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Transportation Seminar Series
Introduction to RFID Technology and New Applications in Transportation

Sep 6, 2011 (2:00 - 2:50 p.m., IACC 422)

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is currently a $6 billion worldwide market. More than 60 percent of the market addresses issues in the transportation sector. Students will briefly learn about the history of RFID and its major applications in transportation. The lecture will describe how RFID technology, cost, and standards will evolve to address new transportation applications within the next few decades. Students will understand some of the technical considerations for reliable RFID deployment, and will gain an appreciation for how passive tags operate and communicate effectively at high transport speeds, without using batteries.

Raj Bridgelall, Program Director, Advanced Traffic Analysis Center, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute – NDSU

Raj Bridgelall has over 20 years of experience and over 135 U.S. patents issued or pending in the areas of sensing, wireless communications, mobile computing, and networking technologies, including their applications in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). At the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) of North Dakota State University (NDSU), Raj leads the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center (ATAC) in activities that enhance transportation systems using computer simulations, theoretical analysis, and ITS. He is the principal investigator for the UGPTI's Surface Mobility Application Real-Time Simulation environment (SMARTSeSM) to incubate applications for the USDOT Smart Roadside and Connected Vehicle Initiatives, and to benchmark and validate technologies and provide systems integration training. Raj represents the Institute on the technical advisory board of the DASH7 Alliance, an organization similar to the Wi-Fi Alliance, developing the next generation of ubiquitous wireless communications standards to connect any low-power sensor to the Internet, including commercial vehicle systems and Electronic On-board Recorders (EOBR). He also contributed to the development of an international standard for passive RFID tags, the ISO18000-6c/EPC.

Prior to joining NDSU, he held positions as Chief Technology Officer, Vice President of Engineering, and Vice President of R&D at engineering firms focused on RFID and wireless sensor network technology and applications. He established the RFID division at Motorola Corporation and led the company to win numerous accounts with major retailers like Wal-Mart to enhance their transportation logistics using an optimum mix of RFID and barcode technologies. While at Motorola, he pioneered mobile computing, secure wireless networks, and opto-mechanical laser scanning technologies that resulted in over $100-million in revenue of products sold for military and commercial applications in supply chain logistics. Raj authored several textbook chapters focused on energy harvesting techniques for sensors, and RFID applications in construction and logistics.

NDSU Dept 2880P.O. Box 6050Fargo, ND 58108-6050
(701)231-7767ndsu.ugpti@ndsu.edu