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Cambridge Auto-ID Lab News
27 October 2006 : Mark Harrison and Thomas Kelepouris attend RFID Journal Live! in Amsterdam.
Mark Harrison, Senior Researcher and Thomas Kelepouris, Doctoral Researcher, at the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, attend RFID Journal Live! to initiate contacts with companies interested in RFID and its role in Track and Trace. They also attend a panel discussion on the European project "BRIDGE".
22 October 2006 : Victor Prodonoff Jr. attends AEROid Conference in Hull.
Victor Prodonoff Jr. attends AEROid Conference in Hull to interact with Aerospace ID Sponsors about the upcoming trials, and to understand their potential contribution to a common infrastructure for the trials.
10 October 2006 : Bela Patkai attends Airbus meeting on Sensors and Health management in Toulouse.
Bela Patkai attends Airbus meeting on Sensors and Health management in Toulouse to provide an update about health management-related activities in AerospaceID get an overview of the whole aircraft from the health management point of view gather requirements for RFID-based sensor integration in health management.
5 October 2006 : Lila Theodorou and Bela Patkai visit Messier Services and Dowty in Gloucester.
Lila Theodorou and Bela Patkai visit Messier Services and Dowty to understand their operations and capture their needs, and requirements for sensor data, present some of the possibilities for sensor integration they could benefit from and gather requirements for RFID+sensor integration.
2-3 October 2006 : Victor Prodonoff Jr. and Alan Thorne visit Embraer in Brazil.
Victor Prodonoff Jr. and Alan Thorne visit Embraer in Brazil to discuss main concepts and research themes being addressed by the Aerospace ID Programme.
14 September 2006 : Mark Harrison visits Germany to discuss BRIDGE project.
Mark Harrison, Senior Researcher at the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, visits Germany to discuss BRIDGE project with GS1 Europe. He gave a presentation on "Removing Technical, Operational and Economic barriers to RFID deployment in Europe". He also attended plenary session and break out session on Aerospace and Automotive industry.
31 July 2006 : Duncan McFarlane appointed to RAE Engineering Professorhip.
Duncan McFarlane, Research Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, has been appointed to the new Royal Academy of Engineering Professorship in Service and Support Engineering. Service and suport is a major growth area for many manufacturing businesses. The Chair is for 5 years and during this period Duncan McFarlane will be taking leave of absence from his readership in automation systems.
6 July 2006 : Anand Kulkarni speaks at the 4th Supply Chain Academic Forum in Bath.
On 6 July 2006, Anand Kulkarni, Doctoral Researcher at the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, attended 4th Supply Chain Academic Forum at Bath, UK. He conducted a workshop session on "Reverse logistics in supply network: State-of-the-art and new challenges". Anand's presentation can be downloaded from our presentations page.
15 June 2006 : James Brusey attends PROMISE WP T1(Training) Kick off Meeting.
On 15 June 2006, James Brusey, senior research associate at the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, attended PROMISE WP T1(Training) Kick off Meeting in Milano, Italy. In the meeting, James Brusey gave a talk on the Cambridge approach to ACDMM and MLP training.
PROMISE is an EU-funded project that aims to develop technology for incorporating smart embedded devices to manage the complete product life-cycle. For more information about the project click here.
17 May 2006 : Thomas Kelepouris, doctoral researcher, visits Embraer France.
The aim of the visit was to understand the operation of the distribution center and to study the current practices with regard to tracking and tracing in Embraer. After studying the process and information flows, the needs for information quality improvement were discussed and potential areas of automatic identification technologies deployment were identified.
17 May 2006 : Bela Patkai meets Airbus and T-Systems at Berlin Air Show.
The meeting was held to discuss possible collaboration opportunities for the Sensor Integration theme of the Aero-ID Programme. The Aerospace-ID Programme has been started by the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs to remove barriers to the widespread adoption of Auto-ID such as RFID.
17 May 2006 : James Brusey and Lila Theodorou visit BT.
The aim of the visit was to learn ongoing sensor integration work at British Telecom. They discussed two projects namely: PIPES project which involves sensor network infrastructure monitoring of water piples for flow/leakage. The second one was a demonstration of a project that is on-going for "telecare" for elderly. This involves placing sensors on things like kettle and water pipes, and then using learning or adpative techniques to establish a pattern of behaviour.
1 May 2006 : Ajith Parlikad speaks at the Seventeenth Annual Conference of POMS held in Boston.
On the 1st May 2006, Ajith Parlikad, Research Associate at the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, spoke on "Quantifying the value of RFID in product recovery decisions". In his talk, Ajith presented how product recovery decisions at the end-of-life stage of the supply chain are affected by the lack of ready availability of product information. He then discussed his research which focuses on quantifying the benefits of RFID based product information in product recovery decision-making. Ajith's presentation can be downloaded from our presentations page.
26 April 2006 : Cambridge Auto-ID Labs hosts the 5th six-monthly PROMISE consortium Meeting.
The 5th six-monthly PROMISE Consortium Meeting was held in New Hall College, Cambridge recently from April 26-28. Forty consortium partners attended, and all 22 member organisations of the consortium were represented. Apart from the main sessions, the meeting also included a visit to the Cambridge Auto-ID Laboratory where there was a demonstration of an RFID-based manufacturing system (given by Dr J. Brusey), and a talk on RFID tagging of metallic objects (given by Mr F. Delahaye). PROMISE is an EU-funded project that aims to develop technology for incorporating smart embedded devices to manage the complete product life-cycle. For more information about the project click here.
10 April 2006 : Dr. Mikko K”rkk”inen, a research fellow in
the Logistics Research Group at Helsinki University of Technology, Finland Visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
On the 10th of April, Dr. Mikko K”rkk”inen talked about his thesis titled Forwarder Independent
Tracking Systems - Problem Description and Solution Design Proposal. The aim of his thesis is to
describe why tracking has become an increasingly important area in logistics management, identify
the key problems with current designs of tracking systems, and develop and test a solution proposal that
addresses the identified problems.He has proposed Forwarder Independent Tracking approach in his thesis which was
developed and tested in four case studies, two of which included a pilot implementation.
27 February 2006 : Alex C.Y. Wong speaks at Ambient Intelligence Technologies to Enhance the Product Lifecycle Workshop in Brussels
Alex C.Y. Wong Research Associate at DIAL spoke at Ambient Intelligence Technologies to Enhance the Product Lifecycle Workshop in Brussels on "RFID and Product Intelligence".
The details of the workshop can be found by visiting http://cordis.europa.eu.int. Alex's presentation can be accessed by visiting our presentations page.
10 January 2006 : Caterpillar visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
On the 10th of January, Cecile Corcelle from the Operations Division of Caterpillar France visited the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs. The purpose of this visit was to discuss issues regarding (End-of-Life) EOL demonstrator within the PROMISE
project and to understand the applicability of RFID in identifying engine parts and components and to collect critical lifecycle information throughout the usage and maintenance phases.
Andy shaw, Business manager of the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs introduced Cecile to the labs' research activities which was followed by a lab demonstration. James Brusey, Senior research associate, explained RFID enabled packaging cell developed by the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs. Alan Thorne, Associate Director, demonstrated RFID testing and discussed Aero-ID activities.
21 November 2005 : Cambridge Auto-ID Labs holds a meeting of the GS1 UK Packaging SIG.
On Monday the 21st, Cambridge Auto-ID Labs hosted a meeting of the GS1 UK Packaging
SIG, with representatives from major packaging and packaging
manufacturing groups. Attendees included representatives from the
British Brands Groups, British Glass, the British Printing Industries
Federation, the British Retail Consortium, the Confederation of Paper
Industries -- Corrugated Division, the Child-Safe Packaging Group,
the Industrial Packaging Association, the Liquid Food Container
Manufacturers Association, the Metal Packaging Manufacturers
Association, the Packaging and Industrial Films Association, and the
Carton Packaging Manufacturers. After a morning session, talks were
given by Andy Shaw on Cambridge Auto-ID Labs' purpose and programmes, and by Hugo
Mallinson on our work in RFID testing and its application to
packaging. They were followed by Xaar inkjets, a local manufacturer of high precision
inkjet heads used increasingly for printed electronics. Conductive Ink Technologies then explained their work, using Xaar
equipment and a custom copper application process, to create
printable RFID antennas with minimal setup time and costs.
17 November 2005 : Duncan McFarlane attends the European Adoption Programme in Paris.
Dr. Duncan McFarlane, Research Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs attended the European Adoption Programme at La Defense, Paris on the 17th of November. The meeting was held by EPCGlobal to discuss the future of RFID/EPC in Europe and was sponsored by IBM. The agenda for the meeting was:
- Update on EPCGlobal's achivements to date and plans for the future
- Discussion on EPCGlobal's Gen 2 tag-reader protocol and likely timelines for product availabilty in Europe
- Presentation on EPCGlobal's certification programme
- A discussion focussed on transport and logistics
3 November 2005 : Andy Shaw and Hugo Mallinson attend the RFID users group forum
Andy Shaw and Hugo Mallinson attended an RFID Interest Group organized
by UK GS1, the UK division of the international body which oversees the
EPC network. The meeting was an effort by UK GS1 to promote discussion
about RFID issues among interested companies, both those currently
participating in RFID pilots and those considering them. In addition to
the GS1 presentations, Chris Palmer from RFIP Solutions, who has been
involved with the development of the hardware specifications for EPC
Class 1 Gen 2, gave a very useful overview of the emergence of that
standard and the status of European RFID hardware. Attendees were also
given a tour of the Unipart Logistics supply chain simulator: an
RFID-enabled model for investigating various supply chain management
methodologies.
19 October 2005 : Duncan McFarlane speaks at the DTI Sensors Event in London.
Dr. Duncan McFarlane, Research Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs spoke on "RFID and Sensors in the Supply Chain" at the UK Department of Trade and Industry's Sensors Event in London. In his talk, Duncan presented the implications for RFID in supply chains of today as well as the future, emphasising the need for RFID-based sensors as a means to develop self-managing products.
Duncan's presentation can be downloaded from our presentations page.
10 October 2005 : Cambridge Auto-ID Labs' Researchers runs 'RFID training day' at RFID Journal Live Europe.
Alan Thorne and Mark Harrison, Associate Directors of Cambridge Auto-ID labs co-presented a one day pre-conference training day on RFID and the EPC Network, 'RFID Journal University' at RFID Journal Live Europe in Amsterdam.
Please contact Mark Harrison for futher details at mgh12[at]cam.ac.uk
10-12 October 2005 : Anand Kulkarni speaks on the Impact of Networked RFID on Remanufacturing at the Closed Loop Supply Chain Conference in USA.
Anand Kulkarni, a PhD student at Cambridge Auto-ID Labs spoke on the impact of Networked RFID on Remanufacturing at the Closed Loop Supply Chain Conference at Nashville, USA. The conference focus was on the business aspects of closed loop supply chains, and was run by Vanderbilt University.
Please contact Anand Kulkarni for futher details at ak426[at]cam.ac.uk
10 October 2005 : Two PhD students join Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Cambridge Auto-ID Labs welcomes Lila Theodorou and Thomas Kelepouris, who have joined the lab for their doctoral research.
Lila holds a Graduate Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, specialising in Telecommunications. Thomas holds a BSc in Informatics and Telecommunications from the National University of Athens and an MSc in Information Systems from Athens University of Economics and Business.
5 October 2005 : James Brusey speaks at Helsinki University of Technology.
James Brusey, Senior Research Associate at DIAL spoke at a logistics workshop at Helsinki University of Technology on "Intelligent Products and the EPC Network". James gave a summary of DIAL's work investigating the role of the EPC Network in tracking parts in a mass customisation manufacturing scenario.
Please contact James Brusey for futher details at jpb54[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
26 September 2005 : Cambridge Auto-ID Labs hosts EPCGlobal/PROMISE meeting
On the 26th of September, representatives from EPCGlobal and the PROMISE consortium explored the opportunities for collaboration in their research efforts. Cambridge Auto-ID Labs is a member of EPCGlobal and the PROMISE Consortium.
EPCglobal Inc is the organisation entrusted by industry to establish and support the EPCglobal Network as the global standard for real-time, automatic identification of information in the supply chain of any company, anywhere in the world. Nick Fergusson, Associate Director of EPC Global Inc. and Roger Till, External Relations Director at GS1(UK) gave an update on the ongoing activities at EPCGlobal.
PROMISE is a project of the European Union (EU) 6th Framework programme for Information Society Technologies, which aims at developing appropriate technology, including product lifecycle models, Product Embedded Information Devices with associated firmware and software components and tools for decision making based on data gathered through a product lifecycle. Dr. Dimitris Kiritsis from EPFL, Lausanne and Mr. Werner Weber from Infineon represented the PROMISE consortium.
It was clear that synergies could be found in standardisation issues as well as requirements analysis for product lifecycle applications.
Please contact James Brusey for futher details at jpb54[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
26 July 2005 : T Systems management team visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
On the 26th of July, three representatives from the senior management (Dr. Stephen Vercias, Vice President, Mr. Thomas Schuh, Head of Innovation Management, Mr. Hartmut Feuchtmuller,Senior Consultant) visited Cambridge Auto-ID Labs to explore future collaboration opportunities and to discuss ongoing involvement in the Aerospace ID Technologies Programme.
Please contact Alan Thorne for futher details at ajt[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
25 July 2005 : The Technology Partnership (TTP) visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
On the 25th of July, four executives from The Technology Partnership (Neil Pollock, Dr. Aylwyn Scally, Dr. Roger Clarke, Dr. Justin Buckland) visited Cambridge Auto-ID Labs to explore future collaboration opportunities in the area of networked sensor technologies. TTP is a leading technology consulting company in the Cambridge area.
Please contact Alan Thorne for futher details at ajt[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
14 July 2005 : Alan Thorne attends EAP meeting in Barcelona.
Mr. Alan Thorne, Associate Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs attended the European Adoption Program (EAP) in Barcelona. This meeting was to investigate the latest RFID developments within Europe and the ongoing deployment strategies. Mr. Thorne participated in the tags testing forum of the meeting.
Please contact Alan Thorne for futher details at ajt[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
11 July 2005 : VI Agents CEO visit Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Mr. Kurt Kammerer, CEO of VI Agents visited Cambridge Auto-ID Labs to discuss ongoing involvement within the Aerospace ID Technologies Programme and other research collaboaration opportunities with the lab.
Please contact Alan Thorne for futher details at ajt[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
17 June 2005 : Pratt & Whitney visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Mr. David Loda, Manager of Innovation Strategy Group at Pratt and Whitney visited DIAL on the 17th of June to present the work that United Technologies Corporation (Pratt & Whitney's parent company) has been doing on networked RFID - in both the aerospace and smart building environment. The visit included a debrief from the Cambridge Auto-ID Lab's meetings at the Paris Air Show, and concluded with a discussion about future collaboration between P&W and Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Please contact Jonathan Hughes for further details at jtlh2[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
15-16 June 2005 : The Aerospace ID Technologies Programme at the Paris Air Show.
The Cambridge Auto-ID Lab was at the 2005 Paris Air Show and the team met with more than 50 organisations to discuss the Aerospace ID Technologies Programme.
We held two formal meetings, which were kindly hosted by the SBAC (Society of British Aerospace
Companies) and by the BDLI (German Aerospace Industries Association).
Charley Kienzle, Senior VP of Operations for Aviall Services and Jens Heitmann, Senior Manager of
System and Equipment
Standardisation for Airbus addressed these meetings before Duncan McFarlane, Director of Research at the Cambridge
Auto-ID Lab, made his presentation and answered questions from the audience.
These meetings generated a lot of new contacts and ideas and, in addition to the letters of intent that we have already
received (from Airbus, Aviall Services, Boeing, SITA SC
and VI Agents), we are now discussing membership with many other aircraft assemblers, aerospace manufacturers,
MROs, airlines and technology/solution providers.
7 June 2005 : Dr. Duncan McFarlane speaks at the GS1 UK EPCglobal Conference in London.
On the 7th of June, Dr. Duncan McFarlane, Research Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs gave a talk on "RFID implementation: Reducing the uncertainty" at the GS1 UK EPCglobal conference. This talk addressed issues of dealing with RFID read uncertainty in an application environment and also discussed methods for addressing the other great uncertainty: "How can I actually determine whether RFID will improve the operations of my business?"
Please click here to download the presentation.
1 June 2005 : Dr. George Huang, University of Hongkong visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Dr. George Huang from University of Hongkong visited Cambridge Auto-ID Labs on the 1st of June. Dr. Huang is an Associate Professor in the department of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering. He gave a presentation about his research project which uses RFID systems for collaborative product data management and supply chain management. He spoke at length about the use of RFID-enabled kanbans in line production.
Please contact Jonathan Hughes for further details at jtlh2[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
25 May 2005 : MIT Auto-ID Labs Research Director visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Prof. John Williams, Research Director of the Auto-ID Labs@MIT visited Cambridge Auto-ID Labs on the 25th of May. The aim of his visit was to have a better understanding of the various activities under the Auto-ID project at Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Please contact Jonathan Hughes for further details at jtlh2[at] eng.cam.ac.uk
19 May 2005 : Cambridge Auto-ID Labs researchers researchers visit Nestle.
Alan Thorne, Mark Harrison, and Ajith Parlikad, researchers at Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, and MET student Richard Davies visited Nestle's manufacturing facility in York to meet Mr. Paul Roberts, Nestle's Business Technology Manager to discuss issues related to RFID integration with supply chain operations. The visit also provided a forum to initiate Richard's final year project, which aims at investigating the requirements imposed on EPCIS by industrial supply chains.
During the visit, Mr. Roberts gave the group his views on the functions and capabilities that should be offered by the EPCIS, and Mark Harrison presented an update of EPCIS working group activities.
Please contact Alan Thorne for further details at ajt[at]eng.cam.ac.uk
13 May 2005 : BT Payphones team visit Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Paul Hendron, Director, BT Payphones, brought a team of senior managers from BT's Enterprises division to Cambridge Auto-ID Labs, to hear about the latest advances and issues in RFID technology. The group, which included the CEO of BT Enterprises, Ian Bull, explored a wide range of topics in discussion with Andy Shaw and Dr Mark Harrison; specifically those relating to opportunities for the communications industry in supply chain management.
The group commented "...were delighted with the quality of information and insight delivered during the afternoon."
Please contact Andy Shaw for further details at as2[at]eng.cam.ac.uk
5 May 2005 : Duncan McFarlane, Research Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs speaks at the RFID Networking Forum in London.
On the 5th of May, Dr Duncan McFarlane gave a talk on RFID-enabled Smart Products at the 4th RFID Networking Forum at London Heathrow. The event conducted by the RFID Forum was aimed at industrialists to meet and discuss their RFID adoption plans as well as to learn more about the technology and associated standards.
4 May 2005 : Brooks Automation visit Cambridge Auto-ID Labs.
Gabriel Fregoso, Technical Account Manager at Brooks Automation visited Cambridge Auto-ID Labs on the 4th of May and provided an insight into Brooks' RFID integration software. Disussions revolved around issues related to real-time management of RFID data and integration with manufacturing information systems.
Please contact William Wang for further details at ww250[at]eng.cam.ac.uk.
29-30 March 2005: Alan Thorne, Associate Director of Cambridge Auto-ID Labs spoke at the Airbus and Boeing Aviation RFID Forum in Orlando.
Alan Thorne, Associate Director Cambridge Auto-ID Labs presented the research programme at the Airbus and Boeing Global Aviation RFID Forum in Orlando. Both he and Andy Shaw, Cambridge Auto-ID Labs Business Manager, attended the forum and talked to end users and technology providers about the exciting Aerospace ID technologies programme and the opportunities it provides.
Andy and Alan had discussions with Rolls Royce, UPS, Pratt & Whitney, British Airways. Emirates, Aviall Services, Smitts Aerospace, Hamilton Sundstrand, IBM, Intermec and the ATA amongst others.
Please click here to download Alan's presentation.
15 March 2005: Microsoft researchers visit DIAL
On the 15th of March, Steven Shafer, Senior Researcher from MS Richmond, USA and Simon Holloway, Senior Architectural SE from Microsoft UK visited DIAL and Cambridge Auto-ID Labs to learn about the centre's research activities in RFID applications and middleware topics. Both researchers presented Microsoft's view of the RFID world and talked about Microsoft RFID development plans. Andy shaw gave them an overview of DIAL's research activities and Dr Mark Harrison gave an update on the developments in the EPCIS front. The visitors were also given a tour and demo of the automation lab by Dr James Brusey.
25 February 2005: Cambridge Auto-ID Labs researchers talk at Erasmus University
On the 25th of February, Ajith Parlikad and Anand Kulkarni spoke at a seminar on "RFID in Reverse Logistics" at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Ajith Parlikad gave an overview of DIAL's activities and spoke about the role of networked RFID in product recovery management. Anand Kulkarni presented a summary of his case studies and explored the link between RFID and inventory management within reverse logistics. Both researchers had extensive discussions with the members of the RevLog research group and explored links for research collaboration between Erasmus University and DIAL. The trip to Rotterdam also included a visit to Oce's remanufacturing facility at Venlo. Oce' is one of the major manufacturers of photocopying equipment based in the Netherlands.
28 January 2005: Chief of International Affairs Team from Korea National Cleaner Production Center visits Cambridge Auto-ID Labs
Dr Jae Youn Kim, Chief of International Affairs Team, from Korea National Cleaner Production Center, visited the Cambridge Auto-ID Labs on 28th January to know the lab's research activities, particularly in examining the RFID applications in product recovery management. Ajith Kumar Parlikad gave a brief overview of the lab's current research activities and presented the potential role of RFID technology in product recovery management. Dr Jae Youn Kim discussed the research interests of Korea National Cleaner Production Center. The two research groups explored the opportunities of future cooperation in investigating the role of RFID in product recovery management.
26 January 2005: Cambridge Auto-ID Labs holds the UK SAP User Group meeting to discuss SAP's RFID integration plans
The UK SAP Supply Chain User Group held a very successful technical visit to the Auto-ID Labs at Cambridge in January. This one-day visit of twenty four members, which has been organised by the group, included talks from Andy Shaw, Lab Business Manager, Alan Thorne Lab Associate Director and a full blown lab demonstration. CY Wong, a researcher with the lab, also gave a full demonstration of a simulated retail store enabled with RFID which was very well received.
After a buffet lunch and networking opportunity Ian Scott of SAP presented on how his company are servicing the RFID technology area. Specifically he outlined the SAP solutions on offer (commonly called middleware) that enable the data from tag readers to be converted into useful information and supplied to the company's ERP system.
Feedback after the event was very positive. Andy Pickthall from Burton Foods said, "The whole day was very informative." and Dave Willis of Cadbury Schweppes said, "Many thanks for your excellent hospitality during today's visit and to the gentleman who so lucidly demonstrated the "shelf replenishment" simulation early in the afternoon."
10 January 2005: Cambridge Auto-ID Labs launches Manufacturing Special Interest Group (SIG)
The SIG's focus will be researching the benefits from RFID technology in upstream supply chain and specifically in manufacturing companies. The SIG intends to run as a series of manufacturing sectoral activities which will be different depending on the state of maturity in the sector. A cross sectoral perspective will be developed across the sector programmes. Each programme will run for a fixed period of time. The initial programmes being discussed are aerospace, consumer goods, electronic goods.
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