Department News

Newsletter of the Department of Electrical Engineering

Hughes Network Systems Renews Support for Minority Scholarships

Hughes Networks Systems, Inc. (HNS), based in Germantown, Md., renewed its support for five undergraduate minority scholarships for the 1998-99 academic year. These scholarships will be used to recruit minority students who are interested in pursuing either a computer or electrical engineering degree.

HNS, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation, is a world leader in satellite, digital cellular and enterprise networking technologies. HNS designs, manufactures and installs advanced networking solutions globally for businesses and governments and has established many of the multiprotocol network technologies in use today.

HNS has a long history of collaboration with Maryland. Mr. John Kenyon, Senior Vice President for Engineering at Hughes, is a member of the deparment’s advisory board. HNS has funded research, scholarships, internships, equipment purchases and provided technical support for the University.

Telogy Networks, Inc. Joins Industrial Affiliates Program

Telogy Networks Inc., headquartered in Germantown, Md., became one of the newest members of the department’s Industrial Affiliates Program last semester.
“Telogy Networks is pleased to be a part of the Industrial Affiliates Program,” said Bill Witowsky, Chief

Technical Officer and Senior Vice President of Engineering for Telogy Networks. “The University is well recognized as a premier engineering school. For years, Telogy has successfully recruited many talented engineering students from Maryland. Now, we look forward to additional benefits from this close cooperation in digital signal processor research.”

Founded in 1989, Telogy is a leading provider of embedded communications software to global equipment manufacturers. It is consistently ranked as one of the “Fast 50” growth companies in the Washington, D.C. region, and among the top 500 growth companies in the United States. Recently, the High Technology Council of Maryland recognized Telogy’s Golden Gateway™ Voice over IP software as its “Information Technology Product of the Year.”

Telogy is involved in joint research activities with the University relating to voice-over-packet technologies, with applications such as Internet Telephony. Working with Telogy are Professors Steve Tretter, David Stewart and Leandros Tassiulas. Among the issues being examined are audio compression transcodings, objective measurements of voice quality over packet networks, and next generation software architectures for digital signal processing.

Cadence Design Systems Software Donation Gives Students Access to Professional Electronic Design Automation Tools

Cadence Design Systems, Inc., based in San Jose, Calif., is supporting the department through a software donation of electronic design automation tools with an estimated total commercial value of $913 million.

These tools enable students to work with sophisticated commercial packages within the collegiate environment. Access to this professional design environment helps to prepare students for careers in industry, giving them a knowledge of and proficiency with the latest software products. The Cadence software package will be used at Maryland for both instruction and research.

"The tools donated to The University of Maryland are the same ones used by engineers all over the world,” said Duncan Wylie, Program Coordinator for Cadence’s University Software Program . “This gives students using these tools a great advantage when they get into the workplace. Cadence is excited to be able to work with the department."

Cadence Design Systems provides comprehensive services and technology for the product development requirements of the world's leading electronic companies. Cadence is the largest supplier of software tools and professional services used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and a variety of other electronic-based products.

Radio Dynamics Corp. Joins Industrial Affiliates Program

The Radio Dynamics Corporation, based in Bethesda, Md., joined the department’s Industrial Affiliates Program last semester.

A leading provider of software, engineering and consulting services to the telecommunications industry, Radio Dynamics is one of the fastest growing companies in the country.

Radio Dynamics and its subsidiaries provide innovative, technically advanced products and services for the deployment of Personal Communication Services (PCS), Cellular, Satellite, and Microwave systems. Radio Dynamics’ state of the art products and services have been used by many of the major global telecommunication companies and equipment manufacturers, including Ameritech, AT&T, BellSouth, GTE, Lucent Technologies, MITRE, Southwestern Bell, Sprint, and UTAM (Unlicensed Transmission and Management).

Two engineering software tools offered by Radio Dynamics are Poseidon and OpenLink. Poseidon is a software tool that calculates the interference from PCS systems into microwave systems. OpenLink is a software suite of powerful engineering tools for frequency planning and protection for point-to-point microwave and satellite earth stations using Radio Dynamics’ comprehensive, nationwide databases.

Bay Networks Sponsors Undergraduate Scholarships

Bay Networks, Inc.'s Signal Processing Group (SPG), based in Gaithersburg, Md., will sponsor undergraduate scholarships in the Department of Electrical Engineering beginning this fall.

The SPG became a member of the department's Industrial Affiliates Program last year, when it provided support for a four-year, $100,000 graduate fellowship that will also begin this fall. The SPG has had a long history of partnership with the department, including collaborative research, student support, and education.

The SPG was formerly a modem development group for Penril Datability Networks. Bay Networks acquired the group in November, 1996.

A pioneer in modem technologies, the SPG develops and integrates DSP-based technologies for Bay remote access and Internet access products, including high-density 56Kbs all-digital modems, voice and fax over Internet Protocol and xDSL technologies. Current research thrusts at the SPG include the development of a voice over the IP gateway, which will allow for inexpensive telephone calls around the world; and digital subscriber line (xDSL) technology, which will allow point-to-point transmission of data at speeds of 8 Mbit and greater over existing copper telephone lines.