From lecture halls and offices to the secret underground tunnels, Tim Willis knows every nook and cranny of the university campus.

As the University’s building automation technician, he’s the one making sure things run smoothly. He clocks about 10,000 steps a day, making his way to the controllers in each building to ensure all systems are up and running as they should.

Willis is responsible for managing numerous systems across campus. This includes overseeing all controls, the heating, venting, and air conditioning systems for all 43 buildings — including those downtown — and the card reader and key control access for approximately 1,300 doors.

“We use our building automation network to monitor everything and ensure it’s all working how it should. We monitor everything through a program that allows us to see if any alarms are going off,” he explains.

When an alarm does go off, Willis can see which building and system are affected on a program laid out like a map, indicating whether it is an issue for the Special Constable Service, a technician, or if he needs to check it out himself.

“Basically, every day when I come in at 8:30 a.m. I look over our systems, we have various alarms in our systems, so I look them over to make sure everything is all good and determine if we need to go into a building to fix any issues,” he explains.

Beneath the campus, a network of tunnels connects the buildings, mostly out of sight to students and staff. But for Willis, they’re just another part of the job. He easily navigates through, making his way toward the Centre for Engineering Innovation (CEI) for a routine system check.

Carrying a card or key for nearly every door on campus, Willis heads into one marked ‘data room’. Inside the room is a large panel box with wires connecting to the different systems for the building.

Willis’s expertise doesn’t just come into play when things go wrong, it’s also an important part of planning.

“We work with the planning department to figure out the best upgrades,” he says. “If they’re considering a new system, we walk the buildings, to see what they need if they want to update a unit or something like that.”

With two decades in the role, Willis has seen the campus evolve and with every system upgrade and alarm check, he helps ensure it keeps running smoothly.

“My favourite part of the job is working with people,” he says. “At the end of the day, we’re all here because of the students. That’s what keeps us going.”