Blog Layout

How AT&T is solving super problems at the NFL championship game

Feb 02, 2018

Staging Super Bowl LII can mean solving super problems, such as: How do you increase network capacity at the NFL championship game site — U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis — to handle the cellphone calls of thousands of fans, media representatives and vendors as well as myriad other visitors? Solution: You plan months in advance. So says Marachel Knight, senior vice president, Technology and Planning, with AT&T Operations. She explained how her communication company prepared to handle this complex challenge, and how STEM teachers can use this experience as a teaching tool:

Q: Tell us about the challenge that AT&T faced in meeting demands for increased cell-phone and data usage at the Super Bowl.

A: All wireless carriers face unique challenges when hundreds of thousands of people in a limited geographic area all access wireless networks, potentially at the same time. But, we worked for more than a year to upgrade key portions of the Minneapolis network with both permanent and temporary enhancements where additional traffic is anticipated leading up to, and during, the Big Game.

Q: When did your planning start, what kinds of skills were involved in the planning phase and how did collaboration enter in?

A: Our planning started in June 2016.  A few members from different groups of our network organization participated in planning sessions, including engineers from various network planning and implementation teams. At the same time, other teams provided a constant stream of new information so that we could evolve our plans to align with all events related to the Big Game.

Q: When it came to implementing the plan, when did that phase start, how many workers were involved and what kinds of skills were needed?

A: Implementation started a few months after planning kicked off. After the planning phase, we then went through a network-design process. Once the network designs were created, our construction team secured the contracts and permits necessary to start building. After the build was completed, our network optimization team tested and fine-tuned the network elements to maximize the potential.

It’s hard to say how many workers helped with the construction, but more than 20 engineers helped with the network planning, design and optimization work.

Q: How did you take into account the possibility of foul/frigid weather? Has that actually been a problem during implementation of your plan?

A: Winter weather is something our teams in Minnesota deal with every year as part of their routine activities. In terms of planning, our network-capacity designs were modeled assuming good weather. That’s because customers typically use their phones quite a bit more when the weather is good.

The first week of January was especially cold in Minneapolis (highs below 15˚F the whole week). This led to some challenges working outdoors, but our crews are resourceful. One crew even set up an ice-fishing tent on a rooftop to keep warm while working on a site.

Q: What more can you tell us about AT&T tackling and meeting this real-world challenge, and how STEM educators might use this as a problem-solving example in their classrooms?

A: The key was starting as early as possible, effectively planning and using time wisely to meet our objectives — no matter how big or difficult they seemed up-front.

As we got closer to the game, we had regular status and touch-base meetings to ensure maximum visibility and collaboration among all involved teams.

STEM educators might use this strategy as a problem-solving example in classrooms to show that planning and teamwork are foundational to solving all kinds of difficult problems in a STEM-related industry.

By Rob Evans 01 Nov, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .
By Rob Evans 03 Oct, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce
Share by: