Geoff Huston

Geoff Huston is a scientist who orchestrated the construction of the first internet network between Australian universities known as AARNet.

Career

Studies Geoff Huston studied at the Australian National University where he received his Bachelor of Science and then his Masters of Science which specialized in computer science. He then kept on working at ANU on computer networks.

Work on AARNet Computer networks had become common within universities but there were no real networks connecting universities to each other except for small networks like CISRONET and SPEARNet. These single protocol networks were not compatible with every computer and therefore had not been widely adopted. The lack of a real network in between universities a decade after the creation of ARPANet pushed academics to organize in an attempt to create a network similar to it. The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee was approached to build the network and following a review of the initiative they recruited Huston to design and implement the network. He was chosen for the job because he had already worked on a plan to build the network previously.

After his plan was approved, Huston bought the necessary routers and set off with his colleague Peter Elford to set up these routers on each campus effectively bringing in 1990 the long awaited Australian Academic and Research Network online. The network was extremely popular from the get go and required constant upgrades to keep up with demand. The pressure to upgrade the network was so strong that the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee sold AARNet to Telstra in 1995. This acquisition also included Huston as his expertise on the network was key for its development.

Awards and honours 2012 - inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society. 2015 - inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame. 2020 - made Member of the Order of Australia.