RFID the wave of Dayton's future?
WSU proffessor: Dayton to be RFID hub
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
SPRINGBORO — Alien Technology Corp.'s Dayton Solutions Center has 25 employees today, but George Everhart, Alien's chief executive, says that number only hints at the growing importance of Alien's industry: Radio Frequency Identification.
Alien's local employee base will grow, Everhart said. And he believes Alien itself is only a component of what is becoming an increasingly key confluence of users, suppliers and researchers in the Dayton area.
Vikram Sethi, interim director of Wright State University's Institute of Defense Studies and Education, predicts that Dayton will be the nation's No. 1 center of RFID technology in a few years. (Sethi said Boston may hold that spot today.)
"If you're looking for a winning card for Dayton, this is it," Sethi said Tuesday, Aug. 12, at a demonstration of RFID at Alien's local 23,000-square-foot center. The demonstration brought out officials such as U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson, R-Springfield, and business leaders, like Greg Millat, president of Kettering's Millat Industries.
RFID employs tags or chips that can wirelessly identify anything from luggage to retail parcels to pharmaceuticals. RFID backers say the technology offers greater information, speed and ease of use than conventional bar codes.
RFID is a $5.3 billion industry today, 11 percent bigger than in 2007, Everhart said. He predicted that it will be a $9.7 billion industry in 2013 — growth of 15 percent. Alien itself is growing 100 percent a year, he said.
Everhart said vehicle tracking, library and document management and building access are possible with RFID.
Alien Technology
Founded: 1994
Based: Morgan Hill, Calif.
Ownership: Private.
Employees: Springboro's West Tech Road center, 25. Total, 250.
Local presence: Alien has called its Dayton Solutions Center "the world's largest and most advanced facility devoted entirely to RFID technology."
Source: Alien
