For a century, analog telephone lines allowed for little more than speech transmission. But by the early 1990s, transformation to digital technology was underway, and few in the telecommunications industry foresaw its impact as well as Irwin Gerszberg. By the end of the decade, colleagues would call him "Mr. DSL" for his leadership in the Digital Subscriber Line field, a broadband technology that uses telephone lines and digital coding to create a connection to the Internet from a computer.

Gerszberg recognized from the outset that DSL would become the link of choice for consumers who wanted vast amounts of digital data from the Internet at extremely high speeds. Through various positions at AT&T and Bell Laboratories, he helped establish network architectures that brought high-speed broadband technology into homes and businesses. This capability allowed for multiple voice lines and feature-rich applications and devices, many of which he also created. His inventions, for example, permit customers to easily perform multiple-line voice and data installations and integrate their communications devices with wireless technology.

So far, "Mr. DSL" holds 65 U.S. patents, and has applied for others to extend virtually all forms of local access technology even further. These contributions earned him AT&T's Science and Technology Medal last year, capping a career at the AT&T Bell System that began in 1978. Today, he is division manager of the Advanced Local Network Access Technology Organization for AT&T Local Services.

Gerszberg holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from NJIT and a master's in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is a member of the New Jersey Technology Council, Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials, Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.