Newark airport, one of the oldest airports in the US and New York City’s first metropolitan airport. In 2018 it was announced that Terminal One would get a massive long overdue upgrade. MKJ was contracted by 5 Star Electric to work with them on this project.
All projects have hurdles, on this project the delays were the COVID-19 pandemic. From supply chain issues and work restrictions the pandemic created unique challenges. The teamwork on this project was immaculate; with cooperation and creative thinking. MKJ’s Senior Project Manager Besmir Ameti, supported by Ylli, Vincent, Fatjon, Brandon, and our own resident Professor Bjorn Matz worked tirelessly to see this project through completion.
Newark Terminal One is 1-million square feet and has 33 gates supporting various airlines: Delta, JetBlue, United, American, Air Canada and more. MKJ is incredibly proud of the outcome of this uniquely designed communication system that allows for ease of use for the issuance of public announcements providing clear and audible announcements that can be designated to one, multiple or all areas. MKJ worked with both the PA of NY & NJ and all of the end users (airlines and facility management) to ensure each area: concessions, United, American, and Delta lounges were fully included in the communication planning. Throughout the terminal and arrivals, departures and exterior canopy there are over 2,500 speakers – that is a lot of communication!
For this project, MKJ was responsible for the integration of the following systems:
- Public Address (PA) system
- Mass Notification System
- Visual Messaging
- Text to Speech
- Automated Boarding Sequences
Newark has a modern Public Address mass notification system, fully integrated with the fire alarm system. Fully automated, inclusive of boarding announcements, video and audio announcements, text to speech paging, touch screen mic stations for gate agents, in multiple languages (English, Spanish, French and other languages as required). Integration with the AODB (airlines operations database) allowing the gate agents to perform automated boarding announcements. The system does audio and visual messages, and operators can make text to speech announcements.
For this project, MKJ conducted many tests, including:
- Speaker Impedance Measurements
- Polarity Testing
- Sound Pressure level measurements
- Fire alarm/MNS integration testing
This project was completed in 2022. MKJ continues to maintain and support operations, remains on call to resolve problems and accommodate changes as they arise.
Interested in learning more about this project? Contact John Massaro, our Vice President of Engineering and operations at Jmassaro@mkjcomm.com.
