In today’s flat world, home networking is increasingly adopted by the young and old alike. However, the networking protocols, technologies, and tools that are being used were created in the 1970's for skilled network administrators. This tension between the usability of networking and the users’ needs shows up in the marketplace in that home networking products are the most returned items at "big box" consumer electronics stores.

At the College of Computing, Edwards, Yang, and Shehan are looking at how to rethink networking technology from a human-centered perspective, making it easy to install, deploy, manage, troubleshoot, and use. “The Cisco award will be supporting our research to develop new technologies that make it easier for unskilled home users to adopt and use complex networking technologies,” says Edwards. “Wider deployment of these technologies will open the doors to new applications of ubiquitous computing.”

The Cisco University Research Program Award for Human-Centered Home Networking totals $75,000. For additional information, click here.