As Q4 2012 ends and 2013 begins, the UNH-IOL will enter its 25th year. In 1988, the needs of two competitive companies to work together to their mutual benefit helped form the InterOperability Laboratory. Since then, the thousands of companies partnering with the UNH-IOL all have benefited from this collaborative experiment between industry and academia.
Our members in 1988 would easily recognize the UNH-IOL today as the same student-powered phenomena, fueled by the support of industry leaders to support the development of interoperable standards; of services to validate the conformance and interoperability of such standards; and, equally importantly, helping to apprentice the next generation of industry professionals.
Over the years, thousands of UNH-IOL graduates have successfully moved into the industry, and today the UNH-IOL actively seeks to grow our pipeline, from increased outreach to area high school students to pursue STEM degrees, to high-school internships, to scholarships, to encouraging our students to seek out summer internships from our members, to undergraduate and graduate research projects, thesis and dissertations and more.
Your company's participation in these efforts would be of great benefit, and I ask for you to help us find the right means for your company to be a part of our students' growth.
Several of our members already assist with supporting our high school internship effort, as well as supporting our Career Advisory Board, while others assist with project and research work, and many more help in enabling our fantastic test and measurement infrastructure.
If our members from 1988 would be surprised by anything, it would be to see the growth of the lab from a handful of students pursuing Ethernet and FDDI development, to today's efforts by over 120 students and 20 staff to support development and services in 30 different Industry-sponsored consortia.
The lab's success remains the product of collaboration and direct support from interested members of the industry. 2012 continued to show many examples of such win-win support, be it our collaboration with the AVnu Alliance, Broadband Forum or IPv6 Forum to develop and launch new certification services, including the launch of our Automotive Ethernet Consortium, AVnu Test Service Consortium, and Home Networking Consortium.
The skill and experience of the UNH-IOL move steadily forward to explore new areas. Where we go in 2013 and beyond? What about SmartGrid? Possibly, especially as we continue to develop IEEE 1588 Power Profile test services and continue to see the growth of IP small objects, and 6loWPAN. Mobile? Certainly, be it continued expansion of 802.11 services (n today, ac tomorrow), as well as within the Mobile device through our efforts with the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance. Health? Transportation?? The collaborative input of our industry partners will decide these and other questions.
Be a part of the InterOperability Lab, as a member or contributor, or simply an industry voice with a need. Share your needs for new capabilities and services. Your involvement helps to shape our future services and capabilities, as well as the skills of our graduating students.
As we enter our 2nd quarter century, be a part of shaping what the next 25 years bring.
Bob Noseworthy, Chief Engineer