Universities were among the first participants in the long-distance computer network now called the internet, playing an important role in demonstrating and developing the technology in the 1970s. Now, with a $6 million research contract, Montana State University is poised to contribute to one of the internet’s biggest advances since its creation.

“We’re looking a decade or more ahead, and this is where the internet is going,” said project leader John Roudas, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering. “This is a very good opportunity for MSU to play a leading role in this arena.”