A curmudgeon speaks!

I received the latest issue of InTech, ISA's flagship, over the holiday period. I look forward to receiving it at home to have a good read at my ease. But this is the last time I'll be able to do so.

"...it is with a bit of sadness but much gratitude for the benefits of digital publications that I say this is the last issue of InTech in print. After years of pilot projects and deliberations, the digital transformation of InTech magazine is a reality." so says Renee Bassett, the editor-in-chief in her editorial in this the last paper issue.

She gives all sorts of figures and that decided the Society to make this change. Reading it I find I am in the 33% who do NOT read the digital issue although it has been available in digital format as well as the paper version for quite some time. I do not as a rule read pdf magazines or newspapers in the same way as I read the printed versions. I can't thumb through it.

I know this is a curmudgeonly opinion and will have no effect on this decision but feel I must express this opinion especially as the Society honoured me by electing me as Publications Vice-President many years ago. The Society also recognised my humble efforts as a member both of my local section and of the wider global society. So I have a lot to thank the Society for - not least the companionship of automation professionals. I remember my first attendance at an ISA function and the relief not having to answer the question, "What exactly IS instrumentation?"

Don't mistake what I am saying. I like the internet and use it all the time. I first joined up to the internet in 1993 so that I could contact and access quickly the benefits and knowledge that the Society has provided over the past almost 80 years. In fact I was the 800th subscriber to the service of our local internet provider Ireland On-Line - remember dial-up?

As publisher myself I understand the problems of providing a printed publication. The production cost has not changed that much in the last forty or fifty years. However the cost of distribution has probably quadrupled if not more. Our own publication - Read-out - which ceased paper publication about six years ago had seen the cost of postage increase from around €0.50 per copy to almost €5.00 per copy. We had little choice but to change to on-line publishing with items being published on a daily basis.

We will continue to subscribe to the digital InTech (and its sister eBooks) and will no doubt dip into it virtually. I will miss it plopping through our letter box every two months. I will miss sitting back and thumbing through it as I learn about the latest automation technologies and applications.

@ISA_Interchange @IrelandISA #Automation #PAuto #TandM

Thought-provoking and authoritative topics for automation professionals.

Six times per year, InTech provides thought-provoking and authoritative coverage of topics important to automation professionals at every level, including Smart Manufacturing, IIoT, Industrial Cybersecurity, Process Control & Instrumentation, Standards, and more.

The August 2021 issue has just been published.

As the official magazine of ISA—The International Society of Automation, it presents automation technologies, applications, and strategies that enhance on-the-job success. It also provides a window into the wealth of technical knowledge, career development opportunities, certifications and standards available through ISA.

Automation as a strategic tool in the success manufacturing.

Bill Lydon has been active in manufacturing automation for more many years. He started his career as a designer of computer-based machine tool controls. He applied programmable logic controllers and process control technology later in his career. In addition to experience at various large companies, he cofounded and was president of a venture-capital-funded industrial automation software company. 

Bill Lydon

Bill served as Editor of the ISA flagship periodical, InTech, from the time this correspondent was acting as VP Publications with the International Society of Automation in 2010-2012. He stepped down from this position two or three years ago and is gradually withdrawing from the more responsible positions in publishing. Thankfully he will continue to male some contributions both to InTech in the Final Say articles and will still be writing for the ISA subsidiary Automation.com. 

He believes the success factors in manufacturing are changing, making it imperative to apply automation as a strategic tool to compete.

I know he has enjoyed interacting with everyone and hopes that many of his friends in automation and publishing will feel free to stay in touch.

He has recorded and tracked the changes in Automation down the years and we asked him to list a few of these. This is a list of some that he thought might be of interest mostly from the last two or three years. They are not listed in any particular order.

The Digital Twin – Enabling Real Time Closed Loop Manufacturing Optimization. (Sept 2019)

ISA95 In the IoT & Digitalization Era. (Jan 2020)

RAMI 4.0  Reference Architectural Model for Industrie 4.0. (Mar/Apl 2019)

Compliance of the Victim: ARC Industry Forum Highlights an Industry in Transition. (Mar 2017)

Moderna Builds Native Digital Process Automation on Amazon Web Services. (Feb 2021)

Amazon Industrial Digitalization Platform. (Jan 2021)

Industrial Cybersecurity: PAS Optics 2020 Event. (Nov 2020)

ExxonMobil collaboration helps create a converged IT/OT industrial control system based on open standards. (Nov/Dec2020)

Edge Computing: Chip Delivers High Performance Artificial Intelligence. (Oct 2020)

OPC Foundation Empowers Sensor-to-Cloud Digitalization. (Jul 2020)

Inside the Integration at Milwaukee’s New Fiserv Forum Sports & Entertainment Complex. (Nov 2019)

What is open source & why you should care? (Dec 2018)

Can Manufacturers Compete When Trapped in Existing Automation Architectures? (Apl 2019)

Tension in Industrial Automation: Open Systems and the User’s Dilemma. (May 2019)

We look forward to reading further articles from him tracking the progress of automation and wish him every success in the future.

@ISA_Interchange @automation_com #PAuto #Automation #Manufacturing #Publishing

How does your salary compare?

It's that time of year again when Automation.com, ISA and InTech survey automation professionals about salary and career information.

To see how your salary and company compare to others in the industry, please take a few minutes to complete the survey.

As an incentive for your participation, you will be entered into a drawing to win one of five US$50 Visa gift cards. Please take about 5 minutes to complete this important survey.

These answers are COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL. 

Results will be published in the Autumn issues of InTech and Automation Insights e-Newsletter.

 @automation_com #PAuto  @ISA_Interchange

Automation authors recognised!

The International Society of Automation (ISA) honoured authors at an awards ceremony held during ISA’s 2016 Fall Leaders Meeting in September 2016. “Each year, ISA is proud to recognize and thank all of the talented authors and contributors who help develop, review and deliver outstanding ISA publications and technical resources to automation and control professionals throughout the world,” says Susan Colwell, director of ISA’s Publications Department and Publisher of ISA’s InTech magazine. Winners are recognized for their editorial contributions to a wide range of ISA publications, including ISA books; InTech, ISA’s bi-monthly magazine for automation and control professionals; and ISA Transactions, ISA’s bi-monthly professional journal dedicated to the science and engineering of measurement and automation. ISA's bi-monthly magazine! The Keith Otto Award The Keith Otto Award recognizes the author or authors of the best article in InTech magazine. The award was presented to Donald G. Dunn and Nicholas Sands for their article, “Automation IT—Diagnosing your alarm system,” which appeared in the July/August 2015 issue of InTech. The Nels Tyring Award The Nels Tyring Award recognizes the author or authors of the best published article in one of the Society’s journals. Moazzam Shamsi is this year’s recipient for his article, “System Integration: Wired versus wireless trade-offs,” which appeared in the January/ February 2015 issue of InTech. The Raymond D. Molloy Award The Raymond D. Molloy Award is presented annually in honor of Raymond D. Molloy’s contributions to the automation profession. Molloy was dedicated to the ISA publications program for more than 20 years, maintaining a keen interest in developing high-quality publications that met the needs of measurement and control professionals. This year’s award recipients are Paul Gruhn, PE, CFSE  and Harry L. Cheddie, PE, CFSE, whose book, Safety Instrumented Systems: Design, Analysis, and Justification, Second Edition, outsold all other ISA books published in 2015. ISA Transactions Best Paper Award ISA's Journal of Automation ISA Transactions Best Paper Award recognizes the best technical paper published in ISA Transactions, the ISA professional journal dedicated to the science and engineering of measurement and automation, during the previous year. The recipients of the ISA Transactions Best Paper Award are Lotfi Saidi, Jaouher Ben Ali, and Farhat Fnaiech. The review committee recognized their paper, "Application of higher order spectral features and support vector machines for bearing faults classification," which was published in ISA Transactions, Vol. 54, (pages 193-206), January 2015. By showcasing advances that bridge the theory and practice gap, ISA Transactions plays an important role in enhancing the visibility and reputation of automation and control professionals. ISA members have free online access to ISA Transactions. Non-ISA members can learn more about the journal by clicking here.

#PAuto #ISAuto 

Automation on the android platform.

"It’s not only educational and informative, but a lot of fun, too!"

The Android version of ISA's award-winning new mobile app, InTech Plus has been launched. The release significantly broadens automation and control professionals’ access to a diverse range of technical and educational content and interactive tools.

After its initial launch in March of this year for the Apple iPad, InTech Plus is now able to reach a much wider audience. A recent survey revealed that nearly 80 percent of the world’s mobile phone users rely on the Android platform.

“It’s always been our goal to offer InTech Plus on the Android platform, given its widespread global use and acceptance,” says Susan Colwell, Manager of ISA Publications, who oversees the development of InTech Plus. “We’re excited that so many more automation and control professionals will be able to use our free, fun and really cool interactive app that delivers the content and tools needed to enhance their careers.”

From the latest technology news, trends, best-practice overviews and ‘how-to’ videos featuring ISA subject matter experts to captivating success stories, Q&As, quizzes, conversion tables and calculators, InTech Plus offers a fresh new way to rapidly access, scan and digest automation-related information. Highly colorful and visual in approach, the pages feature intuitive navigation that engages the reader with “quick-read” call-out boxes and sliders.

InTech Plus content, updated on a regular basis, is derived through a variety of authoritative sources, most significantly through the insights and perspectives of ISA’s world-renowned subject matter experts. It leverages the established track record and expertise of InTech magazine, ISA’s bi-monthly print and digital magazine that covers the critical challenges facing automation and control professionals and latest technologies, applications and strategies designed to solve them.

The entire spectrum of ISA’s products and services—including its automation standards; education, training and certification programs; technical symposia; publishing resources and leadership development capabilities—is represented within the application.

“Because it provides access—whenever and wherever—to an extensive array of automation content and functionality, InTech Plus supports the ISA mission of better connecting automation and control professionals to the information they need and want,” says Peggie W. Koon, Ph.D., ISA President. “It also represents ISA’s commitment to innovation, and to pursuing the ongoing development of new tools, products and programs with the ‘coolest delivery’ available to our members and the automation community at large.”
Since its introduction, InTech Plus has received considerable attention for the quality of its content and how its content is presented.

For instance, last month, Graphic Design USA awarded ISA a Certificate of Excellence award in its 2014 American Graphic Design Awards competition for the design of InTech Plus. Only 15 percent of the entries in the 2014 American Graphic Design Awards competition—which this year attracted more than 8,000 applications—received Certificate of Excellence Awards.

Tribute Inc., a developer of enterprise software to distributors and fabricators, recently tweeted that InTech Plus provides a valuable service to its customers.

And in an email to ISA headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC, Clifford D. Wuertz, a Senior Instrumentation Engineer at AMEC Oil & Gas Americas and a former president of ISA’s Houston Section, applauded ISA for developing InTech Plus. “You have created a marvelous, interactive multi-media tool for automation professionals to utilize on the go. It’s not only educational and informative, but a lot of fun, too!”

• Download InTech Plus for free through the Google Play app store or the Apple App Store. 

Innovative automation publication gets top graphic design award!

InTech Plus, the International Society of Automation’s new mobile application for the Apple iPad that provides on-the-go technical and educational content, has received a prominent design award.

Graphic Design USA has awarded ISA a Certificate of Excellence award in its 2014 American Graphic Design Awards competition for the online design of InTech Plus,  the launch of which we recorded earlier this year (March 2013),  to connect automation and control professionals to an array of new and different automation-related information and functionality.

For five decades, Graphic Design USA has sponsored competitions to showcase excellence among professionals in creative fields. Only 15 percent of the entries in the 2014 American Graphic Design Awards competition—which this year attracted more than 8,000 applications—received Certificate of Excellence Awards.

“ISA is very pleased and excited to be presented with this prestigious design award,” says Susan Colwell, Manager of ISA Publications Development. “InTech Plus reflects ISA’s commitment to innovation and the ‘coolest delivery’ of new tools, products and programs for automation professionals. The fresh and modern design of the application plays an essential part in our ability to deliver engaging content in a new and compelling way.”

Winning American Graphic Design Award entries are featured in Graphic Design USA’s 250-page annual publication (and digital flipbook version), Annual Winners Gallery website section, and annual iPad app.

• Download InTech Plus for free through the Apple App Store.

Big Data defined!

One of the most authoritative magazines in the Automation sector is InTech, published by the International Society of Automation. An article in the current issue has won high praise indeed from Bob Lederer of RBDRChannel. RBDR is produced Monday-Thursday on a youTube site and presents news, commentary and insights on important research issues and innovators. It is a free service.

He states in this edition of their video that the definition of BigData by Sanat Joshi, is the best he has seen. The article Big Data is on line if you want to read it.

Definition A simple definition would be that data becomes big data, or rather a big data problem, when the volume, velocity, and/or variety of the data exceeds the abilities of your current IT systems to ingest, store, analyze, or otherwise process it. Sanat Joshi, (InTech, May/June 2013)

The lead article in this issue is on Asset Management systems, and there are more articles on Batch, Safety, and a special section on security.

Check out the InTech site to see if you qualify for your own personal copy.

Irish automation author recognised

The ISA Publications Department anually remembers Mr. Keith Otto, a member who served the Society for many years, particularly as the Chair of the InTech Editorial Advisory Board.

David Twohig & ISA VP Pubs Eoin Ó Riain

The Keith Otto Award recognizes the authors of the best article in their periodical InTech magazine.

The winner was David Twohig for the best article in the September/October 2011 issue of InTech magazine titled, “Utility Optimization – Driving economic performance through the utilization of automation technologies”

David Twohig is working as a Senior Engineering Specialist for Gilead Sciences, responsible for Automation System on their Cork manufacturing site in Ireland. He has a degree in Applied Physics and is presently working on a research Masters with the Chemical Engineering Dept. at Newcastle University (GB). He is a full member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology and is presently serving as an executive committee member for the Control and Automation Community.

This award is usually presented at the annual ISA Automation Week however this year as the then ISA VP Publications, Eoin Ó Riain, is also Irish, the presentation was made at the Ireland ISA Section's Honours & Awards event in University College, Cork last December.

ATEX certification for prizewinning gas detector

Senscient has received ATEX International Certification from FM Approvals Ltd for operation of their new Open Path Gas Detector (OPGD) ELDS 1000 Series for methane and ELDS 2000 Dual Gas Series for methane and hydrogen sulfide in potentially explosive atmospheres.

With features that include 3x better sensitivity for detecting flammable gases and lower ppm level toxic gases, Senscient ELDS open path gas detectors offer facility owners a substantial improvement in site safety and risk management over previous NDIR-based technology systems. Additionally, the ELDS 2000 Series OPGD is the first fixed gas detector able to monitor both methane and hydrogen sulfide in a single unit simultaneously with discreet output communication.

Senscient's patented Enhanced Laser Diode Spectroscopy (ELDS) solves major problems associated with traditional fixed gas detectors by eliminating routine re-calibration, sensor replacement, unreliable readings and false alarms that cost industries millions of dollars in lost revenue annually.

ELDS is designed to provide new levels of plant safety and risk reduction in offshore platforms, FPSO's, onshore petrochemical facilities and refineries. New ELDS units targeting other industries and gas hazards are being introduced throughout 2010.

The ATEX certification ensures Senscient ELDS Series 1000 and 2000 open path gas detectors are capable of detecting the target gas over an entire line of sight coverage of 5 to 40 meters. The certification also confirms the systems' ability to trigger isolated multi-channel analogue or digital output signals to a remote safety PLC.

"ATEX Directive 94/9/EC is the final Senscient ELDS certification required for us to meet our goal to become the first fixed gas detector manufacturer to meet all performance-based hazardous area compliant product and facility standards for USA, Canada, and Europe," according to Jean Berthold, Senscient CMSO and VP.

This company won the ISA Intech Gold Innovators Award for ELDS Gas Detector at ISAExpo'09