BIOMETRICS PROTECTS RUTGERS U. RESEARCH

Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM

Rutgers University in New Jersey has chosen to deploy an integrated Biometric Subscription Control System (BSCS) to monitor and control use of expensive research equipment.

The system uses a biometric software suite from Computer Consultants and Merchants Inc. (CC&M), Orlando, Fla., and fingerprint authentication hardware from Zvetco Biometrics, Orlando, to control logical access to high-end computers and scientific equipment in the university's Material Science and Engineering research laboratories.

“We needed better control over the computers in our laboratories, which are the operating basis for multi-million dollar research equipment,” says Rutgers Professor W. Roger Canon of the University's Materials Science and Engineering Department. “We need to know with certainty everyone who uses the equipment to accurately track the number of hours put on laboratory resources, and to facilitate billing for time spent on many of the machines that require a charge for usage, like the X-ray diffraction equipment.”

Using the BSCS, Rutgers' research lab administrators can track, report and archive everything from when and how long individuals used the system, to total use time per individual — even tracking hours put on a piece of equipment to improve maintenance and budgeting for eventual replacement/repairs.

Prior to the BSCS implementation, a simple sign-in sheet was used. Users were lax about signing in, and signatures often could not be read by administrators.

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