University of Arkansas Opens RFID Research Laboratory

Lab Sponsors:

. ConnecTerra Inc. — Cambridge, Mass.
 
. epcSolutions Inc. — Great Falls, Va.
 
. Hugg & Hall — Little Rock, Ark.
 
. IBM Inc. — Armonk, N.Y.
 
. OatSystems Inc. — Waltham, Mass.
 
. Omron Electronics LLC — Schaumburg, Ill.
 
. RFID Global Solutions Inc. — Rogers, Ark.
 
. Symbol Technologies — Holtsville, N.Y.
 
. ThingMagic — Cambridge, Mass.
 
. Weber Marking Systems Inc. — Arlington Heights, Ill.
 
. Zebra Technologies Corp. — Vernon Hills , Ill. 

The forum, held at the UA Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development, provided open discussion about the latest issues with RFID and offered opportunities for questions and answers. (To view a recording of the RFID Forum Web cast, visit: http://itri.uark.edu/rfid/default.asp?show=grandopening )

In addition to the Information Technology Research Institute, collaborators within the Walton College include the Information Systems Department, the Supply Chain Management Research Center, and the Center for Retailing Excellence.

Leveraging multidisciplinary expertise across the University of Arkansas, the RFID Research Center also has collaborative relationships with the College of Engineering, including the departments of computer science and computer engineering, industrial engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering; the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, including the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies and the department of public policy; the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences, including the department of food science; and the School of Law.

“We are very pleased to be one of the few academic institutions leading the way with RFID research, “said Walton College Dean Doyle Z. Williams. “What is gratifying to us is the ability to collaborate with these companies and across the University of Arkansas to find solutions to real-world supply-chain issues. In addition, the RFID laboratory is providing opportunities for extensive academic research and producing undergraduate and graduate students for jobs in the industry.”

Bill Hardgrave, holder of the Edwin and Karlee Bradberry Chair and director of the RFID Research Center, said, “Although RFID has been around since World War II, it is fast becoming mainstream technology. Leveraging our relationships with our sponsoring members and university partners, the center will help business realize the potential of RFID in the most cost-effective manner possible.

 “The mission of the RFID Research Center is to create and extend knowledge in the use of RFID and its impacts on business and society. It’s hard to believe that a tiny chip, about twice the width of a human hair, can help companies know what lies in each case, where that case is and where it’s going — at all times. That’s significant in terms of supply chain efficiencies.”

The RFID Research Center was formally approved by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and began operations on Feb. 4, 2005.

“This center will further enhance the research capabilities of the faculty and staff of the College of Engineering,” said Ashok Saxena, dean.  “We are particularly excited to be a part of this strategic, emerging technology because it will provide opportunities for our students to develop solutions to real world problems using an interdisciplinary approach.”

In June 2003, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. asked its top 100 suppliers to begin tagging products at the pallet and case level by January 2005. By August of that year, it expanded the request to include all suppliers by 2006. This initiative, along with a similar move by the Department of Defense, jump-started an entire industry centered on the production and optimal application of RFID technology.

Strategically positioned in the retail epicenter of current RFID activity, the RFID Research Center laboratory is essentially a multidisciplinary “supply chain in a box,” devoted to examining the technology as used in retail settings, wireless and sensing contexts and beyond. Located in Hanna’s Candle Co.’s manufacturing and warehousing facility, the 7,800-square-foot laboratory contains the latest RFID technology (tags, antennas, readers and conveyance systems) from a variety of vendors.

Hardgrave added: “We are located within one hour of the world’s largest retailer, the world’s largest producer of protein products; the nation’s largest publicly traded truckload carrier in the U.S.; the largest and third largest less-than-truckload carriers in the U.S.; and hundreds of offices from some of the world’s largest companies. This positions us at the forefront of RFID research.”

As required for specific research, the center staffs projects with faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students and businesses from a variety of disciplines. Students working with the center find themselves equipped to go right into industry RFID jobs after they leave the university.

Justin Patton, a graduate student in computer engineering who serves as the RFID Research Center lab manager, said: “This lab is an RFID dream world. I’ve met people from some of the biggest companies in the world, and I’ve been trained by some of the quickest minds in the field. I’ve got more equipment and work to do with it than anyone interested in the field could pray for. I can’t count how many times I’ve been told I’m one of luckiest guys in RFID right now, and we haven’t even officially opened our doors yet. We’ve been so busy here lately that I haven’t thought much about what will happen when I leave the university lab, but I can’t imagine how anyone in the world could have gotten faster or more thorough training in the RFID field than I have over the past few months.”

The RFID Research laboratory examines not only technical issues, but also questions of public policy. Hardgrave said: “Privacy advocates worry about the potential for companies or others to misuse the data collected from RFID-enabled products. Data privacy and security are legitimate concerns for any technology, not just RFID. Through our work at the center, we hope to allay these concerns by dispelling popular myths about RFID and better educating the public about RFID.

“Much of the information concerning RFID in the popular press is misleading or simply not possible with today’s technology. The tags we use in our research and that companies are using on their products communicate only over very short distances and can easily be disabled. The idea of driving down the street and reading the contents of someone’s home is currently fiction and would provide no meaningful information.”

Hardgrave explained: “None of the research currently being done at the RFID Research Center involves personally identifiable information. We are focusing our efforts at this point solely on products at the pallet and case level in the supply chain from the time they leave the manufacturer’s dock to the point at which they leave the retail store's back room to go out onto the store shelves.”

The RFID Research Center has no vested interest in the use or implementation of any one type of RFID technology over another. The companies who use the facility to test their products can remain confident that they will receive unbiased results on the most efficient application of RFID tags and readers on their products.

Hardgrave said: “Passive RFID (a tag that remains inactive until it enters a read-field) within the supply chain is but one of a plethora of wireless and sensor technologies. In the long run, to reach its full potential, passive RFID must complement and integrate with a pervasive network of sensors. Passive RFID has certainly captured the world’s attention, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.”

For more information, go to: http://itri.uark.edu/rfid.