Howard Gunn

Howard J. Gunn - Biography

Howard is an MBA graduate of Cleveland State University. He currently serves as an Executive Director of the International Engineering Consortium and is the past Director of the Litewave Institute. Howard is also a member of the American Mensa Society, the Society of Industrial Leaders, the Global Communications Society, the Gerson Lehrman Council, the Oxford Forum and serves as the Director for the National RFID Institute. Howard has served as a Board member at Alcatel Networks, GTE Automatic Electric and Gandalf and was selected in 2009 by the Department of Commerce to serve as the outside reviewer/recommender for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and Broadband Initiatives Program.

Howard began his communications and information services career as a telephone craftsman and progressed through management positions in traffic engineering, equipment engineering, capital budgeting, accounting, information technology and carrier service operations. Howard shifted his career path toward information technology and product marketing, at the onset of the PC revolution. In this high tech path, Howard has held key executive, GM and VP positions in product management, Business Development and high tech Sales with Alcatel, Gandalf, GTE Automatic Electric, NEC America, Terabridge Technologies and TRW.

Howard’s digital product creation experience began with TRW, where he served as the Product Manager for the first digital switch and first microprocessor based digital billing data collection systems in the US. His focus on new billion dollar new markets includes the delivery of the first digital Class 5 switch, the first remote-switching loop carrier platform, the first data service switch, the first national operating support system, one of the first interactive voice response systems, the first four fiber bi-directional SONET rings, the first ATM video switching system, the first Signal Control Point (SCP) and AP platforms for Intelligent Networks and the first distributed Supply Chain Management (SCM) suite for financial services and ERP operations.

Over the last ten years, Howard has focused his marketing, infrastructure knowledge and operating experience to help develop, build and expand small companies and turn-around troubled suppliers. These entrepreneurial efforts include helping these firms raise over $200 million in capital, create over 1,000 new jobs and generate $100 million in new annual sales. These efforts have typically focused on the development of new business applications and the development of organizations, the creation of distribution channels and the deployment of business operating processes for new services and new technologies. His list of accomplishments include the first commercial High Definition Television (HDTV) broadcast service in the US, the First SS7 over IP data switched network service provider, the first ATM/IP voice switched carrier service and the first ‘smart shelf” and “end cap” self-service ordering and check out platform and service suite.

Howard authored the "Principle of Traffic and Network Design” and the “Basics of IPTV”. The IPTV book is currently available through the International Engineering Consortium (www.iec.org), Amazon, local book stores and most on-line sources. Mr. Gunn has also had numerous articles published in business, the trade press and the Annual Review of Communications. His most recent article, “Peering into our Future” describes the cloud and digital portable consumer device networking revolution that is underway, today.

Howard and his family live the Dallas Forth Worth area of Texas. Howard can be reached at howardg738@aol.com.