After having worked in Building E40 since I was an undergrad, in July of 2000 we moved westward to a building called W92. It sounds like an MIT building but it's actually a few feet past the end of west campus. My commute from home tripled, requiring futher development of the home office.

Being the network and computer facility guy, a number of obstacles needed to be overcome to pull this move off. The campus fiber plant was aging, the computer facility in e40, a temporary one that was built in 1985, was in need of renovation and the west campus network hub is essentially a closet located in an ancient building serving the nuclear reactor. Not to mention each of our 45 people wanted something different, and something to make up for the distance from campus.

The Institute did not want to pay much for this muffler and decided to mix a bunch of departments that had little in common except for that they had something to do with computers. Networking and infrastructure are a bit specific and those who design and build it, like me, are a pain in the ass.

I survived to tell the tale. The network & computer facility is spiff and relatively easy to maintain, although it is less than half the size it ought to be (we filled it). The network is still in the process of migrating and will hub a new fiber plant (aka the infinite fiber project) for west campus. We have a few defects but except for the reused hvac units in the office area, I think I'm the only one who notices the rest.

My idiosyncrasies played out in a number of places and Janet from HKT seemed to tolerate them well. Unconstrained by people or money I would have gone to town. Despite a long and at times a frustrating process (although process on this project might not be the appropriate word), my cohorts Bill and Christine remember this one as one of the highlights.