The UNH-IOL has a dual mission to provide a neutral environment to foster multivendor interoperability, conformance to standards and improvement of data networking, while educating students and preparing them for future employment in the industry.
As a full-scale, non-profit test lab, the UNH-IOL employs approximately 150 personnel, over 100 of which are undergraduate and graduate students. Student employees (or technicians as they are sometimes referred to at the lab) often emerge from the academic fields of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and continue to attend classes at UNH while working at our facility.
Training efforts at the IOL incorporate both industry and academic expertise, which are paired with hands-on experience through active participation of test setup, configuration and debugging. From vendor communication, to updating devices, to confirming active link, to analyzing network captures and generating reports, our student technicians work closely with the lab's technical staff to become more familiar with industry standards and testing procedures while immersed in a professional environment. We introduce the student technicians to innovative, leading-edge technologies and prototypes while exposing them to diverse commercial device implementations. In doing so, we contribute to the development of exceptional technicians with versatile knowledge of the networking industry.
In an effort to meet the second half of our dual mission, we often partner with companies who express interest in hiring our students and coordinate site visits for recruitment at our facility. Through these conventions, our student employees can showcase their talents and skills, and companies can exchange communication regarding potential post-graduation job opportunities.
When it comes time to leave the IOL and blaze new paths in industry and beyond, we hope that our student technicians are excited, inspired and infused with the necessary knowledge to be successful in any career they choose.
Jennifer Royce, Operations Manager, IPv6