Meet the candidates for the RAIN Alliance Board of Directors. This election will select five new Board members, bringing our total Board to nine members, an expansion designed to better reflect our growing and diverse membership.

Each candidate has prepared a short introductory video so you can learn more about their qualifications, experience, and vision for the RAIN Alliance. We encourage you to watch all the videos before your company votes.

Voting Period: Monday, February 9 through Monday, March 9, 2026

To ensure strong leadership, we need Board members who:

  • Have led meaningful adoption of emerging technologies and understands what it takes to advance an industry at scale.
  • Bring strong industry credibility and can clearly communicate the business value of RAIN technology to senior executives and decision-makers.
  • Have the seniority, resources, and industry relationships to actively advance RAIN Alliance initiatives and champion RAIN technology adoption across their partner and customer networks.
  • Offer relevant governance or board experience and the commitment to prepare thoroughly and follow through on responsibilities.
  • Demonstrate visible passion, energy, and a growth mindset, with the drive to help shape the next decade of RAIN technology.

At least two of the five seats will be allocated to individuals who represent Systems Integrators or End User organizations to ensure Board diversity.

If you do not know who your company’s designated voter is, please contact operations@therainalliance.org.

Donald Ferguson

Lyngsoe Systems Ltd

President

End Customer/Systems Integrator Candidate

Over 25 years of experience working in the automatic data capture space providing system integration services and managing the development and engineering of data capture solutions. Named in multiple patents related to RFID and wireless technology. Worked with leading industry experts in the development of international AIDC standards. 2024 winner of the Richard Dilling Award. ” Since 1984, the Dilling Award is the highest award given in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) industry. Named for Richard R. Dilling, an industry pioneer and former Vice President of AIM, it is presented to executives, scientists, and engineers in recognition of outstanding contributions that have furthered the growth of the industry”

Experienced President with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in International Business, Management, Software as a Service (SaaS), Solution Selling, and Contract Negotiation.

* Donald Ferguson nominated himself.

Tristan Finet

Decathlon
Program Support & Communication Leader

End Customer/Systems Integrator Candidate

Tristan Finet is a key member of the RAIN & Traceability project team at Decathlon, where he specifically leads the customer transparency initiative. Decathlon is deploying an innovative traceability system designed to share unique data on raw materials, components, and finished products at every stage of the supply chain. Powered by RFID technology, this system captures key events throughout the product lifecycle, from manufacturing to recycling.

Drawing on over 10 years of expertise within Decathlon’s RFID project, one of the most advanced RAIN programs in global retail, Tristan has actively contributed to deploying solutions across the entire value chain and store network. Since 2019, 100% of Decathlon products have been equipped with a RAIN RFID tag, a pivotal milestone for the group’s traceability. Tristan notably played a decisive role in developing RFID checkout systems and inventory solutions.

Today, he serves as a strategic communications leader, leveraging his expertise to drive positive influence initiatives. In this capacity, he orchestrates the product transparency strategy to make traceability data accessible to the general public, transforming embedded RFID technology into a powerful driver of trust and information for the consumer.

An engineer by training with a Masterʼs degree in Nanotechnology and Microelectronics, Tristan began his career at the multinational Honeywell.

*Tristan Finet nominated himself.

Ashim Patil

Infotek Software & Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Managing Director & CEO

End Customer/Systems Integrator Candidate

Ashim Ashok Patil is a technology leader with over 25 years of exclusive experience in advancing RFID from pilots to population-scale digital infrastructure. He has played a pivotal role in shaping national RFID ecosystems across mobility, global trade, retail and high-assurance supply chains, working closely with policymakers, regulators, enterprises and industry bodies to enable interoperable, standards-based adoption. His contributions include national-scale RFID initiatives in electronic tolling, export container sealing, cost-sensitive retail supply chains, and defence logistics, demonstrating RFID’s economic viability and reliability at scale. A strong advocate of ecosystem collaboration and talent development, Ashim actively engages with academia and industry through initiatives such as Panchajanya, a hands-on RFID and IoT experience centre. He brings governance experience, a global outlook and a strong commitment to inclusive, sustainable RFID technology adoption.

* Ashim Patil nominated himself.

Gwen Volpe

Fresenius Kabi

Senior Director of Medication Technology Programs & Strategic Partnerships

End Customer/Systems Integrator Candidate

As a registered pharmacist, Executive MBA. Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacy, I bring 30 years of progressive leadership experience to advancing patient care through technology. My career reflects a consistent track record of leading innovative programs, teams, and initiatives across diverse healthcare settings, including retail, long-term care, and hospital pharmacy, as well as healthcare technology and the pharmaceutical industry. I am passionate about championing healthcare technologies like RFID that measurably enhance patient safety, accuracy, and clinician efficiency.

At Fresenius Kabi, I serve as Senior Director of Medication Technology Programs and Strategic Partnerships, working with external companies and cross-functional teams to ensure our pharmaceutical products are future-ready for various auto-identification technologies with a focus on RFID. My role encompasses managing healthcare technology strategic partnerships that advance RFID adoption, business development, executing VOC-driven product evolution, promoting RFID adoption through industry stewardship and advocacy, and architecting strategic programming

* Paul M. Elizondo from Intelliguard nominated Gwen Volpe.

Michael Fein

Zebra Technologies

Director of Product Management, RAIN RFID

Michael K. Fein is an accomplished RFID technology expert and product management leader dedicated to driving product innovation, customer success, and RAIN technology growth. As the Director of Product Management for RAIN RFID & Location Technology at Zebra Technologies, he oversees a comprehensive portfolio of RAIN RFID products, including fixed and handheld readers, printers, and platform software.

Michael began his career at Flint Group in Ann Arbor, MI as an R&D engineer, where he developed some of the first, high-speed printed RFID antennas during the very early days of the modern passive RFID industry. Since joining Zebra Technologies in 2006, he has taken on increasing responsibility, progressing from an RFID Engineer to his current leadership role. He has a history of successfully managing and expanding critical product lines, including the company’s RFID and industrial printer portfolios.

A recognized leader in the field, Michael was named a Zebra Distinguished Inventor and holds over ten patents in RFID and printing technology. He earned both a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

When he’s not focused on RAIN technology, Michael and his wife live in Lake Bluff, Illinois, where they stay busy with the sports, school, and activity schedules of their three boys.

*Michael Fein nominated himself.

Al Green

CCL Industries

Vice President, Technology Development

I have always needed to know how things work, and always thought things could be made to work better. I should have become an engineer, but in college became fascinated with chemistry. The transforming of things. So I built my career around transforming. Things like a roll of paper or film into something that was more useful. I’ve spent a lifetime developing products that do more. In addition to the 20,000+ hours you need to spend doing something to be good at it, I took the journey to Business School. The Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Clarmont Graduate University helped me understand how to make something useful and make things do more, but also, how to make money with it.

I had the good fortune to spend 40 years with Avery Dennison. Everyone knows Avery Dennison is a forward leaning business culture and this gave me the opportunity to be a part of several new technical initiatives along the way. One of those was participating in taking MIT’s Auto ID Center concepts in the late 90s and thinking about making real Smart Products. Rather slowly and clumsy at first, it evolved into the more elegant high precision RFID technology we have today. The industry has come a long way and I had the pleasure of being a part of it from very early days through developing pilot and production technology in making RFID products which led to several very early patents which helped improve manufacturing processes and product quality. Many still in use today.

Currently I am the Vice President of Technology Development at CCL Industries and have the new good fortune of working with a premier converting and innovation company. Emerging as a totally vertical system integration business in selected areas. I’m leading initiatives to leverage the very successful CCL business verticals in bringing value from RFID to a variety of industries. Through the effective use of Checkpoint Systems knowledge of hardware, software and tags that can solve real business problems for a wide range of industries.

RAIN has played an indispensable role in facilitating the growth and advancements in RFID over the last many years. I would be honored to serve on the RAIN Board and provide what insights and experience and knowledge I can bring with my 50 years technology development experience and over 20 years of first-hand experience in RFID. I have experience as a Board member in other organizations including the AIPIA and also as President of the Board of UnitVisID, a trade organization devoted to implementing RFID at the source, unit level of tagging. While that organization ran out of money before it was able to achieve it’s objectives there is a lot to be learned from the work it did and all during that time we maintained close contact with RAIN. A fair amount of common ground.

*Al Green nominated himself.

Jos Kunnen

Times-7 Research Limited

Director

Jos Kunnen is a seasoned technology executive and global board chair with over 45 years of experience in IT, RFID, and digital transformation. Currently serving as Chair of the RAIN Alliance and the New Zealand RFID Pathfinder Group, Jos Kunnen has led the growth of New Zealand technology businesses into more than 50 export markets and played pivotal roles in multinational enterprises. Known for strategic leadership, governance expertise, and a passion for mentoring and community engagement, Jos Kunnen holds an MBA (with Distinction) from Massey University and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Canterbury.

* Garry Lewis from Times-7 Research Limited nominated Jos Kunnen.

Le Liu

Qualcomm

Director, Technical Standards

Le Liu leads IoT ecosystem and standardization activities within Qualcomm’s Standards and Industry Organizations group. Le helps shape Qualcomm’s role in advancing RAIN RFID by supporting smartphone integration initiatives that enable RAIN RFID capabilities on mobile platforms, creating new opportunities for widespread adoption. With more than 15 years in wireless technology, Le has deep expertise in cellular (4G/5G/6G), Wi-Fi (802.11ax), and IoT standards. At Qualcomm, Le oversees engagement with standards bodies and industry alliances for emerging IoT technologies, including LPWA, Industrial IoT, Ambient IoT, and RFID integration. Le holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Tohoku University in Japan.

*Gagan Luthra from Impinj nominated Le Liu.

Frank Luo

Shenzhen DTB RFID Co., Ltd.

CEO

Mr. Luo is the founder and CEO of Shenzhen DTB RFID Co.,Ltd (“DTB RFID”) . He has nearly 20 years of experience in the enterprise information technology industry and the RFID software & hardware industry. He has worked in frontline positions such as technology development and marketing. He possesses deep insights into the RFID industry, digitalization, and artificial intelligence.

For the past 10 years since its founding, Mr. Luo has led DTB RFID to achieve continuous performance growth and team expansion. DTB RFID has consistently focused on RFID technology and its solutions. It provides excellent RFID tags and hardware to overseas customers and professional integrated software and hardware solutions to Chinese customers. The company has helped many clients utilize RFID technology to improve their enterprise informatization and digitalization levels, thereby boosting their business efficiency. At the same time, Mr. Luo has actively promoted and popularized RFID solutions and applications, contributing to the increased recognition and influence of the RFID industry and fulfilling greater social responsibility.

* Catherine Zhang from Shenzhen DTB RFID Co., Ltd. nominated Frank Luo.

William (Bill) Toney

Avery Dennison

Vice President of Advanced Technologies

Bill Toney is the global lead for Advanced Technology, Solutions Group at Avery Dennison. He is responsible for driving transformation with the advanced technologies deep science team to ensure client-centric growth, operational readiness and technology capabilities. His main focus is on accelerating intelligent label adoption in the key segments of food, general retail and apparel, while exploring the role that technology will continue to play for clients in the future.

Among previous senior roles at Avery Dennison, Bill led the global RFID market development team with the goal of accelerating market adoption worldwide. His primary focus was on measuring the business impact that RFID and digital products have on retail transformation across the general retail sector.

For almost 30 years, Bill’s efforts have significantly expanded the reach and practical implementation of digital identification technologies. His visionary leadership has accelerated the adoption of RFID, barcode and connected product solutions, while inspiring collaboration and standardization across regions and technologies.

In 2025, Bill was named winner of the Paul Bergé International Business Development Award by The Association for Automatic Identification & Mobility (AIM).

Bill graduated from Baldwin Wallace University with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Marketing and received his Master of Business Administration in Business Strategy from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, where he also is a Big Data advisory board member. He is also pursuing his research PhD in Business and Strategy at Oklahoma State University with a research focus in AI.

* William (Bill) Toney nominated himself.