Conference takes shape

The technical program for the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium (WWAC Symposium) is taking shape, and the final program is to be be announced soon. Scheduled for 6-8 August 2013, the WWAC Symposium presents a unique opportunity for professionals who work with SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), automation and instrumentation in the water and wastewater sectors to come together, share ideas and gain valuable continuing education.

"The high quality of abstracts submitted this year are going to make for an impressive program," says Graham Nasby of Eramosa Engineering, the 2013 general symposium chair. "Our program committee is hard at work selecting the more than 30 speakers for the symposium’s technical program. This is in addition to our three invited speakers on cybersecurity, project management and human factors design. We will also be making our keynote speaker announcement very soon."

The WWAC Symposium is scheduled for Orlando, (FL USA). Attendance surged at the 2012 symposium and the momentum is expected to expand involvement again this year. This large increase in participation is a testament to the symposium’s renewed focus on today’s challenges in automation, instrumentation and SCADA for public infrastructure.

The symposium will also feature guest speakers from other municipal water/wastewater oriented associations, such as the (US) Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA). By forming strong partnerships with other associations, the symposium has been able to reach a broader audience of water and wastewater professionals across the industry. For members of these associations, the symposium also provides targeted professional development and training opportunities, which have been otherwise inaccessible.

“The ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium is a great venue to offer SCADA-specific continuing education opportunities. This is another example of the FSAWWA providing benefits to our membership and more specifically to those members who are involved with this aspect of our public water infrastructure," says Jason Parrillo, Chair of the Florida Section of the AWWA. "By partnering with ISA we can now offer specialized training that would otherwise not be available to our membership. For this reason we are very pleased to have been invited to partner with the ISA’s Water/Wastewater Division to promote this annual symposium."

In addition to planning the 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium, the symposium’s volunteer committee has already begun making plans for next year’s event. The committee is pleased to announce that the dates of the 2014 ISA WWAC symposium will be 5-7 August 2014, and it will also take place in Orlando. Current assistant symposium chair for 2013, Kevin Patel, will again be taking on the role of general symposium chair for 2014.

“I have had the privilege of working with the symposium committee for the past several years, and it has set a great path for the symposium to continue to be successful in the future," says Patel of Signature Automation, "I look forward to continuing the tradition of providing a high-quality, cost-effective technical symposium that directly addresses the needs of SCADA, automation and instrumentation professionals in our sector.”

Registration for the 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium is now available on the symposium website.