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| The Wireless Telecommunications Symposium featured major industry leaders including keynote speaker Irwin Mark Jacobs, chief executive officer of Qualcomm. Jacobs uses his cell phone to shoot video of the crowd. |
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| The Wireless Telecommunications Symposium attracted nearly 300 academic and industry representatives. |
Nearly 300 academic and industry representatives gathered at Cal Poly Pomona?s Wireless Telecommunications Symposium recently to exchange information relating to advances in the field.
?The WTS conference is quickly becoming a landmark event in the telecommunications industry, bringing together academics and practitioners to discuss emerging issues in this key sector of the global economy,? said Eduardo Ochoa, dean of the College of Business Administration. ?This event is a testimony to the Computer Information Systems department?s leadership in this area.?
The College of Business Administration and the College of Engineering hosted the symposium on May 2 at the Kellogg West Conference Center. Featured major industry leaders included keynote speakers Irwin Mark Jacobs, co-founder, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qualcomm, and Neil Cox, executive vice president of Telecommunications Integration Sector at Science Applications International Corp.
Jacobs spoke about ?What is Next For the Computer/Camera/GPS Receiver in Your Pocket ? Your Cellphone?? His presentation focused on evolution of wireless technology, from its history to its future.
Newly emerging and future cell phone capabilities include video streaming, simultaneous voice and data usage, 3-D interactive games and global positioning systems, Jacobs said.
?Everything is getting small, light and very powerful,? he said. ?A whole range of additional capabilities are becoming important and my feeling is that every phone is indeed going to be a ?smart phone.??
He also believes that as devices become more power, cell reception will improve and prices will become even more reasonable.
Other industry experts led sessions that covered topics such as ?A Strategic Look at the Mobile Communications Industry? and ?The Evolution of Wireless Businesses and the Challenges That Lie Ahead.?
This symposium, in its second year, was developed after the colleges of Business Administration and Engineering began collaborating on the development of an interdisciplinary master?s degree in telecommunications and computer networking. Both sides agreed an ongoing exchange of up-to-date information between industry and the academic community in these two fields is important, said Steven Powell, professor of Computer Information Systems and co-chair of this year's event.
?WTS 2003 drew alumni and industry professionals from across the country,? he said. ?Wireless is probably the hottest area in the telecommunications industry right now and it is great to see Cal Poly Pomona in the forefront with leaders such as Dr. Irwin Jacobs in attendance.?
Lyle McCurdy, co-chair of the event, said the symposium was ?specifically the result of collaboration between the ECET and CIS programs; a collaboration that merged telecommunications management and technology into a single entity that would have been difficult to do separately.?
?We plan to continue this collaborative effort in the future to help promote telecommunications applications and research,? said McCurdy, professor and coordinator of the ECET Program.