Career Advancement
A University of Alberta Master of Science in Internetworking (MINT) will help with your IT career advancement.
Our degree designation is equivalent to between two and four years of employment experience with a commensurate salary increase for any standard entry-level position. If you are studying while working in the field, and depending on your current position, you can expect even more substantial salary increases.
Where can a Master of Science in Internetworking take you?
Design and Development
- Network Systems: Design large network systems and architectures to maximize network performance. Many large companies with international branches or multiple offices require complex networks to link all of their offices together.
- Network Hardware: Design new hardware components or methods of transmission to improve network performance. Companies who manufacture network hardware are typical employers.
- Network Software: Design software communication protocols that can process data more efficiently or build operating systems or applications that can run effectively across large networks. Many companies require custom software to run over their networks and many large software companies need better communication protocols within their software.
Management and Administration
- Network Administrator: Oversee the day-to-day operation and maintenance of a large network or Internetwork. Responsibilities would include network reliability and security. Most large companies with multiple offices require these services.
- Network Manager: Oversee the management of the network, focusing on network growth planning, anticipation of future needs and ensuring that the network is able to meet its future requirements. Again, most large companies require the foresight of a skilled Network Manager to ensure that their networks keep up with their needs.
Network Security Administration
- Cryptography: Evaluate and implement secure cryptographic protocols that protect data in transit throughout an organization's network. Not all cryptography is equal and knowing what adequately protects network traffic is a key role in any organization.
- Secure Networks: Design and implement networks in a manner that are fast, efficient and secure. Organizations require employees who can protect data moving through their network without sacrificing speed and performance.
- Security Methodologies: Evaluate and implement different procedures and methods available to best secure an organization's network. Knowing what options are available and which is the most appropriate for the situation is a key skill in any organization.
Implementation
- Network Software: Implementation of new network software has an extensive impact on a company's productivity. By choosing the right protocols or operating systems, and carefully managing updates and upgrades of this network software, companies can greatly reduce network downtime and enhance reliability.
- Distributed Applications: Distributed computing initiatives like clouds and grids are now a common way for companies to increase their computing power without investing in a "supercomputer". This infrastructure must be properly designed and tuned to optimize performance.
- Real-time Systems: Proper implementation and management of real-time software systems is a non-trivial task. The complexities inherent to maintaining the