Speakers

Keynotes

Wed, 8 Sept Agenda

Thurs, 9 Sept Agenda

Sprague Ackley, Principal R&D Engineer, Digimarc | Mr. Ackley is a Principal Research & Development Engineer at Digimarc where he leads advanced automatic identification research initiatives and collaborates closely with leading industry organizations and strategic partners. Digimarc is a pioneer in the automatic identification of everyday objects including packaging, print, images and audio, to simplify search and transform information discovery with increased reliability, efficiency and security. Mr. Ackley is an AIDC expert and a named inventor on many bar code and RFID patents. Mr. Ackley participates on the bar code technology committees of ISO, GS1 and AIM and has supported application standards development groups in the Automotive, Retail, Healthcare, Electronics, and Material Handling industries. Mr. Ackley is a recipient of the AIM Dilling Award, the AIAG Outstanding Achievement Award, the IEC 1906 Award, the AIM NA Professional of the Year Award and was inducted as a charter member of the AIDC100. Mr. Ackley’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and a master’s degree in physics from Stony Brook University.

Teemu Ainasoja, Sales Directory, Voyantic | Teemu is currently Sales Director at Voyantic. Teemu has over 15 years of experience of RAIN RFID. He has worked in different positions on RFID companies in Europe and in the USA.

Felix Amiri, Technical Director, AFISS | Felix Amiri is the food sector chair of the Global Coalition for Sustained Excellence in Food & Health Protection (GCSE-FHP). He is a key contributor to the SSQA implementation manual published by AFISS. Amiri Food Industry Support Services (AFISS). Felix has been leading the Safety, Security and Quality Assurance (SSQA) development and implementation initiatives. His wider industry experience includes many years of hands-on food safety and quality management at several food companies. He helps small to medium sized operations in the development and implementation of food safety and quality systems. Felix conducts food safety, quality system and food regulation audits. He also teaches International Food Law and Regulations at Conestoga College.

Nicolas Aubourg, Head of Performance, FIA | Nicolas Aubourg is Head of Performance at FIA. He’s the point of reference on performance in all FIA categories, from F1 to Cross Country. With his Team, he simulates, models and optimizes race cars to support the elaboration of the future technical rules so that FIA can be accelerator for innovation in safety and sustainability.

Scott Austin, Director, Zugang Technology Connections Pte Ltd | Before joining Zugang Technogy, Scott lead Everledger’s business in the Americas, working closely with the team to make technology breakthroughs that solve the challenges facing our clients. Scott is also actively involved in Investor Relations with our partners. Scott was previously Director of the Asia Pacific Smart Card Association for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. He has over 20 years experience in the development and evolution of Identification Technologies (Smartcard/RFID/NFC), Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technologies, supported through his Certificate in Future Commerce, Financial Technology from MIT.

Paul Baboian, RFID Solutions Manager, Retail, Zebra Technologies | 30 years supporting manufacturing and retail IoT/RFID implementations.

Jerome Barrand, RFID Program Leader, Connected Mobility Services, Michelin | Jerome Barrand has a 15 years’ experience in Passenger Cars tire development managing the launch of new MICHELIN tire lines and OE fitments for several OEMs, but also leading Standards activities within ETRTO. Since 2019, he is leading the deployment of RFID as a key enabler to develop connected services linking product, usage and customers, to improve consumers’ mobility experience.

Dennis Black, UDI Program Director Global Regulatory Affairs, BD | Dennis Black has over 30 years of experience in the medical device industry and has worked in a variety of roles and functions. He joined BD, a leading medical technology company, in 1998 and works within the Regulatory Affairs team as the UDI Program Director. Dennis is currently focused on implementing Unique Device Identification (UDI) regulations in the U.S. and globally. This responsibility includes ensuring that BD’s product identification strategy meets healthcare provider needs and internal supply chain requirements while complying with all applicable regulations. Dennis presently serves on the GS1 Healthcare Global Leadership Team; the GS1 U.S. Executive Leadership Committee; and the Strategic Marketplace Initiatives (SMI) Board of Directors, where he is also Treasurer. He collaborates with various industry participants in AdvaMed, MedTech Europe, Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX), and the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) to solve a variety of healthcare challenges.

Patti Blessing, VP Business Development, CAVU Group | Patricia Blessing is the Vice President of Business Development at Dayton, Ohio based CAVU Group. In her role Ms. Blessing works closely with customers in the Life Sciences, Healthcare, Medical Device and Diagnostics industries to solve today's rapidly changing thermal management and monitoring needs using advanced sensor technologies including thermochromatic inks, RFID, PCM based electronics loggers, specialty packaging and more. Her primary focus is the enablement of business process improvement to protect high value assets in the supply chain. Ms. Blessing has over 20 years of experience in leadership roles in supply chain operation and technology sales. She is current on the Board of AIM, Chairs the AIM NA UDI Workgroup, supports local universities in their course development efforts and sits on the Advisory Boards of several start-up companies in Southwest Ohio

Megan Brewster, VP Advanced Technology, Impinj | Megan Brewster is the vice president of advanced technology at Impinj and brings more than 15 years' experience in technology and public policy. At Impinj, she brings clarity and strategy to the company's product roadmap and fosters growth in emerging opportunities to deliver the Internet of Every Thing. Prior to Impinj, Megan served in leadership roles at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and GE Global Research. Megan earned a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from MIT with a minor in technology and public policy and a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington.

Paul Broekhuizen, Executive Vice President Smart Industries, Confidex | Extensive experience over 20 years in the Industrial IoT industries. Since 2017 responsible for EMEA/APAC Smart Industry business in Confidex Industrial

Chris Brown, RFID Subject Matter Expert, Printronix Auto ID | Chris is the RFID Subject Matter at TSC Printronix Auto ID, a company fully committed to the growth of RAIN (UHF Passive) RFID as an AutoID technology. After spending 20 years in Europe as the EMEA General Manager for BarTender label software, Chris moved back to America in 2017 and joined TSC Printronix. He is responsible for ensuring that TSC Printronix's RFID printers support the latest commands and functionalities that are needed to properly work with RAIN RFID labels and tags. He also monitors the physical requirements needed for RFID printers to work with various existing and emerging tag constructions. Chris is an active member of AIM and the RAIN RFID Alliance, participating in multiple workgroups covering topics such as tires, pharmaceutical, healthcare, aviation and tag data formatting.

Scott Brown, Senior Director Industry and Data Strategy, 1WorldSync | Currently working as the Sr. Director Global Industry and Data Strategy at 1WorldSync, Scott Brown works with Brand Owners, Distributors, and Buyers to build, implement, and utilize a harmonized global attribute dictionary to improve the buying experience for all organizations and consumers. He has spent over 20 years as a master data and product content expert enabling companies to maximize value and increase market penetration. Prior to his role at 1WorldSync, Scott worked with industry experts to develop global standards for product content and classification with GS1 US. He worked closely with the GS1 Standards community to advance the use of standards. He represented his community on many work projects and teams with various standards groups at GS1, and other global standards organizations, such as HL7, UNSPSC, and The Sustainability Consortium.

Douglas Browne, Manager, Technology Development Division Americas, Omron Automation Americas | Doug Browne has over 20 years experience in the automation industry.

Thomas Burke, Senior Analyst FSQA Traceability, Chipotle Mexican Grill | Thomas Burke is the Senior Analyst, FSQA Traceability at Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), where he oversees administration and process enhancements for CMG's traceability system, serving over 2,800 restaurant locations. He previously served as the Senior Food Traceability and Safety Scientist at IFT's Global Food Traceability Center and technical lead for the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability. Burke also researches and writes about emerging technologies, protocols, and related processes pertaining to digital food systems, writing for outlets such as Forbes.com and Food Technology Magazine. He holds a Bachelor of Science in microbiology from Kansas State University and a Master of Public Health in epidemiology at Emory University.

Tyler Chaffo, Manager- Global Sustainability, Avery Dennison | Tyler Chaffo has combined his personal and professional passion for sustainability as Manager- Global Sustainability, Intelligent Labels. By combining nearly a decade of experience in RFID, and an educational background focused on supply chains and integrating sustainable business practices, Tyler has focused on identifying solutions for stakeholders that focus on enabling the circular economy and a transition to a low carbon economy. With a goal of creating a unique digital identity for everyday items Avery Dennison Smartrac is uniquely positioned to advance sustainability as digitalization further integrates with sustainability

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Director/Professor, Agri-Food Analytics Lab | Sylvain Charlebois is Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Canada.

Luiz Costa, Engineer, GS1 Brasil | Electrical Engineer, with a postgraduate degree in Project Management and International Relations, I have 13 years of solid experience in implementation and large-scale projects involving Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and wireless communication systems. He works in the area of Education and Training at GS1 Brazil with the Senior Education Advisor, focusing on the development of standards and regulations in GS1 Identification Keys, Corporate Training and In Company Courses.

Laurent Couturier, IoT System Designer, Michelin | Laurent Couturier has a background in particle physics. After joining Michelin, he first worked on the mathematical modeling of simulation tools in fluid mechanics. He then worked on the development of finite element simulation tools. He joined the RFID team 5 years ago to design pneumatic tags.

Jay Crowley, VP, USDM Life Sciences | Jay Crowley is currently Vice President, Medical Device Solutions and Services, at USDM Life Sciences. Prior to joining the firm in January 2014, Crowley was Senior Advisor for Patient Safety, in FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. He held a variety of positions over his nearly 27 years at FDA. Jay had primary responsibility for the development and implementation of FDA's Unique Device Identification System and the development of the GHTF and IMDRF UDI guidance documents.

David Cushman, Sr. Director of Quality Management and Standards, Digimarc | David is Sr. Director of Quality Management and Standards for Digimarc, with over 20 years of experience in digital watermarking technology development and productization and 33 years in software development and commercialization. He developed the first quality assessment methods for digital watermarking as applied to print media focusing on document security at Digimarc, and continued expansion to develop best practices for watermarking technology applied to commercial print and packaging starting in 2014 with the launch of Digimarc Barcode.

Julien Destraves, IoT System Designer, Michelin | Julien Destraves has an IT master degree and has 15 years of experience in IoT system design including the past 10 years as a RFID expert at Michelin.

Donald Durm, Jr., Vice President, Customer Solutions, PLM TrustLink | | Don is a 25-year veteran of PLM, an international industry expert, writer and keynote speaker on cold chain hand-off applications, regulatory compliance, and supply chain technology. Recognized by FDA for his work with the Agency on the New Era of a Smarter Food Safety initiative, he actively participates in industry FSMA 204 sub-groups providing guidance to FDA on requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods and provided guidance to USDA on the White House Executive Order 14017, America’s Supply Chains, to improve and re-imagine supply chains for the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural commodities and food products in the US considering the recent pandemic challenges. Invited by both businesses and governments he works to improve global cold chain quality and safety challenges. Recognized four times by Food Logistics Magazine as one of the Rock Stars of the Supply Chain for his work in food safety, supply chain technology efficiencies and regulatory compliance. Recently listed by Food Logistics as one of five Supply Chain Champions you must know in the industry.

Jeanne Duckett, Senior Manager, Traceability Standards, Avery Dennison | Jeanne Duckett leads the Transparency Initiative Development for Avery Dennison Printer Systems investigating: Blockchain, Distributed Computing, RFID, networking and new technology and other relevant technologies for products in the 3-5 years. She manages the Food IP portfolio for Avery Dennison's Printer Systems in addition to holding multiple patents in imaging, RFID handling, and various aspects of printer design including design of Food Freshness Printers. Jeanne is a contributing member of AIM Global and GS1 inter-industry organizations. Currently on AIM NA Board and chairs the AIM North America Food Policy Committee and previous chairman of the IOT and Blockchain Council, RFID Experts Group.

David Eagleson, Founder/CEO, Outlaw Technology | Dave has over 25 years of solution management experience in enterprise software and automatic identification systems. As a recognized expert in the area of RFID-based supply chain tracking systems, his expertise is frequently sought to solve tracking issues for major projects both nationally and internationally. Dave started his career in tracking automation as an executive team member at Matrics, a leading pioneer in RFID technology. While there, he was responsible for securing critical sales contracts and is credited with closing the largest passive RFID deployment in retail history – with Walmart. His success in deploying data automation systems for numerous other Fortune 100 customers – including J&J, P&G, Abercrombie, and Abbott Labs – directly resulted in Matrics sale to Symbol (now Zebra). From there, Dave assumed the role of SVP and then Chairman of RFID Global, which he led to become an industry leader in the creation of RFID-based solutions, counting groups such as Boeing, NASA, DOD among its customers. In 2019, Dave recognized how the lack of automated systems within the cannabis industry was stifling scalability and sustainability and founded Outlaw Technology. Drawing upon his years of experience creating enterprise solutions for Fortune 100 firms and input from cannabis industry pioneers, he has guided the creation of supply chain visibility solutions tailored specifically for cannabis. Outlaw’s plug and play systems automate data capture from Seed-to-Sale in support of compliance/reporting requirements, reducing labor and waste while increasing efficiency and accuracy. Customers are reducing harvest times by 50 to 75% and other processes that previously took hours now only take minutes. As the industry leader in cannabis data collection, Outlaw automates data capture from Seed-to-Sale, thereby streamlining efficiencies, enabling scalability, and increasing sustainability within this rapidly growing market.

John Erdmann, President, Hana RFID | Dr. John H Erdmann has been the President and CEO of Hana Technologies, Inc. in Twinsburg, OH since 2001. Dr. Erdmann created the company 18 months earlier, with partner Dr. Luc Bauer of Switzerland, to be an open contract manufacturing service provider for the semiconductor and microelectronics industry. Prior to that Dr. Erdmann was the General Manager for the manufacturing operation of S-Vision, a San Jose, CA based technology company working in the field of liquid crystal on silicon based microdisplays. In the mid 1990s, Dr. Erdmann was the Director of LCD Manufacturing for Three-Five Systems of Tempe, AZ. There he led a team that installed and operated North America's largest LCD manufacturing line. Dr. Erdmann started his career as a scientist at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, CA, and then later with the Hughes-JVC joint venture for LC-based projection systems in Carlsbad, CA. Dr. Erdmann holds a Bachelors degree in Physics from Oberlin College, and a Masters and PhD in Physics from Kent State University.

Marcos Fernández, Head of Manufacturing & Innovation, Eurofit Group | Marcos has a degree in Industrial Engineering and completed an MBA. He has developed his professional career to the present in a manufacturing and industrial environment. Since he joined the Eurofit Group in 2012, he has been working as Plant Manager in 2 different locations, in Spain and in France. Throughout this period, he has been acting as Project Manager for the group as well. From 2019 on, he is part of the Management Team of Eurofit Group, leading the areas of Production, Maintenance, Engineering and Innovation.

Susan Flake, Director, Business Development, Food & Logistics, Avery Dennison | Susan Flake, Global Director, Business Development Food and Logistics has over thirty years experience in retail, the last 15 of which have focused on expanding item level RFID initiatives in both retail and hospitality. An active chair of AIM's Track and Trace and member of GS1's Food Industry group helping to drive next generation solutions with a focus on inventory visibility for traceability, transparency, labor efficiencies and food waste reduction.

Karen Fleshman, Founder & CEO, Synchcor | Karen Fleshman is the Founder and CEO of Synchcor, formerly Haskins Advisory Group, a GS1 Standards and Global Unique Device Identification Database (GUDID) consulting and managed services company based in Chicago, IL. With over 20 years of experience in the Grocery/Retail, Foodservice, and Healthcare industries, Karen has extensive GS1 experience. Before the formation of Synchcor, Karen worked for 1Worldsync, GS1 US, and FSEnet, where she led the Global Technology Support teams and managed strategic accounts.

Michael Graen, Owner, Collaboration LLC | 40 Years in the CPG and Retailer community. Lead the RFID implementations at major retailers in product categories like apparel, tyres and electronics.

Randall Grein, RFID Business Development Manager, Hana Technologies | Randall heads the tire tagging program at Hana Technologies

Dominique Grimault, Knowledge Manager & RFID Project Manager, Eurofit Group | Dominique has an extensive experience in the tire wheel assembly process of more than 30 years. He initiated his career with Michelin, and since 2004 he is part of the Eurofit Group team, first as Plant Manager of our location in Guichen (Rennes, France), and later as Group Knowledge Manager, position that he currently holds. Furthermore, he is the RFID Project Manager at Eurofit Group, leading the integration of RFID technology in our assembly plants in close collaboration with the customers, tire manufacturers and technology partners.

Mike Hetrick, VP Sales & Marketing, Hanna RFID | Mike Hetrick is a member of the Hana RFID Executive Staff. He graduated from Western Michigan University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA). Mike’s career path has included over 30 years in leadership positions in the RFID and Label industry with Hana Technologies, Alien Technology, Checkpoint Systems, NCR Systemedia and RR Donnelley/Wallace Computer Services in various Sales/Business development, Product Management and Operations Management roles. He is responsible for the Hana RFID Global Sales and Marketing organization and providing direction and leadership to the Hana inlay development team to meet our customer emerging RFID needs while support our partners for their RFID inlay programs.

Bill Hoffman, Managing Director, Hoffman Systems LLC representing AIAG | 50+ years of problem solving. Extensive experience in RFID and barcode systems and integration.

Clive Hohberger, Consultant, Clive Hohberger LLC | Ultracode designer. Scientist specializing in AIDC in Medicine. Retired Zebra Executive & AIM Chairman. PhD in Engineering; MBA. Patents include 22 in RFID; 3 in barcodes.

Dieter Horst, Head of Industrial Identification, Siemens AG | Dieter is Head of Industrial Identification at Siemens AG. Identification has been keeping him busy for the past 25 years with different roles in R&D and product management. As a member of the board of AIM-D he supports the development of AutoID technologies and contributes actively in regulation and standardization in ETSI, DIN and AIM. He holds a degree in Communications Engineering acquired at the University of Applied Sciences Regensburg, Germany.

Lauri Hyytinen, Market Development Manager Automotive, Avery Dennison | Lauri Hyytinen a graduate of Tampere University of Technology has spent his entire career in the RFID industry. He joined the industry already in 2007. Lauri quickly assumed management responsibilities focused on automotive and sensor market development. With hands on attitude Lauri has led Avery Dennison Smartrac to be the market leader for passive RFID transponders in automotive.

Steven Keddie, Senior Director AIDC , GS1 Global Office | Currently the AIDC Senior Director for GS1 Global Office. I'm an Electrical Engineer with 22 years in automotive working for both tier one and OEM (5 automotive patents) and 12 years in marking and coding (focused on FMCG manufacturing) with 2 marking and coding patents. 7 years as a member of the AIM TSC and author of the GS1-128 barcode on course to become the preferred standard for retail grocery and foodservice packaging.

Karil L. Kochenderfer, Principal, LINKAGES | Karil Kochenderfer advises clients in the fast-moving food, consumer products and retail sectors through LINKAGES, her global trade, industry and government affairs firm. Prior to establishing her consultancy, Kochenderfer worked at the Grocery Manufs. of America, the American Textile Manufacturers Institute and PhRMA and had the privilege of representing each sector before Congress, FDA, Wall Street and the media both nationally and internationally. Throughout her career, she has worked on some of the most critical issues facing the industry ranging from biotechnology and blockchain, to sustainability and CBD. In addition, Karil was involved in the development of the FTC “Green Guides” and U.S. actions against Europe related environmental traceability and labeling requirements. She is a graduate of The University of Michigan.

Michele Larson, Sr. Manager, GS1 and Specification Management, Schwan's Shared Services, LLC | Michele joined Schwan's Food Service, Inc. in 2007, moving over to Schwan's Shared Services, LLC in 2017. She has worked with the GS1 Foodservice Industry Initiative and GS1 standards since 2009 and has been a frequent presenter at GS1 Connect.

Anna Lau, CTO, Laxcen Technology | Dr. Anna Pui Yi Lau is CTO of Laxcen Technology, CEO of the firm’s subsidiaries in both Hong Kong and Singapore, and an expert in Radio-frequency identification (RFID) and antenna technology. She is a board member of AIM Global, She is the founder and chairperson of AIM Asia. Dr. Lau serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE Journal of RFID and the former Chairperson of the IEEE RFID Singapore Chapter, Vice president of IEEE Council on RFID and the Distinguish lectures program chair. Previously Dr. Lau was the Scientist of A*STAR, a governmental institute in Singapore, and the technical director of Invengo Technology. She received her Bachelor, MPhil and PhD from Electronic and Engineering Department of City University of Hong Kong, with 13 international patents registered and over 30 articles published in scientific journals. Laxcen Technology is a leading supplier of IOT products and solutions to over 1500 customers from over 50 countries. Its applications include AIOT, smart products, NFC and RFID hardware, tags and solutions for libraries, apparel, aviation, retail, logistics, supply chain and etc.

Joseph Liu, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia | Joseph received his PhD from the Chinese University of Hong Kong at 2004. His research areas include cyber security, blockchain and applied cryptography. He has received more than 9500 citations and his H-index is 55. He is currently the lead of the Monash Cyber Security Discipline Group. He has established the Monash Blockchain Technology Centre at 2019 and serves as the founding director. His remarkable research in linkable ring signature forms the theory basis of Monero (XMR), one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world with current market capitalization more than US$6 billion. He has been given the prestigious ICT Researcher of the Year 2018 Award by the Australian Computer Society (ACS), the largest professional body in Australia representing the ICT sector, for his contribution to the blockchain and cyber security community.

Fukuhara Masahiko, Senior Manager, RFID Business Development, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | More than 10 years of experience in RFID product and business development.

James McAvoy, Director of Business Development, Prosegur UK | James has over 25 years experience working with global and local organisations, both directly and through partnerships. Delivering solutions in the areas of security, safety, risk, inventory and customer experience. A strong believer in elegant solutions that deliver quantifiable results quickly, ethically and effectively. Whilst ensuing close teamwork, internally and externally to achieving new solutions, with a sense of fun and creativity.

Julie McGill, Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy and Insights, FoodLogiQ | Julie McGill is the Vice President of Supply Chain and Insights at FoodLogiQ, a leading SaaS provider of food safety compliance, traceability, and supply chain transparency solutions. Their solutions help foodservice and grocery trading partners achieve end-to-end traceability while supporting safe and high quality food products across the supply chain. In her role, Julie works with FoodLogiQ leadership to advise on industry, regulatory, customer, and product insights to improve market adoption and penetration, customer satisfaction and value generation. She supports FoodLogiQ teams on evolving industry activity including regulatory, standards, traceability and food safety. Julie serves as co-chair of the PTI Technology Workgroup and sits on other various industry workgroups covering topics from AIDC, RFID, food safety, traceability, transparency, and supply chain management.

Frederic Meyer, Manager Product Design, SMARTRAC Specialty GmbH | Frederic Meyer received the Diploma degree in electrical engineering from the University of Siegen in 2004. He joined the RFID team of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems as researcher. Between 2013 and 2018, he leads the high frequency group of the Fraunhofer Institute IMS, with a research focus for RF and automatic identification Systems. In 2018 he joined SMARTRAC Specialty GmbH R&D Team and is responsible for new product developments and initiatives for new technologies. His main working interest is the analog RF technology in the UHF bands and above.

Terry Myers, Chief Executive Officer, Infratab | Terry is responsible for overall company operations with a special focus on company, marketing and product strategy. She has over 30 years of executive management experience from start-up to large corporation and management consultant (Bouquet, Quarterdeck, Citicorp, Arthur Young). Co-founder/President of Quarterdeck (NASDAQ:QDEK) a leading PC software utility company of the 1990’s. 1992 Los Angeles Entrepreneur of the Year. Boston College, Trustee 1994-2004; Associate Trustee: 2005-2020. Education: BA: Newton College of the Sacred Heart, MSIA, Carnegie Mellon University.

Aki Nurminen, Solution Manager, Black Donuts Engineering, Inc | Aki’s main areas of expertise include material and information flows, simulations, process capacities, manning, modern identification technologies and MES/Smart Factory solutions. With his 27 years of versatile experience in the tire industry, from production shop floor to R&D and production planning, Aki has a comprehensive view of tire production processes and the entire chain of tire manufacturing. At Black Donuts, Aki provides invaluable input in designing the world’s most advanced greenfield tire factories. Aki lives in Moscow, which is a perfect starting point for his business trips around the globe.

Alessandro Paiola, Logistic Employee, Norauto Italia s.p.a | My name is Alessandro Paiola, I'm 23 years old. I'm a logistic employee and i work for Norauto Italia since 2019.

Juho Partanen, Director of Business Development, Co-Founder, Voyantic | Juho is the co-founder of Voyantic and has 20 years of experience in RFID. Working currently as the Director of Business Development, he combines technical, business and communication aspects to make RAIN technology easier to utilize across end user industries. As a true believer in the RAIN technology, he has been driving strategic initiatives and industry collaboration in ISO, GS1 and the RAIN Alliance.

Dr. Prabakar Parthiban, Senior RF Engineer, Times-7 Research Ltd | Dr. Prabakar Parthiban (Head of Engineering and RF Specialist at Times-7 Research Ltd). Prabakar has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, and, after several years of research in Antennas at AUT University, completed his Ph.D.
With active skills in radio frequency simulation software and programming languages, Prabakar is a self-confessed ‘new generation’ lateral thinker. He has published conference papers in highly reputable institutions like IEEE. Prabakar has hands-on experience designing laboratory radio frequency systems and antennas. As the senior RF Engineer at Times-7, Prabakar is focused on the R&D side of our UHF RFID antenna technology. As a key member of the R&D team, Prabakar utilizes his skills and experience (including his lateral thinking), which enables him to accurately tune and further advance and develop our antenna product portfolio. Prabakar is also part of the quality control system at Times-7, and is part of the essential process responsible for ensuring that all antennas shipped to our customers are absolutely on par!

Sergio Perin, Director Sales & Marketing, Eximia S.r.l. | 15 years Sales Director in Eximia , the RFId Company since 2004. Previously long career up to top management positions in IBM and Oracle Italy.top management positions in IBM and Oracle.

Rob Pick, Market Development Manager, atma.io, Avery Dennison | Rob works within the RFID and Digital Solutions team at Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 leader in packaging and materials science. In this role, Rob works with retailers and brands to blend their online experience with their in-store and post-purchase consumer engagement initiatives, using the physical product as a digital communication channel. Rob joined Avery Dennison with a strong digital background and has years of experience within the Internet of Things industry. Rob seeks to elevate brands into the new era of connectivity, enabling them to drive speed and efficiency as well as communicate with their customers 1:1 for true dynamic personalization.

Josef Preishuber-Pflügl, Executive Vice President, CTO of CISC Semiconductor GmBH | DI Josef Preishuber-Pflügl is Executive Vice President, CTO of CISC Semiconductor GmBH. Starting on 125 kHZ reader concepts, Josef Preishuber-Pflügl got involved in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in 1995 with his Master thesis on LF (125 kHz) reader demodulator at Graz University of Technology in Austria. He worked in several areas of RFID engineering and product management for system design, reader, tag, and tag ASIC development covering all frequencies of passive RFID. Currently he is an active participant in several standardization groups in the ISO, IEC, and CEN area, convenor of the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC31 WG4 for RF Communications, he is project editor for the ISO/IEC 18000-63. Since 10 years he is vice-chairman on the ETSI ERM TG34 RFID and rapporteur on EN 302 208. He is also deeply involved in the GS1 EPCglobal work, NFC Forum, AIM, and RAIN Alliance where he leads the Technical Working Group.

Miika Pylvänäinen, Director of Product Line RFID, Confidex | Miika has 15 years’ experience in RFID industry. He joined Confidex in 2007 and is currently in responsible for the extensive RFID product portolio designed for various industries from automotive to logistics and manufacturing. With the strong technical background combined to a customer focused mindset, Miika is able to help customers to find best solutions and succeed in their process of digitalization.

Karthik Rau, Founder & CEO, Stoke Systems | Karthik Rau is the CEO of Stoke, an Industrial IoT startup developing technology that makes it simple for companies to monitor remote industrial assets. Prior to founding Stoke, Karthik was the Founder and CEO of Flicq, a pioneer in edge computing, and was the Senior Director of Engineering at Atmel Corporation, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions for the IoT market. He has also held senior management and engineering positions at Intel Corporation, Gainspan Corporation and Nortel Networks. He received his MBA from IE Business School, Madrid, Spain. Honors include a fellowship from IE Foundation and several patents and publications.

Terrie Reed, Director, Partner Relationships, Symmetric Health Solutions | In her role as Director, Partner Relationships at Symmetric Health Solutions Ms. Reed continues to advance the original vision of the UDI system working with Symmetric customers and partners to ensure timely and accurate access to master device data for use by supply chain professionals, clinicians, and researchers. Ms. Reed is former FDA CDRH Associate Director of Informatics and former FDA Senior Advisor for UDI adoption. At FDA she led the cross-disciplinary UDI team that established the initial UDI regulatory policy, designed, and rolled out resources now used across stakeholder groups as a means to transform the tracking of device-related patient procedure information. In addition to supporting individual health systems Ms. Reed participates and leads community efforts including UDI in health IT standards that support patient safety and improved patient outcomes.

Craig Alan Repec, Senior Manager, Supply Chain Visibility, EPCIS & RFID, GS1 Global Office | EPCIS & CBV: member of core development workgroups since 2008; Editor since 2017. EPC Tag Data Standard (TDS): core development member since 2007; Editor since 2012.

Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal | Mark Roberti launched RFID Journal from a spare bedroom in his home in March 2002. Today, it is the leading source of news and analysis about radio frequency identification and its many business applications. Executives from companies around the world visit the RFID Journal Web site to learn how RFID is being deployed in their industry, and RFID Journal LIVE!, the company’s annual conference and exhibition in the United States, has become the larger gathering of RFID vendors and end users in the world. Prior to launching RFID Journal, Roberti was a senior writer at the Industry Standard. He has also served as managing editor of InformationWeek. His work has appeared in Business 2.0, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, The New York Times and many other publications.

Daniel Rodriguez, CEO, Technoapes | Technoapes CEO. Have lead the apes team during the last 7 years, managing the complete team who achieve the first RFID patent in latin america. Actual mentor and teacher in government programs for digital transformation. Named as one the 30 promises for business in Colombia in 2021 by FORBES.

Vincent Routaboul, Director, CIPAM | Vincent ROUTABOUL, graduated in electronics and telecoms from french engineer school ESME Sudria, starts in Telecoms subsidiary from french group ACTIA as a R&D engineer. He quickly handled a position in presales and support deparment, managing roll out of DVB-T for TDF, the french TV and radio operator. Accompanying the growth of the company CIPAM in the railway market, he became product manager and then the head of sales and marketing of broadband range of products developing the business in sustainable mobility market. With a high sensibility for IoT and industry, CIPAM hired him for leading innovation and managing technical department. In 2020, Vincent handled the direction of the company when the founder Daniel Bories became retired.

Mohammad Sachee, Project & Product Delivery, Shipcom Wireless, Inc. | An industrial engineer by trade, a Certified Supply Chain Professional with an MBA from the University of Houston. Mohammad is supply chain management executive with varying experience in retail distribution, consumer electronics, power utilities, education and healthcare. Mohammad focuses on delivering solutions that drive organizational performance through the strategic alignment and execution of supply chain processes, procurement, warehousing and logistics vital to cost control, compliance and operational efficiency.

Doug Seitz, Product Manager - Vision Systems, Printronix Auto-ID | Douglas Seitz spoke at over a half dozen international conferences in 2019. He created Frigate Consulting to provide vendor neutral RFID consulting, and to provide services for vendors to extend their reach for projects, events, or industries. In January, 2021, Douglas joined Printronix Auto ID as the Product Manager for Vision Systems. Previously Douglas was Worldwide Director for Industrial/RFID Printers for Ricoh, Business Development manager for AIDC labels at Seagull Scientific, and Product Marketing Manager for RFID sensing at ON Semiconductor. Douglas retired from IBM after managing Worldwide Technical Support, Field Technical Sales, and Marketing organizations

Elizabeth Sinclair, Director of Marketing, BarTender® by Seagull Scientific | Elizabeth Sinclair is the director of marketing for BarTender® software, chairs the AIM Cannabis work group, and was the start up chair for AIM's Track and Trace committee. She works with users and partners to enable consumer confidence, supply chain efficiencies and regulatory compliance through deployment of AIDC. Prior to Seagull Scientific, Sinclair managed marketing communications for global chemical distributor Univar, supporting business units in the regulated industries. She attended the University of Washington, and holds a certificate in strategic marketing management from the school's Foster School of Business.

Tony Small, Chief Business Officer, Wiliot | Tony Small is the Chief Business Officer of Wiliot, the leader in battery-free Bluetooth semiconductor and cloud services. Wiliot solves a variety of critical challenges, including the reduction waste and spoilage in the supply chain, and is being used by customers worldwide. Before Wiliot, Tony was an Senior Vice President of Zillow, a Senior Manager at Amazon, and held CRO positions at several venture backed start ups in the Seattle area. Tony is also a consultant for Stanford Seed, and in that position, has advised high tech and food start ups in Africa and India.

Ben Taylor, CEO, Ledger Domain | Ben Taylor is the CEO of LedgerDomain, founded in 2016 to bring blockchain solutions to enterprise ecosystems, unlocking a world of communal computing and real-time performance. After doing undergraduate and graduate work at MIT, Ben spent a quarter of a century incubating and investing in early-stage technology companies.

Dr. James Tcheng, Professor, Duke University Health System | Dr. James E. Tcheng is a Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Informatics at Duke University, Durham, NC. He is a practicing interventional cardiologist and faculty of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and the Duke Center for Health Informatics. He serves as Chief Medical Information Officer of the Duke Heart Network, Information Technology Director for the Duke Heart Center, and Director of Performance Improvement for the Duke Cardiology Division. He is a key investigator of the FDA Medical Device Epidemiology Network (MDEpiNet) and advisor to numerous medical innovation companies. His current work focuses on harmonizing the clinical and operational definitions and informatics of cardiovascular clinical data elements across academia, regulatory agencies, the life sciences industry, professional societies, and standards organizations, to improve the capture, communication, interoperability, and analysis of healthcare information.

Claude Tetelin, Senior Director AIDC, GS1 Global Office | Claude Tetelin is a strong advocate of implementation of standard based RFID solutions for more than 20 years. He is involved in numerous ISO committees and is the chairman of the European committee for standardization of AIDC technologies (CEN/TC225). Since January 2019, he joined GS1 Global Office as Subject Matter Expert for EPC/RFID standards and applications. Educating about RFID technologies and standards is his key driver.

Quresh Tyebji, VP - IoT Solutions, Shipcom Wireless | Born and raised in Houston, TX, Quresh studied architecture and business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Post designing Smart Airports in NYC, he now manages the IoT division within Shipcom Wireless. He manages a team of high performing individuals. Together, they breakdown complex problems of our customers and build simple turnkey solutions for them. Quresh is responsible for managing complete projects from inception to delivery. This also involves training multiple clients on usage of our SaaS based platform. He is also responsible for ideating and implementing growth strategies for the business unit and providing the following solutions to clients via Smart Sensors.

James Urquhart, Director, Partnerships, GS1 US | As Director, Partnerships with GS1 US, James Urquhart helps develop a qualified selection of industry solution providers that are members of the GS1 US Solution Partners Program. In this role, James provides education and guidance to help Solution Partners assist their customers with integrating and adopting GS1 Standards. James has over 25 years in operations, finance and supply chain management with large apparel and textile companies. Previously he was Senior Director at Ralph Lauren, where he was responsible for customer operations and transport during a period of explosive growth and record improvements in supply chain efficiency and profitability for the company. Over his career, James has been highly engaged with GS1 US, leading a workgroup focused on apparel hanger standards. The stone plaque commemorating that achievement he considers a badge of honor. In addition, James has been active with other standards workgroups for many years, including the former Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions (VICS) Association's EDI group. He was also one of the original four members of that group appointed to the Retail Value Chain Federation (RVCF) Board of Directors over 20 years ago. James lives in Greensboro, NC with his family, where he is enjoys restoring Vintage Toyotas and helping his wife manager her expanding Etsy based home business.

Samarth Vig, Business Head, ID Tech Solutions | Currently working as Business Head: RFID for ID Tech Solutions, India. With 10 years experience in the RFID industry, I have Spearheaded adoption of RAIN RFID technologies in a rapidly expanding array of business applications. Aim is to Work closely with customers and colleagues to understand and solve challenging RFID problems.

Olga van Grol-Lawlor, Principal Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Boston Scientific | Olga van Grol-Lawlor is a Principal Regulatory Affairs Specialist at Boston Scientific with extensive experience in EMEA Regulatory Affairs. Olga is active in Boston Scientifics Medical Device Regulation project, offering inputs to various topics including UDI and EUDAMED. Having been involved in the MedTech Europe EUDAMED & UDI working group since 2016, she is on the UDI core team and one of the members selected to represent industry at the Actor Registration working group with the European Commission. Olga also participates in National trade association efforts and the GS1 Healthcare Public Policy group.

Julie Rodgers Vargas, VP, Global Food, Avery Dennison | Julie joined Avery Dennison in 2011 and has spent the last decade at the intersection of digital and physical retail. As Director of Digital Solutions, she led brand and retail partnerships in on-product innovation and helped shape the vision for the “Internet of Clothing”. During her tenure at Avery Dennison, Julie has also partnered with apparel and footwear retailers and brands to implement innovative RFID strategies. Prior to joining Avery Dennison, Julie led product and business development for interactive RFID experiences in Latin America and was a senior analyst at Coach, where she helped launch the buy online/pickup in-store program. Julie has shared her expertise at global events, including SXSW, the Economist Feeding the Future, Greenbiz VERGE, the GS1 Digital Convergence Forum, PI Apparel, RFID Journal, the Internet of Things Summit and Label Summit Latin America. She holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mike Weinhammer, Global Product Manager - RFID Media, Zebra Technologies | Mike Weinhammer is the Global Product Manager of RFID Media at Zebra Technologies. He graduated from Rose-Hulman Inst of Technology with a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering and from University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA. Mike has spent the last 21 years at Zebra as part of the Supplies team with the last 4 years focused on RFID. As the Global Product Lead, he is responsible for driving development of new RFID label products to meet existing and emerging use cases.

George Wilders, Account Manager, CAVU Group |

Olaf Wilmsmeier, Founder & Owner, Wilmsmeier Solutions | Olaf Wilmsmeier is a freelance consultant specializing in auto-ID and digitization. He brings around 25 years of professional experience in the field of mechanical engineering and automation to his work. Since 2010, Mr. Wilmsmeier has been leading digitization and in particular UHF RFID products and projects to success worldwide. After training and studying electrical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, Mr. Wilmsmeier worked as a developer, project manager, product and business development manager for various companies in Germany and abroad. As a board member of the German speaking chapter of AIM, Olaf Wilmsmeier is one of the initiators and drivers of the OPC Unified Architecture for AutoID Companion Specification, which the AIM Association defined in cooperation with the OPC Foundation.

Natalia Wilson, Adjunct Faculty, Arizona State University | Natalia Wilson, M.D. MPH is an Adjunct Faculty Member in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University and the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine as well as an independent consultant. Dr. Wilson has done extensive work on unique device identification (UDI) implementation in health systems and UDI use. Research projects have been funded by the U.S. FDA, PCORI, AHRQ, and NEST Coordinating Center. Dr. Wilson’s has taught health systems science and population health at Arizona State University, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, and in community-based executive education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has engaged in work on health system emergency preparedness. Positions held at Arizona State University include Clinical Associate Professor, Program Liaison, ASU-Mayo Science of Health Care Delivery Certificate, Associate Director, School for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Academic Program Director, Medical Studies, and Co-director, Health Sector Supply Chain Research Consortium, W. P. Carey School of Business. Dr. Wilson is an internist and previous physician partner at Thunderbird Internal Medicine where she focused on prevention and women's health. She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University, MD from Georgetown University and trained in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University. She holds an MPH from the University of Arizona.

Yi Meng, Director, Haier | Dr. Yi Meng is the Director of Haier IoC Research Institute

Drew Zabrocki, GM, Value Chain Insights & Interoperability, centricity | Drew Zabrocki is the founder of Centricity, a grower-owned technology firm committed to tackling the most difficult challenges with agricultural information and equitable knowledge exchange. In 2013 he founded ApRecs, an agronomic decision aid and regulatory compliance system that connects ag retailers, growers, packers, shippers and buyers with a uniquely sovereign way to leverage data to streamline market access and maximize returns. Drew draws upon his experience in high-tech having also founded a systems integrator and data center networking company and a quad play service provider where led teams in deploying television, voice, data and security solutions across a multi-county rural fiber broadband network in the Pacific Northwest. He is also a Founding Board Member of the Open Ag Technology & Systems Center at Purdue University, Chairs the Supply Chain Technology Committee at the Produce Marketing Association and supports a number of arts, education and service organizations near his hometown of Wenatchee, WA.

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