Morrisville, NC September 15, 2026 – Device Solutions is part of a team selected for negotiation of an award by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation to lead a Mine of the Future: Proving Ground Initiative project. Led by Innovative Wireless Technologies, Inc. (IWT), Device Solutions and other partners will establish a national proving ground to advance the program's goal to accelerate technology commercialization and increase the competitiveness of domestic mining operations. The team will design and install secure, heterogeneous, high-speed networks from seam to surface at three test and training facilities. These systems will be used to advance research into data-driven and AI-enabled autonomous operations to improve mine safety and productivity.
Device Solutions will leverage decades of experience with cellular systems and connected devices to develop novel sensor and edge processing solutions and to partner to design and install advanced 5G networks.
"We've spent over two decades building connected devices that work in environments where failure isn't an option. This program is an exciting opportunity to co-develop solutions spanning a range of critical situations and diverse technologies," says Chris Lamb, CEO and Co-Founder of Device Solutions.
The four-year initiative is anticipated to represent a total project value of nearly $25 million, with approximately $17.7 million expected to come from federal funding and the balance from matching contributions by IWT and its project partners, pending award negotiations.
The project includes collaboration with The Wireless Research Center (WRC) of North Carolina, a Device Solutions partner since its 2010 inception. Both Device Solutions and WRC were founded by former Ericsson/Sony Ericsson engineers in the thriving communication technologies ecosystem of Research Triangle Park (RTP), NC. In the last decades, a collaborative regional network has grown with new companies started, new jobs created, and subsequent partnerships developed. The region is an epicenter of critical communications technologies businesses, where groundbreaking innovations are still designed, developed, and deployed by those who helped shape the foundation of the industry.
[Link to IWT Press Release] [Link to DOE Press Release]
ABOUT DEVICE SOLUTIONS:
Founded in 2003, Device Solutions develops and certifies innovative industrial, medical, consumer, and critical infrastructure products. They focus on low-power, connected embedded hardware and firmware development, along with key radio technologies including cellular, LoRa, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GNSS, and UWB. Device Solutions has spent the last five years building expertise in ATSC 3.0 for datacasting, first-responder paging, and precision time (BPS). Fundamental to its development process is design for certification, ensuring successful completion of FCC, cellular, FDA, and safety certifications (MSHA, IECEx). As a subsidiary of Innovative Wireless Technologies, Inc., Device Solutions is increasing its portfolio in heavy industries, autonomous vehicles, purpose-built networks, and other dual-use technologies for optimal safety and productivity.