Ever lose track of things like your phone, keys, laptops or other essentials? A product from California-based start-up company Phone Halo LLC called TrackR bravo that allows you to keep track of things via your smartphone is scheduled to be featured on “Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca” on CBS stations Saturday, Nov. 8. Developers from the Center for Sensors, Communications and Control at NDSU played a role in the product’s development.
The program is scheduled to air on KXJB-TV, Fargo, at 10 a.m.
The center assisted in developing TrackR bravo through the North Dakota Economic Development Centers of Excellence program. The state program partners research and development hubs across North Dakota’s university and college campuses with private companies to stimulate technology-led economic development.
The project team at NDSU over the past two years included John Asperin, Andrew Jacobson, Matt Noah and James Walsh, in addition to NDSU computer science and electrical and computer engineering undergraduate students Chris Barnick, Hazen, North Dakota; Dominic Marks, Tyndall, South Dakota; and graduate student Usman Shahid, Muldan, Pakistan. An NDSU senior design team comprised of electrical and computer engineering undergraduate students Daniel Bitzan, Moorhead, Minnesota; Nathan Groenner, St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Ruisi Ge, HengYang, China, also is working on a different project with Phone Halo as part of their senior design project.
The Santa Barbara-based company makes small tracking devices and software for retail and enterprise markets.
The center provides expertise in sensor integration, systems engineering and software applications. The majority of the project with Phone Halo dealt with smartphone software research and development. Companies that have participated in the Centers of Excellence program match $2 for every $1 provided by a grant through North Dakota’s Economic Development Centers of Excellence program.
With 52 approved Centers of Excellence, the program has contributed $691.1 million in estimated economic impact to North Dakota’s economy, according to the state’s Department of Commerce.
“Expertise available at NDSU through the Centers of Excellence program provides opportunities to showcase technology talent available in the state, as well as offer unique opportunities for students to participate in product development,” said Kelly A. Rusch, NDSU vice president for research and creative activity.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
