Jeff Lapak new executive director, Michayla Newcombe associate director, at UNH-IOL

July 25, 2018

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), which hosts a variety of interops for industry organizations as well as provides broad-based testing and standards conformance measurement resources, reveals that it named Jeff Lapak executive director as of July 2. Michayla Newcombe became associate director on the same day.

Lightwave Staff

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), which hosts a variety of interops and certification activities for industry organizations as well as provides broad-based testing and standards conformance measurement resources, reveals that it named Jeff Lapak executive director as of July 2. Michayla Newcombe became associate director on the same day.

Lapak previously was associate director, industry lead, and senior manager at the UNH-IOL. He helped oversee development for many physical layer testing technologies, including 10, 25, 40, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. Lapak began working at the UNH-IOL as a UNH electrical engineering undergraduate student in 1998; he earned his MBA from UNH in 2013. Lapak will be responsible for facilitating the lab’s development of certification test programs (see, for example, "UNH-IOL offers ONIE Logo Certification Program"), creating strategic partnerships, and leading the lab’s strategic direction.

Newcombe will be expected to assist in the general oversight of testing groups, working with industry forums and standards bodies to further standards development, and providing day-to-day lab support for staff and student employees. She joined UNH-IOL in 2012 as a DHCPv6 test technician while an undergraduate at UNH. She graduated from UNH in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and continued to work full-time at the UNH-IOL as quality manager for ISO-17025 accreditation.

“We are thrilled to have such talented, experienced and hardworking individuals stepping into these management positions at the UNH-IOL,” said Marc Sedam, associate vice provost of innovation and new ventures at UNH and managing director of UNHInnovation (which oversees the UNH-IOL). “The UNH-IOL plays an important role in the UNH community and in the data communications industry, supporting and developing emerging technology while providing students with unique opportunities to build deep technical skills and experience. The UNH-IOL is an incredible example of how UNH regularly helps businesses across the globe with critical strategic decisions and information. Jeff and Michayla are both committed to the UNH-IOL’s mission and vision and the lab will continue to grow and expand under their leadership.”

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