSU students will help with the live broadcast, and Comeau said the experience is as educational as it is fun.

“The students love doing this, because it’s real-world experience,” he said. “When you’re online, it’s truly a global broadcast. There’s a lot of pressure there to get it right. The students learn critical thinking skills, especially when you consider we’re broadcasting from the middle of a field with no electricity.”

To make it work, Comeau said, more than 2,500 feet of fiber cable are installed at the Baja site, as is a generator to provide power.

“It takes a lot of prep work to get it ready, but it’s more than worth it,” he said. “The live stream is important to Pitt State, all of the teams that will be here and to everyone around the world who wants to watch the competition.”