The Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (its acronym is ITP) was a part of the
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...
and offered graduate degrees in
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
: a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
and
Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...
in Telecommunications and a
Master of Engineering
A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, M.E. or M.Eng.) is either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering.
International variations
Australia
In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research de ...
in Telecommunications. It was the oldest telecommunications program in the United States and was founded in 1971 by Frank S. Barnes (Engineering) and George Codding (deceased, International Relations). Since its inception, ITP took an
interdisciplinary approach to telecommunications, involving the study of
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
,
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
,
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
business. Over the course of the past 35 years, ITP has graduated approximately 2,000
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
who are in various positions around the world as
CEOs, government officials, and management.
In 2004, ITP founder Frank S. Barnes was awarded the prestigious
Gordon Prize
The Bernard M. Gordon Prize was started in 2001 by the United States National Academy of Engineering. Its purpose is to recognize leaders in academia for the development of new educational approaches to engineering. Each year, the Gordon Prize a ...
for having founded ITP due to its innovative character and the influence that it has had within academia and industry. As the first program of its kind in the United States, it broke ground for the many academic programs that followed. When
Peterson's
Peterson's, founded in 1966, is an American company that has a wide range of print and digital products and services, including test preparation, career exploration tools, memory retention techniques, and school, financial aid, and scholarship se ...
first started listing telecommunications programs in 1996, the director of ITP was asked to write the introduction on the topic for Peterson's publisher. There is no question that many other prominent university programs have been directly influenced by ITP. For further information, there is now a consortium of universities that teach the telecommunications discipline, known as
ITERA
ARETI International Group of Companies is a private energy company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. ARETI was created by Igor Makarov in 2015 as a result of rebranding of Itera International Group of Companies, which was started in 1992. T ...
.
The New ITP
In 2019, ITP was incorporated into the Department of Computer Science. This merge resulted in ITP being separated into two individual degrees: 1) Network Engineering and 2) Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy (TCP). The hands-on, technical piece of ITP was branched to form a Professional Master's of Science in Network Engineering degree, and the cybersecurity focus of ITP was branched into a new degree (TCP). These new degrees build on the historical success of CU Boulder’s ITP, and are a well-recognized source of talented individuals for the communications industry, with employment success rates approaching 100%.
Prominent alumni
* Sharon K. Black, ITP's first graduate (class of 1971) international lawyer, adjunct professor and author of the book Telecommunications Law in the Internet Age ()
* Claus F. Kroeger, Senior Vice President, Operations,
Cox Communications
* Michelle A. McClure, lawyer and partner at the Washington D.C. communications law firm Irwin, Campbell & Tannenwald, P.C.
* Thomas E Moore, founder and former CEO of
Wild Blue
* David Weiss, former Chairman, President and CEO of
StorageTek
Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek or STK, earlier STC) was a data storage technology company headquartered in Louisville, Colorado. New products include data retention systems, which it calls "information lifecycle management" (ILM).
...
(now part of
Sun Microsystems)
Hari V. Krishnan CEO
PropertyGuru Group ex-MD, APAC for
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
(hired as first employee based in Asia).
External links
Network Engineering Home PageBernard M. Gordon Prize Home Page
University of Colorado Boulder
Telecommunication education
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