INI's Twentieth Anniversary Celebration
"Information networking is the engine that will drive business, industry and, indeed, our society in the years to come," said an executive from Bellcore, Irwin Dorros, in 1989, when industry representatives signed a contract with Carnegie Mellon to create the Information Networking Institute. Twenty years later, the INI is celebrating two decades of academic excellence and innovation.
On April 17, 2010, the INI is hosting a twentieth anniversary event, highlighted by two panel discussions on Internet security and mobile communication from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at University Center.
Part of the day's discussions will describe the history of the INI, which was first started through a partnership between Bellcore, a research consortium of the Bell telephone companies, and the university, led by visionary individuals such as Marvin Sirbu, the founding director, and Angel Jordan, the provost at the time. From the beginning the INI was established as an interdisciplinary field of study that would draw on the fields of electrical and computer engineering, computer science, public policy and business management—a blend of expertise that is still valued by employers of INI alumni today.
"I'm very excited about the anniversary celebration. We have alumni coming back from as far as the first class to, of course, the current students. We're expecting over 100 alumni and family members who are coming to reconnect with each other, as well as to reconnect with the university community," said Dena Haritos Tsamitis, Director of the INI and Director of Education, Training and Outreach for CyLab.
The INI graduated the first class in the Master of Science in Information Networking program in 1990. During the nineties, the INI was involved in exciting research on Internet technologies, such as e-commerce, electronic publishing and the mobile Internet, including the Wireless Andrew project that resulted in Carnegie Mellon having the first campus-wide wireless network in the world.
Today, the INI offers five master degree programs in six locations: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Silicon Valley, California; Athens, Greece; Kobe, Japan; Aveiro and Lisbon, Portugal. The INI graduating class consistently achieves a placement rate of 100% and earns among the highest starting salaries in comparison with departments across the university. From Apple to Yahoo!, INI graduates have found success in many of today's leading organizations and entered doctoral programs at top universities.
"From an institute established in 1989 and offering one graduate program, we now offer programs all over the world. We have over 900 alumni in leadership positions in a variety of sectors," said Haritos Tsamitis. "We're very proud of the accomplishments of the INI and our alumni."
Watch an interview with Dena Haritos Tsamitis talking about the INI's 20th Anniversary Celebration.
