Abstract:  GreenTouch? is a global research consortium, formed under the initiative and leadership of Bell Labs, with the goal of inventing sustainable, ultra-energy-efficient, ICT networks. In particular it aims to demonstrate technologies in five years (at the end of 2015) that could make the network a thousand-times more energy efficient in 2020 over a baseline network energy efficiency of 2010. ICT networks, freed from the encumbrances of energy-consumption limitations, are expected to play a major-role in enabling a low-carbon economy and in fostering rich new applications that will define the way we live, learn and play.I will talk about the main factors – a network that doubles every two-three years and the slowdown in some key innovation areas – that lead us to believe that ICT network innovation has to be focused on a complete re-thinking of networks from an energy-efficiency perspective. I will briefly cover the Bell Labs analyses on estimating how much is possible in increasing network energy efficiency. The rest of my talk will address the operational structure of GreenTouch?, the progress of GreenTouch?, our research goals and ideas. 

Dr. Suresh Goyal leads the Green Research theme at Bell Labs involving cross-domain research on
sustainable networks and energy-efficiency enablement. Bell Labs’ green research involves more than a
hundred researchers and a large number of external collaborators. A center point of Bell Labs’ green
research is GreenTouch®. Suresh led the Bell Labs research teams that performed the analyses leading to
the formation of GreenTouch®.
Suresh also holds an Adjunct Professor position at the University of Limerick, in Limerick, Ireland, with a
research focus on mechanics and energy harvesting. He is a founding member of Bell Labs Ireland, and the
CTVR, where he led the Test and Reliability research group, and co-led strategy development, for 5 years.
He has previously held positions in optical networking research and wireless packaging research in Bell
Labs. Suresh also served as Adjunct Professor at Carnegie-Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Suresh obtained his PhD from Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY, an MS from the University of Iowa, in
Iowa City, IA, and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He is a Fellow of
the ASME. He has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, 12 patents, 3 Best Paper awards, and several
Internal Bell Labs awards. Suresh has co-supervised 3 PhD students, 2 Master’s students, and mentored
several Senior researchers and students.