Grant: College and Community Innovation Program

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an emerging technology that can be used to improve accuracy and efficiency in tracking and tracing assets and inventories in a wide range of industries. The technology creates a business advantage that becomes even more critical during slow economic times by helping companies establish and maintain a competitive advantage.The RFID Application Development Lab (RAD Lab) is well positioned to assist in the investigation, experimentation and development of new RFID applications. As our ongoing reseach has determined, there are a variety of gaps appearing in the adoption of the technology. The process of using RFID to solve a business problem is unique to every business venture. RFID tag inlays are in large supply, however the specific form factors for the final packaged tag is often unique to the application. There exist opportunities to prototype and provide SME manufacturers a ready-made market for these products as a result of the SAIT RAD Lab's application development activity.The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Polytechnic Applied Research and Innovation Servicesestablished the RAD Lab in 2008 with four main goals:-to assist industry to be more competitive by using RFID technology for inventory and asset management;- to assist local and regional industry find new business opportunities within the RFID value chain;-to provide a vendor neutral technology adoption facility where industry can test new RFID technology prior to full adoption; and- to support industry with a highly-skilled work force by integrating RFID technology concepts into curriculum and energizing students in applied research projects.