Photo by Christina VanHorn,
UNH Human Resources

I arrived for my tour of the InterOperability Laboratory (IOL) and was greeted by Matthew Langlois, manager of 3 consortiums at the IOL; ADSL, SHDSL and VDSL. I entered a research lab facility filled with row upon row of racks of computers and electronic equipment the likes of which I have never seen. There were staff, students and international vendors working at a variety of stations throughout the building. This past year, the IOL, founded in 1988, moved to its new home in the Heidelberg building on the west edge of campus. It is currently home to 22 UNH staff members and 20 graduate and 90 undergraduate working students. Companies from Actel Corporation to ZyXel Communications Corporation and hundreds of company's in-between contract with the University of New Hampshire's IOL, working on research and development of new computing and communications technologies that the public may or may not see for 3-5 years.

Two hours later I walked out thoroughly overwhelmed and impressed - not only with the work of Matt Langlois, but that of the IOL and the incredible opportunities this teaching and testing facility affords our UNH undergraduate and graduate students. Hearing Matt's history with the IOL confirmed that he was the perfect example of what working at the IOL is all about.

Matt arrived at UNH in 1995 as an undergraduate in Electrical Engineering. During his junior year Matt said "I had heard about the IOL from a professor and decided that it would be a great place to work and get some real-world experience." During our interview Matt stated "I must have interviewed really well" because the IOL typically likes to recruit students for hourly positions in their freshmen and sophomore years due to the amount of extensive training involved. Upon graduation with his BS in EE, Matt was offered a graduate research assistant position (GRA) with the IOL. This afforded him the opportunity to continue his hands-on learning in electrical engineering and the computer sciences in this creative environment, and have his tuition paid for. After only one year as a GRA a UNH staff position (IT I) opened up and was offered to him. Having "had a great experience at the IOL, I was very excited to have the opportunity to be involved as a staff member". Matt was later promoted to IT III and is now the manager of 3 of the 17 consortiums under the IOL.

Strategic management, project management, financial management, customer service and interaction, and maintaining an active industry presence are all key components of Matt's current responsibilities. When asked what skills are needed in this role, he stated that "communication skills are incredibly important because you deal with people constantly. You have to be able to present yourself in a professional manner and maintain good relations with your staff and with industry. You also have to educate and mentor new students, which requires patience and a deep technical understanding of the technologies. Management skills are also very important because there is a significant amount of strategic planning and budgetary responsibility associated with this position." Matt is also the US Vice-Chair of the DSL Forum's Testing and Interoperability Working Group which requires him to stay current and plan for the future in his technological field.

Matt finds being involved in all aspects of the IOL organization and mentoring UNH students as one of the most satisfying aspects of his job. "The IOL has a dramatic impact on the students and seriously augments their formal classroom education. It's just a great opportunity", he said. His experience as an undergraduate, graduate student and now staff member at IOL have come full circle. For his masters degree he completed his thesis on portions of a protocol analyzer for ADSL. Recently, one of his current graduate students continued with Matt's initial research, developed it further and has now in fact, created the hardware that was based on Matt's original work. Matt thoroughly enjoys working at the IOL and UNH "because it is such a unique environment. There are not many places that combine education and technology the way the IOL does."

When asked who or what at UNH has had a positive impact on him, Matt identified Scott Valcourt, Director of the IOL. "Scott was my first manager. He has supported my development from my arrival and he got me where I am today. I have learned a lot of my management skills from him. He is very good with people and is very understanding." In addition, it is "the opportunities I have been given and the people I work with who have had the greatest positive impact on me."

When Matt is not managing 3 IOL consortiums, supervising undergraduate and graduate students, or working on his MBA at UNH, he enjoys gardening, building/collecting tube-based audio amplifiers, hiking and snow-skiing.

IOL Mission: A part of the University of New Hampshire's Research Computing Center, the InterOperability Laboratory (IOL) has the dual mission to foster interoperability within the data communications industry and to provide students with a detailed education in data communications technologies. These two mission goals have been combined in a unique partnership between academia and industry where the first goal is actually the mechanism for achieving the second goal, while the second goal fulfills the first. By bringing together parties working on standard technologies the IOL helps to improve the state of interoperability within the industry. By employing students to develop the test suites, tools, scripts, and to perform the testing, the IOL provides them with a detailed, hands-on apprenticeship. For over fifteen years, the IOL has been successfully fulfilling both missions and has expanded to include activities that go beyond its core mission goals, but that increase the opportunities for students and provide necessary technical assistance to the industry.