A classroom lectern has to work for the instructor standing or sitting beside it and the technology team supporting everything inside it. At NC State University, those needs shaped the selection of Computer Comforts’ EVOLVE Lectern, with attention to accessibility, equipment access, cooling, and a consistent faculty experience across classrooms.
NC State’s Classroom Technology team wanted a comfortable, intuitive teaching station with a short learning curve, while also accommodating the hardware needed for classroom presentation, control, and recording. Its requirements included height adjustment, wheelchair access, room for future equipment, heat and dust management, and affordability.
Designing for the instructor
NC State selected the EVOLVE Lectern with a push-button, sit-to-stand side table to address its accessibility requirements. That adjustable surface gives instructors flexibility in how they use the teaching station, while the adjoining cabinet houses the classroom’s AV equipment.
Computer Comforts also provided custom cutouts in the cabinet and tabletop for the display arm, cable cubby, microphone, and cable management. Those details help organize the teaching surface around the equipment faculty actually use. The resulting configuration works in both large and small classrooms, supporting a more uniform experience as instructors move between spaces.
The equipment requirements help explain why the cabinet design mattered. NC State needed to accommodate a small-form-factor computer, display, document camera, touchpanel, media recorder, network switch, power management, and AV switching hardware. Housing that equipment required attention to how people would reach, operate, and service it.
Making the equipment easier to support
The cabinet provides 16 rack units at the front and another eight at the rear, with locking doors on both sides. NC State chose fixed feet for these installations and specified a short front door that leaves the computer at the top of the rack accessible while securing the equipment below it.
Damian Boyce of Classroom Technology identified the COOL-IT heat management system as one of the team’s favorite features. Its cooling fan draws heat out of the cabinet, and the vented front door offers an optional air filter for dust management. Boyce also highlighted the removable modesty panel, which provides access for routing cables between the table and cabinet.
Another useful choice was the optional removable 16U rack. The team can populate it at bench height in the ClassTech work area before installing it in the lectern. For campus AV staff, that brings part of the preparation process into a workspace where equipment and connections are easier to reach.
NC State’s project offers a practical reminder to evaluate classroom furniture alongside the technology it will hold. Adjustable work surfaces, deliberate equipment access, cooling, and cable routing all deserve consideration during design. Here, those choices supported the university’s goal of giving faculty a consistent teaching station while giving the AV team a workable way to prepare and support the equipment inside.
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Learn more about Computer Comforts and the EVOLVE lectern here.
