What Equipment and Software do I need for dynamic access control

[allmuh91]

I am a masters student, currently doing research on creating an access control system that utilizes a smart card reader, a magnetic door lock and an existing information system developed on the .NET Framework that should avail data that the access control system then uses to determine if access should be granted or not. I have been searching for some kind of programmable access control system (smart card reader and magnetic door lock) that can also be connected to an information system over a network, but my search is yielding no helpful results. Could someone please help me with some information on what equipment and software I would need to pull this off. All help is highly appreciated!