Dr. Walt Magnussen has been in the communications industry for over 50 years since he began his career in the Air Force supporting secure voice and data systems.  For the past 20 years he has directed the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC) at Texas A&M University.  The ITEC is one of the leading public safety and defense interoperability centers in the world working in Next Generation 911, 5G communications, Mission Critical Push-to-talk and several other leading edge technologies. In January, 2024 Dr. Magnussen began his two year term on the National Spectrum Consortium Executive Committee because of his leadership role in 5G wireless research.  Because of his expertise he has been called on to testify before Congress,  serve on FCC advisory committees and he currently sits on the DHS Safecom federal advisory committee.