Walter David "Dave" Sincoskie (December 21, 1954 – October 20, 2010) was an American computer engineer. Sincoskie installed the first

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger ...

Bellcore iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...

, and helped invent

voice over IP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of speech, voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms In ...

technology. Sincoskie authored the first local ATM specification. He is also the inventor of the

VLAN A virtual local area network (VLAN) is any broadcast domain that is partitioned and isolated in a computer network at the data link layer (OSI layer 2).IEEE 802.1Q-2011, ''1.4 VLAN aims and benefits'' In this context, virtual, refers to a physi ...

Education

Sincoskie received the bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. His doctoral adviser was

Dave Farber David J. Farber (born April 17, 1934) is a professor of computer science, noted for his major contributions to programming languages and computer networking. He is currently the Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of Cyber Civilization Res ...

Career

Sincoskie worked for Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill from 1980 to 1983. In 1984 he moved to the newly formed

, where he was District Manager of the Computer Communications Research group for the first few years. During this time, Sincoskie worked on Internet telephony and as a result developed what is now known today as the

.Sincoskie, WD (2002
"Broadband packet switching: a personal perspective."
IEEE Commun 40: 54–66 From 1986 to 1990, he managed the Packet Communications Research Department, which spearheaded the telecommunications transition from circuit-switching to packet-switching, a key factor in the successful commercialization of the Internet. Sincoskie also co-authored the first specifications for Local ATM, which were later adopted by the ATM Forum. From 1990 to 1996, Sincoskie was Executive Director of the Computer Networking Research Department at Telcordia. He managed a group working on the AURORA gigabit testbed, IPv6, IP over ATM, NSFNET, and broadband service control. He was the Project Director for two operational NSFNET Network Access Points, Chicago and San Francisco, which today interconnect approximately 150 Internet service providers. From 1996 to 2008, he was senior vice president of

Telcordia Technologies iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...

's Networking Systems Laboratory where, among other achievements, he pioneered the creation of Internet telephony. In 2008, Sincoskie left Telcordia and joined the faculty at the

's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department as a full professor. At UD, he formed and served as Director to th
Center for Information and Communication Sciences
jump starting the cyber security research effort at the institution. Sincoskie's record of service to the DoD, Army, and the National Academies included the National Academies Board on Army Science and Technologies (BAST), the Army Lab Assessment Group, DARPA’s Information Sciences and Technology (ISAT) group, and five National Research Council panels.

Death

On October 20, 2010, Sincoskie died of

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), or (formerly) fibrosing alveolitis, is a rare, progressive illness of the respiratory system, characterized by the thickening and stiffening of lung tissue, associated with the formation of scar tissue. It is ...

while being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.

Awards

Sincoskie was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2000. He was also an IEEE Fellow and received the IEEE's Fred W. Ellersick Prize (2003) for his paper, “Broadband Packet Switching: A Personal Perspective,” which detailed his research contributions over two decades to the development of broadband Internet. He was a member of

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

and

Eta Kappa Nu Eta Kappa Nu () or IEEE-HKN is the international honor society of the Computer Science and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The organization promotes excellence in the profession and in education through an emphasis ...

. Sincoskie is also credited with many patents and numerous papers. He was elected to the UD Alumni Wall of Fame in 2006.

References

External links

* http://www.ece.udel.edu/research/by-faculty.php?facid=150
Obituary
in

The News Journal ''The News Journal'' is the main newspaper for Wilmington, Delaware, and the surrounding area. It is headquartered in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near New Castle, and is owned by Gannett. History The ancestry of the News Journ ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sincoskie, W. David American computer scientists 2010 deaths 1954 births University of Delaware alumni University of Delaware faculty