2007-05-29 18:30:11 -
In the latest issue of their newsletter 'As Heard on the Wire- WTRS presents a lengthy interview with Joy Weiss, the widely recognized CEO of Dust Networks, known for the introduction of their SmartMesh Network utilizing system-on-chip technology with network ready wireless sensor networks (WSN).
Mountain View, CA PR-Inside, May 29, 2007. During the WTRS interview Joy Weiss traced her own personal history of spearheading several startup companies and explained why she then chose Dust Networks. Weiss, who holds an EE from MIT, overlays her skills as a business manager with technical knowledge and competence in this technology. She set her criteria for a new
endeavor as balancing an interesting technology with product potential with 'market pull,- to use her words. 'I did want to do another startup, because I really like the energy and culture of startup companies, but it had to be nifty enough on the technology side,- said Weiss, 'and it also had to be a real market with real traction around the application space.-
Weiss traces the development of Dust Networks as challenged by the premise that 'for wireless sensing to really be ubiquitous'you would have to figure out a way to combine wire-like reliability with wire-free economics in the extreme'.-
She describes the decision to focus on industrial applications as having the right ingredients for a startup, carrying the potential for a 'quick bid hit- to support later expansion. 'It was a wire replacement application, so they already understood sensor applications, they already put sensors in so that wasn't new to them.-
In a broader view, Ms Weiss outlines the necessity of developing applications for sensor networks that have concomitant economic potential as a prime mover. She describes the process of overlaying existing infrastructure without the costs of pulling cable and stringing wire, using parking control and parking enforcement as a model. 'it's extraordinary how much money cities spend on parking enforcement, and if it can be done more cost effectively, then it happens to be one of the few things that (cities) spend on, often'because it's source of revenue to them.- She summarized this as 'you just put it on the pavement, so you're not tearing up roads'in essence creating'an application overlay'and it is delivering extraordinary value.-
Weiss finds that one attribute of wireless sensor networks is 'that you can conceive of an application that makes use of data about the physical world and bring it into an existing venue and deploy it with very little disruption to the goings-on in that environment'the idea that you are not having to run cable and conduit and tear up walls or tear up streets is really transformational'.-
Ms Weiss also speaks at length about the award received by Dust from the World Economic Forum and her participation in that organization which seeks to identify companies that have the potential to participate in changing the world, using innovative technologies.
The entire interview is available at the WTRS website by free subscription to the 'As Heard on the Wire- newsletter. Also available to subscribers is access to archived interviews with other wireless industry leaders.
www.wtrs.net contact: George West (650) 940-1196
