NYSTAR Supports UB Research Developing Biometric Smart Cards with Ultra-Scan Corp.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Researchers in the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors (CUBS) at the University at Buffalo are developing a versatile smart-card system that incorporates a powerful ultrasonic fingerprint-identification technology developed by Amherst-based Ultra-Scan Corp.

They are developing smart cards embedded with multiple biometrics, or personal data about individuals, that will serve as a highly accurate method to identify individuals and have applications in areas ranging from national security to retail businesses.

The project is funded by a $100,000 grant from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) with $50,000 each in matching funds from UB and Ultra-Scan.

"Virtually any place where you need people to show identification is a potential application for smart cards based on biometrics," said Venu Govindaraju, Ph.D., director of CUBS and UB professor of computer science and engineering.

"With this grant, CUBS and Ultra-Scan will research methods to combine several biometrics -- for example, face, fingerprint and perhaps signature biometrics -- on a single smart card, ensuring very high accuracy," he explained.

Ultra-Scan's ultrasonic, automated fingerprint-identification systems technology is able to read through dirt, grease and grime and raise scanning accuracy to levels that can virtually guarantee a person's identity.

"Developing advanced technology using biometrics enables smart cards to accurately identify and protect individuals in a variety of situations," said John K. Schneider, Ph.D., president of Ultra-Scan Corp.

"The transportation, health-care and retail sectors all will benefit from a smart card that could ultimately prevent credit card or social-security fraud, as well as protect homeland security and help secure our borders."

CUBS will use the grant to help expand the marketability of Ultra-Scan's technologies by keeping them in compliance with current smart-card standards, researching ways to integrate them into smart cards and by testing and benchmarking them.

CUBS advances the science of biometrics to provide key enabling technologies to build engineered systems with a focus on homeland security applications.

Ultra-Scan Corp. is an identity-management solutions provider serving the health-care, government- and transportation-security, and financial markets.