The University is one of the top Engineering schools in the nation. However, one of the strangest things I’ve noticed on campus is students can only enter buildings by swiping their i- card rather than simply tapping them. This might seem like a minor adjustment, but when even the apartments around campus have contactless key fobs, it’s quite strange that the University still hasn’t implemented contactless i-cards.

The problem isn’t that we should upgrade a system that already works. The issue is that the technology for tapping our i-cards already exists and is in place. There just hasn’t been a large enough push to get students to have their i-cards upgraded.

Contactless cards have been implemented at the University since 2005. Every dining hall and residence hall is already contactless-card ready. However, these cards are only available to select students like those in DRES or ECE.

The rest of the student population can’t get a contactless card unless they have a class that needs it or some special circumstance requires it.

Personally, I got a contactless card because I had a class in the ECE building that required me to upgrade my card. Here’s what I learned about the contactless card.

The first thing I noticed when getting the card is that it’s similar to a normal i-card in shape and size. The only physical difference is a small blue “HID” logo on the back corner of the card. As for functionality, tapping the card instead of swiping is extremely convenient and effective.

I went to the dining hall to try tapping myself in. The guy at the entrance was on his phone, so when I walked right past him without skipping a beat, he jumped up and told me I had to swipe my i-card to get in. I pointed at the computer screen, and it said that I had already paid for my meal.

This system is so efficient that I simply tap my wallet to the reader, hear the beep and walk right through. No need for the person at the register to do anything other than check their computer to make sure I had enough credits.

So why doesn’t the University upgrade all i-cards?

Apparently, there’s a difference in price between normal and contactless cards. The woman working at the ID Center said the upgraded cards themselves were a little more expensive than the simple plastic cards.

But she also said that contactless cards last longer since there’s no risk that a physical swipe that might damage the card, nor is there a real need to take the card out of your wallet, so students are less likely to lose their card. So, the price of the cards could be made up for based on the smaller amount of cards needing to be replaced.

Overall, there isn’t much stopping the University from upgrading the i-cards. There just needs to be a large enough demand for the cards. For the time being, if you want to try out the contactless life, you can sign up for a one-hour seminar at the Open Lab in the ECE building and get your card upgraded. Otherwise, I guess you’ll have to wait till the University decides that upgrading everyone’s card is a worthwhile investment.

Brian is a junior in Engineering.

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