WaveMark, UMass align to create new RFID device
From a request to help a manufacturer staffed by persons with disabilities has come a partnership between a medical device manufacturer and an institution of higher education—and a new product on the RFID market.
Under the arrangement, RFID developer WaveMark of Littleton, Mass., worked with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell’s Capstone engineering program to invent and refine a specialized RFID tag for hospital use. The device will be assembled in Braintree, Mass., by EmployAbility, a company that provides manufacturing jobs to individuals with disabilities, according to a WaveMark product announcement.
The creation of the device brought together plastics-engineering students and WaveMark engineers, and the collaboration resulted in an RFID tag that improves hospital storage efficiency, enabling more products to fit into existing WaveMark RFID smart cabinets in hospitals, according to WaveMark.
The company said it is currently “productizing” the new device and plans to begin shipping it to customers this summer.
“How great that our students were able help solve a technical problem while preserving jobs for folks with physical challenges,” said Linda Barrington, a service-learning coordinator at UMass Lowell.
WaveMark did not specify the name of the new product.
Under the arrangement, RFID developer WaveMark of Littleton, Mass., worked with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell’s Capstone engineering program to invent and refine a specialized RFID tag for hospital use. The device will be assembled in Braintree, Mass., by EmployAbility, a company that provides manufacturing jobs to individuals with disabilities, according to a WaveMark product announcement.
The creation of the device brought together plastics-engineering students and WaveMark engineers, and the collaboration resulted in an RFID tag that improves hospital storage efficiency, enabling more products to fit into existing WaveMark RFID smart cabinets in hospitals, according to WaveMark.
The company said it is currently “productizing” the new device and plans to begin shipping it to customers this summer.
“How great that our students were able help solve a technical problem while preserving jobs for folks with physical challenges,” said Linda Barrington, a service-learning coordinator at UMass Lowell.
WaveMark did not specify the name of the new product.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.