Bridging the gap [Centers of Excellence; Supplement, Applications & Practice]

Centers of Excellence rely on university staff and students to bring RFID technology out into the real world. This paper focused on making RFID more applicable in our everyday lives, individuals such as these are converging at the two dozen or so RFID Centers of Excellence that have sprouted up around world over the last two to three years. They have come in the wake of Wal-Mart and Department of Defense mandates that their suppliers use RFID technology. Unlike RFID labs, which are often run by equipment manufacturers themselves, Centers of Excellence-and there are a host of them specializing in different fields around the United States-are based in universities and staffed by faculty and students.