Digital Portsmouth brings the Digital World Together

This past winter, I spent a cold February night at the Portsmouth Music Hall's Digital Portsmouth event discussing “The Art of Making” on the New Hampshire Seacoast. Since I was one of the presenters, it didn’t take long for things to heat up.

Digital Portsmouth is the brainchild of Monte Bohanan, Director of Marketing for the Portsmouth Music Hall. Digital Portsmouth presents key individuals and organizations from the NH Seacoast by showcasing the creative, digital culture that is alive and thriving in our region. Digital Portsmouth occurs quarterly and provides an opportunity for locals to network, see what others are doing in their fields, and enjoy a cocktail.

On the night that I presented there were three main presenters: The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), Poly Recovery and Port City MakerSpace. A brief presentation by each participant was followed by a panel for an interactive Question & Answer period.

My presentation focused on the UNH-IOL being an integral piece of creating (making) the next generation of digital engineers. UNH’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS) provides an excellent curriculum and the UNH-IOL enhances that education with a state-of-the-art testing laboratory located just off of the UNH campus in Durham, NH. The UNH-IOL currently is the expert in over 20 different digital technologies and provides industry with an independent, vendor-neutral testing facility focused on networking and data communications products. The main work forces for the UNH-IOL are UNH graduate and undergraduate students. These students gain hands-on experience with bleeding edge technologies and products. Combining the great digital education provided by The University of New Hampshire with practical hands-on experience from the UNH-IOL, makes a new breed of digital engineer that are years ahead of their counter-parts. We call this the “IOL Student Advantage”.

The Maker Space is a co-op shop in Portsmouth, NH, providing tools and workspace to members at a low monthly fee. The Maker Space brought a 3D printer to the show, and it was amazingly cool to watch this device create something right before our eyes. The Maker Space has many different areas of expertise in house and provides the ultimate playground for people who like to tinker, build, and prototype just about anything.

Poly Recovery is a pioneer in the area of sustainable locally based recycling. They specialize in plastics and help to reduce the waste streams of society. The Poly Recovery 100 Mile Model builds upon their belief that waste should remain close to its origins. They are based in Portsmouth, NH

The next Music Hall Digital Portsmouth event, "Digital Portsmouth: The Art of Data Visualization" is taking place on Thursday, June 20th at The Music Hall Loft and is FREE! This event will discuss the Art of Data Visualization and promises to be enjoyable and educational.

Timothy Sheehan, Operations Manager, Broadband Technologies