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On Friday 15 March, the two Year 11 Computing classes embarked on a journey to Marvel Stadium. We walked down to McKinnon station and once at Southern Cross Station, we walked the short distance to Marvel Stadium. Once there, we were debriefed and introduced to our tour guide,Gary, who gave us a tour of the stadium, including the leisure rooms of both the away and the home teams. Unfortunately, we weren’t here to experience the luxury of the stadium. Instead, the purpose of our visit was to see how the stadium provides Wifi access to about half of the maximum capacity of the stadium. We were shown the communications rooms and the server room before finally being shown the wireless access points scattered throughout the stadium which provide wifi access to thousands of people. Unfortunately, we had to go back to school for periods 5 and 6. Nonetheless, the tour was very educational and helped us to prepare for our SAC.Andrew Georgescu, Year 11
We went to the Marvel Stadium on Friday 15 March to observe the vast network conduct that is at play in Marvel Stadium. We visited the server room in the Marvel Stadium where an employee told us about the servers, access point, switches and lots of other relevant information. The entire stadium was based on the marvel superhero theme which gave it a cool look. We also got to see the real ground and saw and learnt about many more amazing features.
Tejeshvi Sagwal, Year 10
My visit to Marvel Stadium was very exciting and I learnt and uncovered more things about how they work when they are busy and when they are hosting a major event. I was very interested in their electrical workings and network programming that ensures a great online experience with a shared internet inside the stadium. I loved the many different places that we got to see, what each area had to offer and how each area operated within the scopes of working efficiently with all other areas in the building.
Many of the places that we got to have a look at was interesting and unique in some way and it all links in with each other. Some areas you would see on television so it was very interesting to see how everything works in the background and the behind the scene workings of every area in the building.
Jean Pierre Du Toit, Year 11
On Friday 15 March, the Year 11 Computing students visited Marvel Stadium to learn about their Wifi and computer network. The whole point of the trip was to learn about Marvel Stadium’s servers and what they were for. Marvel Stadium had an elaborate network setup consisting of numerous wireless access points, servers, switches and hundreds and hundreds of cables. The combination of this would allow the stadium to supply up to 25,000 stadium-goers with internet, and businesses such as radio stations, TV channels and writers to connect to the internet, TV channels and radio waves. The whole operation was run by two separate server rooms that controlled one half of the stadium each, meaning there would always be internet and telephone services no matter what happened.
Douglas Murphy, Year 11
On Friday 15 March, both VCE Computing classes got the opportunity to visit a major entertainment and multi-purpose sports stadium in Melbourne — Marvel Stadium.
You may know Marvel Stadium as the headquarters of AFL, or the Melbourne Victory soccer home stadium, or the stadium where your favourite artists performed at (Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Eminem, etc.). And while it certainly is all of these, there’s much more going on behind the scenes, to provide the amazing experiences. Lucky for us, we were given a tour around the whole stadium. This included an insight into the network room where we got to see the servers and learn about how they manage the servers on game day, as well as the corporate boxes, and even the designated rooms for the AFL players.
Overall, this was an enlightening and very original experience, and really encouraged us to realise the magnitude of what learning IT could do.
Michelle Gu, Year 10 and
Doris Feng, Year 11
On Friday 15 March, Year 11 Computing went on an excursion to Marvel Stadium to see the server rooms and gain more knowledge on how they work. We started the excursion with a tour around the Stadium to see how many devices were connected and to see how large Marvel Stadium was. We were then allowed to enter one of the two server rooms in the stadium. One of the IT guys from the Stadium gave us a quick rundown of all the technology and devices that are used in matches and how many people it could cater for.
Sam Parades, Year 11
On Friday 15 March two computing classes from McKinnon Secondary College went to the Marvel Stadium to learn about how the network works and is managed in Marvel Stadium. For the students it was a great experience as they learnt about how the network is maintained on a large scale compared to small scale networks such as the school network. The students were shown one of the server rooms and how all the wires around the stadium were connected back into the server room. The Marvel Stadium staff also explained to the students how the stadium network is changed for concerts and other events.
Aryan Shah, Year 11
The visit to Marvel Stadium was very intriguing. We were taken on a tour around Marvel Stadium and got to see the essential services they provide to the crowds. These services include how they operate the Wi-fi. We then saw player locker rooms and the treatments available to them after and before their match. This privilege is only allowed to a chosen few usually family or friends of the players. We also saw how they provided telephone lines to both halves of the stadium and the Communication room where they kept their servers and backup servers. This gave us an insight as to how networks such as these operate on such a massive level and what organisations use. We saw Access points shaped to function in a cone cover area as to maximise the range in which they covered. All in all the visit was very helpful, knowledgeable and a one-of-a-kind learning experience that we are not about to forget anytime soon.
Brij Shah, Year 10 Student
The Marvel Stadium Visit of 2019, Class of CMP-2
Friday 15 March
The excited students bumbled out of the train onto Flinders Street Station, as the day ahead promised much computational learning and discovery.
First, the tour began with a brief historical summary of the Marvel Stadium (previously known as Etihad) by our trusty guide Gary, who lead the bustling bunch of Year 10s and 11s through the hallways and corridors that spanned the Stadium. Exposition on the range of the WAPs (Wireless Access Points) - which lent the WiFi connection to the viewing areas around the oval - was explained patiently and carefully to the tour group, with questions being answered with wise responses.
Next up, the tour was split into two: One group (led by Mr Munro) was shown the server rooms by the expert-on-hand, Jeff, who explained the numerous impressive capabilities of the $1.5 million servers, which provided the storage necessary for the running of the WiFi at Etihad Stadium.
Meanwhile, the second group (led by Mrs Munro) waited patiently until it was their turn, and then both groups were properly educated. Eventually, the tour came to a close with a final inspection of the player rooms - which included an interview room, a spa area and a strategy room. With the culmination of the visit, the VCE students headed back to McKinnon after a long yet fascinating day of immersed computing education.
Michael Stolyarov, Year 11 Student
On Friday 15 March, a group of computing student from McKinnon Secondary College went to The Marvel Stadium to observe the setup of the network. It was a good experience as we learnt the process of setting up and maintaining the network for a building such as the Marvel Stadium. We also learnt how they manage the network for both the staff members of the stadium and also the public users. He also explained how the network changed throughout the year, along with the stadium. Our tour guide, Gary, also showed us the change rooms and the interview room.
Ken Wong, Year 11 Student
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On Monday 4 February, we set off towards Phillip Island for our last camp of secondary school. Once we arrived we headed to the auditorium for an introduction to the camp, and received our t-shirts, most of which fit perfectly. After rooms were allocated, we shared a quick and delicious lunch before hearing an inspiring and educational speech by Mark Smith, author of the The Road to Winter, who was kind enough to supply us with a range of skills to use in our English classes.
