I am occasionally asked by new faculty and grad students (at other schools) whether they should get involved with sensor networks. The concern is that the field has "peaked" and there are risks associated with jumping into an area that may have past its prime. I'm not sure I agree with this assessment. It is true that much of the low-hanging fruit has been picked: after all, the field has been active for about a decade. Rather, I see this as an opportunity to ask where should the field be going in the next ten years. We had a panel on this topic at SenSys 2009, for example. A few thoughts.
First, I think it's important for anyone (new faculty member or grad student) to avoid being too narrow in their research scope. I have always considered myself a "distributed systems person" with a recent fetish for sensor networks, not a "sensor networks person" per se. The set of questions I am interested in find manifestations in sensor networks, but also in …
First, I think it's important for anyone (new faculty member or grad student) to avoid being too narrow in their research scope. I have always considered myself a "distributed systems person" with a recent fetish for sensor networks, not a "sensor networks person" per se. The set of questions I am interested in find manifestations in sensor networks, but also in …