Wireless Infrastructure Project

President, Tau Alpha Pi
Wrote a proposal for $50,000 of hardware for TAMU, and got it!
Spring 2001
Reference: Dr. Behbood Zoghi (TAP Advisor)
As meantioned in the Organizations section, I was president of Texas Gamma's chapter of Tau Alpha Pi, National Honor Society for Engineering Technology. Each semester we try to provide some kind of service to the ENTC students and faculty. This year we thought it would be very cool to provide wireless 802.11 network connectivity in our two department buildings, Thompson and Fermeir Hall. We decided there were two possible approaches to this goal. One, submit proposals to manufacturers of 802.11b hardware seeking support in the form of hardware donation. Two, fund raise enough money to purchase several thousand dollars worth of hardware to donate to the department. As president, I lead the process of corresponding with various 802.11b manufacturers. Cisco Systems' University Relation manager was rather interested in the idea, and requested a more detailed proposal. I compiled a 10 page proposal outlining the mutual benefits of this partnership, and he accepted. To make a long story short, after considerable dialogue between Tau Alpha Pi, Cisco Systems, and the ETID department, Cisco agreed to donate $50,000+ of hardware to the ETID department for the creation of a research environement suitable for wireless application development. ETID requisitioned university funds to pay a team of students, led by Mike Warren, to lead the design and installation of the wireless infrastructure. The university expanded this project to include the design, purchase, and installation of a wireless network in the Evans Library and library annex, a rather large undertaking. This project has been met with huge success and has been dubbed the Wireless Infrastructure Project.