Techies to unite in St. Louis for global conference

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On October 11, 2005

More than 1,500 hardcore techies from around the world will meet up in St. Louis Nov. 28-Dec. 2 to share research and discuss security and other communications-related issues in a forum led by a University of Missouri-Rolla researcher.

Dr. Ann Miller, the Cynthia Tang Missouri Distinguished Professor of Computer Engineering at UMR, is directing Globecom 2005, the annual telecommunications conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The event will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in St. Louis.

"This is an umbrella kind of conference, meaning we cover almost anything in communications," Miller says. "We’ll be talking about the latest and greatest, and will have 18 different sessions focused on topics like wireless networking, security and quality of service."

UMR graduate Gary Forsee, chair and CEO of Sprint Corp., will present the keynote address, “Redefining the Telecommunications Industry,” to open the conference on Tuesday, Nov. 29. Forsee, a member of the UMR Board of Trustees, has spent more than 30 years in the telecommunications industry.

Joan Woodard, executive vice president at Sandia Laboratories and another UMR graduate, will discuss “Security Implications of Future Networking and Communications Systems,” on Thursday, Dec. 1. Woodard has been with Sandia for more than 20 years, working in various positions of research and leadership during that time.

Tutorials on topics ranging from tracing cyber attacks to advances in wireless local area networks are also planned. Additional activities include paper and poster presentations, workshops, and telecom business forums.

"We’ll also have a whole set of sessions on critical military communications issues,” Miller says. “We’ll look at everything from operations to engineering design to research activities.”

UMR graduate Dr. James Gantt, director of the Center for Telecommunications Systems Management at Murray State University, will lead the discussion on military communications research and will present emerging systems and technologies in this area.

In addition, Dr. Steve Watkins, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMR and the conference’s technical program chair, is coordinating an effort to bring K-12 teachers to the conference. These educators will bring back what they learn at the conference to their classrooms, helping to introduce children to engineering and communications at a young age.

Sponsors of IEEE Globecom 2005 include Boeing Co., Express Scripts and Edward Jones Co. For more information about the conference, visit www.globecom2005.com.

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On October 11, 2005. Posted in News