DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance solutions for the networking industry, and the UNH Connectivity Research Center (Connectivity), will host the Smart Gadget Competition Saturday, April 8, 2017, at 21 Madbury Drive. This one-day event – a hackathon -- will bring together UNH students, faculty, and industry to identify a problem and build a solution utilizing sensors and LoRaWAN™ radios.

UNH-IOL has partnered with Connectivity and the Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) to create an event where small, established teams will brainstorm to solve problems and share their solutions with the other competing teams. With the support of industry partners Senet, Inc., MultiTech, STMicroelectronics, and Exosite, the competition will offer cash prizes to the winning teams. Each gadget would be rated on the novel application of the technology, the most viable product, and the completeness of solution.

“We are thrilled to be a sponsor of the competition along with our ecosystem partners,” said Dave Kjendal, SVP of engineering and CTO at Senet. “As a proud UNH alumnus, I am personally engaged in the UNH community. As part of Senet, we have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with UNH and the UNH-IOL and we are committed to strengthening our relationship with the university in support of innovation. Senet is the first and fastest growing North American provider of public, low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANs) for long range Internet of Things (IoT) applications supporting the LoRaWAN™ protocol. The advent of low cost, battery powered sensors that can last years in the field are enabling new use cases and business models that were never before practical. We’re excited to see what these talented students can envision.”

The Smart Gadget Competition is designed to allow UNH students of all majors and skill levels to collaborate and build a custom IoT solution. Participants will be trained on how to access Senet’s LoRaWan network and develop a real product prototype using a MultiConnect mDot module for LoRa(R) technology from MultiTech together with STMicroelectronics’ environmental and proximity sensors. In addition, students get to keep their finished products.

“We’re delighted to support the competition because we are absolutely committed to the development of the next generation of innovators for the Internet of Things,” said Sara Brown, senior director of marketing at MultiTech. “Through our new university program in support of college-level events like this -- as well as our scholarship program for high-school seniors pursuing careers in technology, and our sponsorship of Technovation[MN], a technology and entrepreneurship program for middle and high school girls -- we’re working hard to ensure a growing and diverse talent pool for the technology sector for years to come.”

UNH-IOL is dedicated to being the world's premier data networking resource. Beginning in 1988, the UNH-IOL has built a multimillion dollar testbed and developed testing solutions to help companies efficiently and cost effectively deliver products to market.

Connectivity is a multi-disciplinary research center focused on network engineering, cyber security, and collateral technology areas. The focus of our work is to investigate next generation communication systems to enable a more connected world.

The Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) is the hub of all things ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the University of New Hampshire.