Mr. Charles Walton

An American inventor, he is best known as the first patent holder for the RFID (radio frequency identification) device; a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data from an electronic tag, called RFID tag or label, attached to an object, through a reader for the purpose of identifying and tracking the object. Some RFID tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. The application of bulk reading enables an almost-parallel reading of tags. Many individuals contributed to the invention of the RFID, but he was awarded ten patents in all for various RFID-related devices, including his key 1973 design for a "Portable radio frequency emitting identifier". This patent was awarded in 1983, and was the first to bear the acronym "RFID". He grew up in Maryland and New York State, and graduated from George School in 1939. He graduated from Cornell University in 1943 with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and received a Master?s Degree from Stevens Institute of Technology. After service in the Army Signal Corps, he worked at IBM's Research and Development Laboratories until 1970. He founded the company Proximity Devices, Inc., in Sunnyvale, California in 1970, to manufacture devices based on his patents.