IDC predicts worldwide spending on the internet of things (IoT) to reach $745 billion this year. While the bulk of the channel is still working out the kinks on how best to monetize and scale formal IoT initiatives, the folks over at AT&T have been hard at work pushing the front lines of connected devices at a dedicated IoT Foundry in Plano, Texas, for years.

The brilliant minds at the IoT Foundry work with partners and customers to develop out-of-the-box solutions to make things work better, cost less, provide more value and create more opportunity. The technologies these innovators use are as cutting-edge as they come, encompassing everything from radio frequency (RF) engineering, 3D printing, hardware design, web applications and virtualization.

Channel Futures stopped by the Foundry this week and got a tour led by none other than its director, Craig Lee, who led the way on his trademark roller skates, complete with customized AT&T logo hubcaps. Lee showed us labs, brainstorming rooms, massive (and massively expensive) state-of-the-art machinery and a whole showroom of vertical-specific solutions partners are using to increase efficiencies for their customers. Click through the slideshow above to see the highlights.