WNCG Director tours Dallas Region to build case for Texas Wireless Center, gives Distinguished Lecture

Prof. Ted Rappaport, the William and Bettye Nowlin Professor of Engineering and founding Director of the Wireless Networking and Communications Group at the University of Texas at Austin, toured the Dallas region on Feb. 26- 27, 2004 to promote the vision of a state-wide research center that will bring faculty, students, industrial leaders, and the business community together. This kind of research environment will have a dramatic and positive impact on Texas economic development.

Professor Rappaport met with technology and business leaders at a dinner organized by the American Electronics Association on Feb. 26, 2004 in Dallas to discuss wireless as a key technology focus for the state of Texas. Executives from Texas Instruments, Alcatel, Ericsson, Nortel Networks, Weblink, and Wirenix, as well as leading entrepreneurs from Telecom Corridor were in attendance.

On the morning of Feb. 27, 2004 he met with faculty and administrators at the University of Texas in Dallas, and met with faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington and leaders from Raytheon Corporation in the afternoon. Rappaport gave a distinguished lecture for Engineers Week on the topic of future broadband last-mile wireless while at UT Arlington. During his visit to the UTD and UTA campuses, he was able to tour laboratories and meet with a number of faculty in the wireless communications and network fields.

More visits to other leading Texas universities and technology hot-spots are planned, as WNCG strives to build a community of academic and business leaders that have the confidence and desire to work together to create a hub of excellence in Texas for research and education in wireless networking.