On this week’s episode of the ConnectThe2 podcast, we are joined by the delightful Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services at Vertical Systems Group. Erin manages the delivery and support of Vertical Systems Group’s syndicated Emerging Networks Service Research Program offerings for clients worldwide. She is an expert on SD-WAN, Ethernet and Cloud technologies, to name a few.
In our interview with Erin, we discuss her experience working on submarines, her interest in networking and 5G technology and her passion for triathlons. Here are the biggest takeaways from our conversation. If you like what you’re reading be sure to listen to the whole episode linked at the bottom of this page.
Automobiles and submarines…
Erin has always been fascinated with the way things work. She spent most of her childhood under the hood of a car with her dad restoring engines (like the Chevy Nova) to working condition. In Erin’s words, her favorite cars to work on were “the ones that would run afterward.”
1970 Chevy Nova
After graduating from Northeastern University with a degree in Engineering, Erin went on to build submarines for Electric Boat – a division of General Dynamics. She worked in the welding engineering department, where she was decked out in a hard hat, flame-retardant clothes and steel toe boots. Unfortunately, our super-sleuth was not able to find pictures of Erin back in those days.
5G, security and batteries…
“Can we just figure this out?” said Dunne. She’s referring to battery technology, specifically her mobile phone’s battery life. Erin is really looking forward to batteries improving in the next few years, along with 5G and security. In the game portion of the interview, Erin vows to take on the care and responsibility of a full-grown giraffe if it meant that she would never have to charge her phone again. There is one caveat though: if the giraffe dies so will her phone.
The second technology topic that Erin finds truly fascinating is 5G. “The neat thing about 5G, is that it’s great for three major things: broadband arbitrage, cellular access and IoT,” observed Dunne.
She explains that the first two are rolling out now and enterprise customers love the idea of new faster wireless access options, but service providers aren’t making any money off of it yet.
The third item IoT, however, is what Erin believes to be the great driver of the next wave in the tech industry. She is expectantly waiting for the day that expansive, ubiquitous and latency-free sensor technology arrives, as well as seeing IoT endpoints that can only be enabled by a true 5G network, take shape.
Migrating through the pandemic…
Erin’s top pick for the technology that has helped companies migrate through the pandemic this year goes to internet access. Without a doubt, Erin believes that stable internet access is a must-have in order to function properly in today’s workplace.
“We went from a workforce that gathered in large groups and large offices and spread them out to hundreds, thousands and millions of locations, so if you don’t have solid internet access connectivity to your home, it’s not a good experience. It has gotten a lot better though,” said Dunne. Erin can speak from personal experience since Vertical Systems Group was the first company to have an ISDN circuit, DSL circuit and the very first cable modem connection in its Central Office. Erin’s team has always been on the leading edge of technology, and we expect they will continue in that direction.
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If you've enjoyed these takeaways be sure to listen to our full interview linked below. Also be sure to listen to, rate and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play or Soundcloud.