The UNH-IOL offers an opportunity that most graduate students never get to experience: hands-on learning with cutting edge technologies. More so than with undergraduate studies, the realm of graduate research is typically entirely theoretical. Complementary to the classroom, here at the lab, students have the opportunity to perform research on actual devices. Staffed by full-time employees and graduate students, we are able to forge relationships with vendors that most graduate students never get exposed to. This affords the benefits of accessing prototype hardware and software that may not be available outside of our special relationships for years in some cases.