Cambridge tracking tech pioneer recognised in New Year Honours list

Dr Sithamparanathan Sabesan, CEO and Co-Founder of PervasID. Credit: PervasID

The pioneering founder of a Cambridge company that specialises in location-tracking technology has been recognised in the New Year Honours list.

Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan, who founded Cambridge company PervasID, was awarded an OBE in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours List for services to innovation technology and the promotion of STEM subjects in education.

PervasID’s revolutionary RFID (Radio-frequency identification) tracking system is used by NHS trusts, hospitals, aircraft manufacturers, retailers and more to track objects in real-time and with 99% accuracy.

In hospitals, the system is used to closely monitor surgical instruments, ensuring they are properly cleaned and sterilised, and available in the right place at the right time.

Retailers have also adopted the technology to track stock and enhance click-and-collect services.

Dr Sithamparanathan was born and educated in Sri Lanka. He came to the UK to study Electronic Engineering at the University of Sheffield before embarking on a PhD at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he developed his tracking system.

In 2011, Sabesan was elected to a Research Fellowship at Girton College, Cambridge, and in 2014 was awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship. He was elected as the inaugural Girton Enterprise Fellow in 2022.

“I am absolutely delighted to have been recognised in the New Year’s Honour list; this is a great honour and testament to the hard work and innovation of the entire team at PervasID,” said Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan, Founder & President of PervasID. “Our products offer a national and international benefit and we will continue to pioneer technology that has a wider value to society as a whole.”

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