«Leveraging the smart city infrastructure to remotely train undergrad engineering students»
Johann Marquez-BarjaAbstract
The telecommunications industry and network-related companies demand recently graduated engineers to operate and manage current and future communication networks. In order to fulfil such demand, universities and higher education institutions must equip electrical and computing engineering students not only with network management knowledge, but also with hands-on skills on relevant approaches and tools such as network softwarization and virtualization. At the University of Antwerp, in close collaboration with IMEC, we have been successfully training engineering students on network management by remotely using the Smart City Citylab deployed in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, providing students a unique learning experience where they apply networking concepts into real scenarios in the Smart City. This approach has been widely recognized by the academic community and appreciated by the industry. This talk will provide an overview of the educational framework and the technical deployment of such a remote training.
Bio
Johann Marquez-Barja is a Professor at the University of Antwerp, as well as a Professor in IMEC, Belgium. He was and is involved in several European research projects. His main research interests are: 5G advanced architectures including edge computing and flexible and programmable future end-to-end networks. He is also interested in vehicular communications, mobility, and smart cities deployments. Prof. Marquez-Barja is co-leading the Citylab Smart City testbed, part of the City of Things programme, and the SmartHighway testbed, both located in Antwerp, Belgium. Furthermore, he is also interested in education development, actively involved in different research actions to enhance engineering education, particularly remote experimentation in e-learning systems. More info www.marquez-barja.com
