Welcome Message from the General Chair
On behalf of the Organizing Committee of the 10th annual IEEE International Conference on RFID Technology and Applications (IEEE RFID-TA 2019), I am glad to welcome each participant in Pisa, one of the most beautiful towns in Tuscany, Italy.
The conference is held in the Conference Center of the University of Pisa “Le Benedettine”, in Pisa downtown, from 25 (Wednesday) through 27 (Friday) September 2019. The event is organized by the University of Pisa under the auspices of the IEEE and the IEEE Council on RFID.
RFID-TA is a flagship conference in the area of RFID, which provides the platform to share the research and experience in the wide aspects of RFID technology and applications. The focus of the 10th edition is on reinforcing the collaboration between industry and academia for developing the future RFID systems.
This 3-day conference is started by a full day dedicated to companies developing RFID components and RFID-based systems and applications, which features a Workshop on “News from the RFID Industry”, a contribution from the Platinum Sponsor and the unique special session on “RFID for the Made in Italy”. System integrators, manufacturers and end-users have contributed with invited talks, exhibitions and sponsorships, and I want to thank all of them for their efforts and devoted time.
On the following two days, more than one hundred oral speeches are scheduled, separated into two keynote speeches and fourteen technical sessions. Among them, for the first time, the conference features a special session dedicated to recognize the women’s contribution to the RFID sector, “RFID Ladies: spotlight on recent scientific and industrial advances of Women Engineers”, and a special session to promote the activities of the “IEEE Council on RFID” around the world, “RFID R&D Activities in IEEE Chapters”. Competitions for the Best Paper Award and the Best Student Paper Award are also organized. Renowned speakers from all over the world will ensure a high-level scientific conference.
A few words about the world-famous historical town hosting the conference. Pisa is situated at the banks of the Arno river and it is famous all over the world for its monumental “Piazza dei Miracoli” (Square of miracles), which has been included by UNESCO in the World Heritage List, in 1987. A large grassy field houses four masterpieces of medieval architecture – the Cathedral, the baptistery, the monumental cemetery and the iconic bell tower also known as the Leaning Tower. Through the centuries, Pisa has been an Etruscan settlement, a Roman city, a medieval commercial harbor, a powerful Maritime Republic, a magnificent noble city in the 17th century, a host town for many artists in the 19th century, and an excellent University town in the last few centuries. The University of Pisa is an Italian public research university founded in 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI. Galileo Galilei, who was born and studied in Pisa, became a professor of Mathematics at Pisa in 1589. Ulisse Dini and Antonio Pacinotti are prestigious mathematicians who taught at Pisa too. Today, the University of Pisa is a public institution with twenty departments, and high-level research centres in the agriculture, astrophysics, computer science, engineering, medicine and veterinary medicine sectors.
The Conference venue, “Le Benedettine”, is located in a very suggestive and peaceful context, near the church of S. Paolo a Ripa d’Arno, overlooking the Arno river. It was an old Monastery of S. Benedetto in Pisa, originally arose in the early twelfth century on the Pisan coast as a hermit community.
The RFID-TA 2019 conference has been organized as a result of the work and effort of colleagues, friends and organizations. I wish to thank all who have participated and supported our work in many ways, and all who helped us in making this event possible and successful. I would like to express my particular gratitude to the Organizing Committee and Technical Committee members, as well as to all those colleagues of the Italian universities who helped us to bring to Pisa the most renowned and active researchers of the RFID sector. I hope you will enjoy your stay in Pisa, the technical sessions, the social events and the lively evenings in Pisa downtown. The Organizing Committee will do its best to ensure your stay in Pisa as pleasant and fruitful as possible.
Welcome to the “Italian edition” of the IEEE RFID-TA conference series!!!
With warm regards,
Prof. Paolo Nepa,
IEEE RFID-TA 2019, General Chair
