Engineering alum company Ross Video is providing tech to power 360-degree screen over field
A company headed by a graduate of Waterloo Engineering will also have its moment in the spotlight when the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals meet Sunday in Super Bowl LVI.
Ross Video is providing the state-of-the-art technology to power a gigantic, 360-degree screen hovering over the playing field in the new, $5-billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The chief executive officer, chairman of the board and majority owner of the Ottawa-based company is David Ross (BASc ’91), who joined the family business after graduating with a computer engineering degree and grew it into an international success.
David Ross is CEO, chairman of the board and majority owner of Ross Video.
Ross Video employs almost 1,200 people and has a 18-member crew in Los Angeles to help with the production on the one-of-a-kind, double-sided Infinity Screen, which is made up of 80 million pixels.
It is the sixth year in a row that the company has been involved with the Super Bowl, which is billed as the most-watched television event in the world.
Its live-event video technology is featured in major stadiums around the world and David Ross has won honours including an Emmy Award and recognition as CEO of the Year in Ottawa.
Ross fell in love with technology when his father brought home one of the earliest personal computer in 1975.
His passion later led him to Waterloo, where he benefitted from “fantastic” co-op experiences and learned valuable lessons including how to deal with mountains of work and the advantages of collaborating with smart people.
“Being able to hit one dashboard control button and everything erupts,” company vice-resident Kevin Cottam said of the Super Bowl video show in a media interview. “You’ve got a touchdown happening, you’ve got lights happening, audio, the whole facility just pops.”
Main photo by Jean-Daniel Francoeur of Pexels
