Monday, October 6, 2008

Tagsys donates $60K worth of RFID tech to Merrimack College

By Mass High Tech Staff

Tagsys RFID Group Inc. has donated $60,000 in RFID equipment to Merrimack College, according to the school. The college plans to use the donated equipment to establish an RFID and automatic identification technology laboratory on its campus.

Burlington-based Tagsys donated a combination of high frequency and ultra high frequency tags, readers, antennas and application stations to Merrimack’s Mendel Center for Science, Engineering and Technology. The company also donated RFID “demonstration stations” to help students learn how RFID can be used to track items in manufacturing and supply chain applications in libraries, textile services, apparel retail, luxury goods, pharmaceuticals and health care.

The North Andover-based school said it’s one of a handful of colleges in the United States that require RFID coursework for an electrical engineering undergraduate degree. Tagsys said the gift was mutually beneficial, since the gift would help train future RFID professionals as demand for the technology increases.

In May, Tagsys launched a new line of infrastructure equipment aimed at the textile services industry. The line is intended to help service providers track garments such as medical uniforms, work uniforms, bed sheets, hotel and restaurant linens and personal garments. The system can also be employed on additional assets, such as industrial floor mats and mops.

In February, six Merrimack civil engineering students, including Dominican Republic native Franklin Miguel, headed to the Dominican Republic to help design economical housing that can better withstand harsh weather conditions, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, in the Caribbean seaside country.

Founded in 1947, Merrimack College sits on a 220-acre campus in North Andover. It is a private college, which enrolls 2,500 students from 26 states and 17 countries.