RFID Forum: Penn State Erie Hosts RFID Forum With Alien Technology
 Photo: John Fontecchio |
| C. Scott Hartz, director on Alien's board; Frank DeWolk, director of the RFID Center of Excellence; George Everhart, CEO of Alien Technology; and Robert Eulau, EVP and CFO of Alien Technology, gather together after the RFID forum held at Penn State Erie. |
Alien Technology Corp., which is headquartered in Morgan Hill, Calif., and is a sponsor of the RFID Center of Excellence at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College hosted a radio frequency identification (RFID) forum Monday, April 16, at Penn State Erie. The standing-room only event was attended by regional industry leaders, students, and RFID Solutions Online.
"Alien Technology is one of the country's leading RFID companies," said Frank DeWolf, director of the RFID Center of Excellence and lecturer in management and e-business in the Sam and Irene Black School of Business. "With the college's RFID Center already in place, the creation and development of an RFID application center has the potential to establish a new industry cluster in information technology for northwest Pennsylvania." The mission of Penn State Erie's RFID Center is research and outreach.
George Everhart, chief executive officer of Alien Technology, and Robert Eulau, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Alien Technology, led the presentation, describing the company and its potential for growth in the industry. Representatives from Advanced Equities Inc., which is a venture capital investment bank headquartered in Chicago, also participated in the event.
 Photo: John Fontecchio |
| The crowd was packed with RFID experts and novices, all interested in the growing technology. |
With far-reaching implications, the technology behind RFID tagging is fairly simple. A small, thin tag embedded with a microchip is attached to a box or pallet; it is passive until bombarded with radio waves by a hand-held or wall-mounted RFID reader. The amount of information the tag is capable of relaying is dictated by its size and complexity. Tags are rarely placed on individual items, with the exception of high-ticket merchandise.
At this point, adoption of RFID tagging is being forced on vendors from the top down, with Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Boeing and the U.S. Department of Defense all requiring RFID-tagged pallets from their largest suppliers.
About Alien Technology
Alien Technology produces RFID tags and readers, as well as related training and professional services. The company provides ultra high-frequency RFID products and services to customers in the retail, consumer, manufacturing, defense, transportation and logistics, and pharmaceuticals industries who wish to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and security of their supply chains and asset tracking operations.
About Penn State Erie's RFID Center of Excellence
The RFID Center of Excellence, an outreach unit of the Black School of Business, is housed in the new Research and Economic Development Center. Visit http://www.behrend.psu.edu/rfid for more information.
SOURCE: RFID Solutions Online