Daniel W. Engels, Ph.D.
Director of Curriculum, Master of Science in Data Science, Southern Methodist University
Dr. Daniel W. Engels is the Director of Curriculum of the Master of Science in Data Science Program at Southern Methodist University. Dr. Engels is formerly an Associate Professor in the SMU Computer Science and Engineering department. He was the Chair of CRFID in 2011 and in 2012. Dr. Engels has been a pioneer in the development of RFID and Internet of Things technologies, and he is one of the original architects of the EPC system that is deployed in the US DoD and retail supply chains worldwide. Dr. Engels is a founding member of the team that established the IEEE RFID series of conferences in 2007. Dr. Engels has published extensively on RFID technologies and the EPC system that he co-developed at the MIT Auto-ID Center. Dr. Engels is an expert in RFID and Internet of Things technologies and has been an expert witness in patent infringement cases involving RFID technologies, wireless communications and technologies, AIDC technologies, circuit design and mobile computing systems and applications. Dr. Engels received the 2014 AIM Ted Williams Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the AIDC community.
Prior to joining SMU, Dr. Engels was the Chief Technology Officer of Revere Security Corporation, a startup founded to secure the extreme edge of the networked world, including RFID tags and the Internet of Things. While at Revere Security, Dr. Engels led the research and development of secure communication protocols and key management solutions for mobile devices. Dr. Engels also led the standardization activities of Revere Security bringing Revere’s cipher, Hummingbird, into the ISO standards for secure RFID protocols.
Dr. Engels is the former Research Director of the Auto-ID Labs of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Engels spearheaded the Auto-ID Labs’ transition from the Auto-ID Center where Dr. Engels was the Director of Protocols. The Auto-ID Center, founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in October 1999, developed the EPC System and its related standards. As Director of Protocols, Dr. Engels led the development of RFID protocols, and he led the daily operational and research activities at the MIT Auto-ID Center. Dr. Engels is one of the original members of the team that formed in 1998 to develop what became known as the EPC System. He is one of the principle architects of the EPC System.
Dr. Engels was the first Chairman of the Hardware Action Group under EPCglobal, Inc. and was a member of EPCglobal’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC) from its inception in 2003 when the EPC System was first licensed to EPCglobal, now GS1, until May 2005. The Hardware Action Group led the development of EPC hardware standards, including the “Gen2” RFID protocols, used within the EPC System.
Dr. Engels has authored or co-authored more than 80 articles published in peer reviewed conferences and journals. His work includes seminal publications on security for passive UHF RFID systems and the Reader Collision Problem, as well as articles on RFID security, antenna design, the EPC System, VLSI computer aided design, theoretical complexity of scheduling problems, and programming languages. Dr. Engels is a named inventor on 5 issued patents.
Dr. Engels’ broad research interests span the areas of the Internet of Things, wireless communications, sensor technologies, information systems, security, scheduling theory and applications, optimization algorithms, complexity theory, data analytics, mobile computing and applications, supply chain management, and the social and policy implications of technologies. He is applying concepts from these areas to solve problems in embedded systems, mobile computing, electronic commerce, and applications of advanced and emerging technologies for security in healthcare, smart cities and secure supply chains.
Dr. Engels received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his Master’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Summa Cum Laude, from the University at Buffalo.
Dr. Engels is a member of AIDC 100, and he is a Senior Member of the IEEE.