More than 2000 industry professionals, academia and government officials representing nearly 50 different countries attended the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc)'s latest annual conference, which concluded on Dec. 4 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, HI, to see demonstrations of the latest wired and wireless data communication systems. Under the theme “Riding the Wave to Global Connectivity,” IEEE GLOBECOM 2009 showcased the latest business and consumer networking technologies for moving voice, data, image and multimedia communications.
Attendees went to hundreds of sessions ranging in topics from broadband video networking and green communications to the evolution of 4G wireless and the development of next-generation satellite and space networks. IEEE GLOBECOM 2009 also featured numerous high-level executive panel discussions featuring presentations by industry leaders.
Sponsors of the conference included AT&T, Cisco, NEC, Qualcomm and Samsung.
Keynote speakers included David G. Belanger, chief scientist and VP, AT&T Labs; Joe Burton, VP and CTO, unified communications, Cisco; and John Vig, IEEE president, who gave a presentation highlighting the IEEE's 125th anniversary, which was celebrated worldwide during 2009.
At the conference, several communications experts were honored, including H. Vincent Poor, receiving the IEEE's Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award; Nim Kwan Cheung, honored with the IEEE Donald W. McLellan Meritorious Service Award; David Falconer, winner of the IEEE Award for Public Service in the Field of Telecommunications; Kaoru Yano, recipient of the IEEE Distinguished Industry Leader Award; David G. Belanger, winner of the IEEE Communications Society Industrial Innovation Award; Heinrich Stuettgen, recipient of the IEEE Harold Sobol Award for Exemplary Service to Meetings & Conferences; Raouf Boutaba, honored with the IEEE Joseph LoCicero Award for Exemplary Service to Publications; and Tomonori Aoyama, winner of the IEEE ComSoc/KICS Exemplary Global Service Award.
With more than 40,000 members worldwide, the IEEE Communications Society is made up of industry and academia professionals with a common interest in advancing a wide variety of communications technologies. The society sponsors publications, conferences, certification, educational programs, local activities and technical committees, as well as standardization projects, in communications and networking.
