Fall 2015
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DIGITAL
INNOVATION
Illustration James Ferguson
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t’s a cold January morning. As your alarm goes off, it tells the thermostat to raise the heat. The coffee maker also starts and, having received an overnight update, will now brew at a higher temperature. Your phone flashes a message from the washing machine: Contact the service department; there’s a 70% chance the belt will fail within a month. A second alert, from your car, says there’s an accident on 95 and rerouting will add fifteen minutes to your commute. Hurrying, you leave without shutting off the lights. However, sensing nobody is home, they automatically shut off. Though this might read like an episode of the Jetsons, it’s not fiction or futuristic. Known as the Internet of Things, it’s the next wave in information technology, one that will transform nearly every industry. And UMass Dartmouth is at the leading edge, introducing a new Data Science program that will develop the type of skilled coe@umassd.edu
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professionals businesses will need in order to stay competitive. The Internet of Things, or IoT, describes a network of smart, connected devices that share information with each other, their manufacturers, and users. The technology represents the integration of several advancements: powerful microprocessors and sensors, compact data storage, ubiquitous Wi-Fi, and big data analytics. The combination has allowed manufacturers to create predictive products that use information to be more efficient, more responsive, and easier to maintain. “The first wave of ‘big data’ was about the tools and tech to capture and store bytes,” said Joseph Biron ’05 (CIS), Vice President of IoT at ThingWorx, a PTC Business. PTC acquired ThingWorx, a leading IoT platform provider, in anticipation of its clients’ desire to join the
College of Engineering
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www.umassd.edu/engineering