ATHENS, Ohio -- "It's going to be a fast ride." With those words, James Fales, director for the Center for Automatic Identification at Ohio University, gets ready to kick off the Automatic Identification & Data Capture Technical Institute (AIDCTI), a fast and furious week of lectures and laboratory experience. The 16th annual institute will be held at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, July 21 to 26.

The Institute brings in professors from all over the world to learn about automatic identification and data capture technologies such as bar coding, voice recognition, and biometric identification. Over 400 professors have attended the AIDCTI over the last 15 years representing more than 18 countries. The United States, Peru, Hong Kong and India are some of the countries that will be represented by the participants attending this year's institute.

The goal of the institute is to further the professors' knowledge of automatic identification and data capture so they may in turn introduce or expand automatic identification into their own course material. To date, professors report that after attending the AIDCTI they have instructed over 11,000 students collectively about Automatic Identification.