“Disaster-Proof Telecommunications from TeleContinuity"

Friday, February 18, 2005
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Room 404, IS Building

You are invited to meet the speaker before the talk
from 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM in the Large Commons Room of the IS Building

Abstract: TeleContinuity, Inc. provides back-up telephony in the event of a power outage, cable cut, equipment failure, or natural or man-made disaster. This talk describes TeleContinuity's new service, how it is implemented, and the company's complicated relationship with Pitt - locating a network node here, funding a research project, hiring our graduates, licensing a patent, and beta-testing. Best-test participants will be solicited.

Bio: Richard A. Thompson is a professor in, and the director of, the Telecom Program at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his BSEE from Lafayette College, his MSEE from Columbia University, and his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Connecticut. He came to Pitt in 1989 after 20 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Dr. Thompson's research interests are: circuit- and packet-switched telephony and photonic switching.