Automation scholorships awarded.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) has announced the recipients of its 2025 scholarships. Thirty-three students from seven countries have been awarded US$66,000 to support tuition and research activities. The countries include Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Ireland, Nigeria and the U.S.A.

Claire Fallon ISA CEO

ISA scholarships are awarded to college or university students who demonstrate outstanding potential for long-range contribution to the fields of automation, instrumentation, systems, and control. The scholarship awards support tuition and related expenses and research activities and initiatives. 

“On behalf of ISA, I am honored to congratulate this year’s exceptional scholarship recipients,” said Claire Fallon, ISA CEO and executive director. “Supporting the next generation of automation professionals is key to ISA’s mission of building a better world through automation. We are proud to be able to award so many talented students this year, and we look forward to seeing how they will shape and strengthen our field in the future.”

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@ISA_Automation @automation_com #PAuto #Education #Training

Scholorships in automation!

The International Society of Automation (ISA) is accepting applications for its wide range of 2016 educational scholarships, which will be awarded to college and university students who demonstrate outstanding potential for long-range contributions in the fields of automation, instrumentation and control. ISA educational scholarships, which fund tuition, related expenses and research initiatives, are distributed annually to undergraduate students in two-year and four-year colleges and universities, and to graduate students. More than $65,000 in scholarships funds are expected to be distributed in 2016. The two top undergraduate winners will receive $5,000 each. Other award amounts will vary. For answers to frequently asked questions regarding ISA educational scholarships, click here. Interested students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible by submitting a completed application form or by calling ISA at +1 919-549-8411. The application deadline is 15 February 2016. ISA awards scholarships from the ISA Educational Foundation Scholarship fund; through the ISA Executive Board; through ISA technical divisions, sections and districts; and through endowments of generous gifts from supporters. More details on these various scholarships are included below. Educational Foundation Scholarship Recipients of awards are full-time college or university students in either a graduate, undergraduate, or two-year degree program with at least an overall GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. Students should be enrolled in a program in automation and control or a closely related field. ISA Executive Board Scholarship These funds are provided by past and present members of ISA's Executive Board. Preference is given to applicants with demonstrated leadership capabilities. Award amount varies. Named Awards Funds are provided by families or groups in honor of specific people. ISA Technical Division Scholarships Funds are provided by specific ISA divisions. Scholarships are given to outstanding students pursuing careers in the area pertinent to the division’s activity. Certain divisions, such as the Chemical and Petroleum Industry Division, the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries Division, The Power Industry Division and the Water and Wastewater Industry Division, request that completed applications be sent to the specific contact person identified on each respective division’s scholarships page. ISA Section and District Scholarships Funds are provided by specific ISA sections and districts.

Students refresh their maths skills in Vienna!

After high school, many graduates take advantage of their new-found freedom to seek employment or travel before continuing their formal education. When they return to their studies, they often come to the realization that they have not retained enough knowledge from high school to thrive at university. Professors at the Vienna University of Technology (Vienna UT) noticed in particular that many of these students were not prepared to pick up their mathematics studies from where they left off in high school. In addition, students joining the university came from different backgrounds with different levels of knowledge.

At Vienna UT, university-level mathematics courses are essential for programs such as Engineering, Economics, Computer Science, Physics, and Urban and Regional Planning. Proficiency in high school mathematics is expected of all students in these programs. To help the students whose math skills were not at the required level expected of high school graduates, the research group of Prof. Breitenecker at Vienna UT developed a refresher course that would be offered in the weeks leading up to the start of the semester, with the goal of raising students’ mathematical proficiency. This optional course would cover topics that were most essential to the programs participants were enrolled in. A diagnostic test at the beginning of the course identified concepts that demanded closer attention and steered the direction of the course for each student.

Since the course was held over a short period of time, the resources were simply not available to design and grade exercises for a large number of participants, let alone return results in time to provide effective feedback. In order for the refresher course to be most effective, a web-based assessment system with automatic grading capable of handling mathematics was crucial - this is where Maplesoft™, a subsidiary of Cybernet Systems Co was called in!

This is where Maple T.A. became an important tool for Vienna UT. “After a long period of testing different environments in commercial and open software we made the decision to choose Maple T.A. because of its powerful algebraic possibilities and the randomization feature,” noted Andreas Körner, Lecturer at Vienna UT. “The grading function, especially the automatic and prompt feedback to students, was also important. The programming interface allowed the adoption of the grading routine to user defined grading algorithms which helped to reinforce the didactical nature of the lectures. We invested time and effort in creating examples and tests, and with that we now have a system of assessment that is efficient, one that offers students a flexible way of completing tests, and instructors a smooth administration of lecturers.”

Maple T.A. is a powerful online testing and assessment system designed especially for courses involving mathematics. It offers features such as standard math notation, sophisticated plotting, free-response math questions, and intelligent grading, allowing instructors to truly assess student understanding of math-based concepts. Because it is designed especially for courses involving mathematics, it is particularly suitable for use in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. In addition, Maple T.A. is compatible with virtually any course management system, including Blackboard®, Moodle™, and Brightspace™ by D2L™, so it can be seamlessly incorporated into existing course infrastructure.

Following each session of the refresher course at Vienna UT, students could go to Maple T.A. to begin practicing what they learned immediately. Whenever students encountered problems they could not solve, they received hints and feedback in Maple T.A. that helped them work through the problem on their own. This feedback allowed students to refine their skills and ultimately master the concept without depending on a professor or teaching assistant. “Maple T.A. is an asset to staff and students especially during the refresher course,” Stefanie Winkler, Assistant, Vienna UT noted. “A large amount of students can work independently without generating more administration work.”

A comparison of the results from the diagnostic test held at the start of the refresher course and the final test showed vast improvements in students’ grades. The majority of students failed the diagnostic test at the start of the course. However, by the end of the course, results showed a significant shift: most students scored 70% or higher. Over the last few years, students’ test results have continued to reflect the same trend. “Since 2008 when we began the course, these test scores show a consistent increase in students’ mathematical skills year after year. Using Maple T.A. in our refresher course has been very useful. Maple T.A. made it possible to bring students closer to a level of mathematics necessary to successfully pursue their area of study,” Prof. Felix Breitenecker commented.

Since the refresher course was first offered to Electrical Engineering students in 2008, the program has been expanded to seven different fields of study. Maple T.A. has also been adopted into other courses at the Vienna UT, and students’ exams are now beginning to be administered online using Maple T.A. in some engineering courses.

Questions developed by the Vienna UT team, covering math topics such as Integral Calculus, Linear Functions, Vector Analysis, Differential Calculus, and Trigonometry, have been added to the Maple T.A. Cloud, making them available to all users of Maple T.A.

Students earn scholarships!

Yokogawa Corporation of America is contributing student scholarships to deserving graduate and undergraduate college students, which were awarded at the company's 2014 Users Conference and Exhibition.   A total of five individual scholarships were issued in the amount of $500 each.

The Yokogawa Corporation of America Student Scholarship is awarded to college and university students who aspire to become leaders in engineering, automation and related fields.  The award supports expenses such as tuition, books, fees and/or supplies for the current academic semester.

Scholarship recipients were announced on Thursday, September 11, 2014 during the awards ceremony of Yokogawa’s Users Conference and Exhibition.  Chet Mroz, President and CEO of Yokogawa Corporation of America, recognized the winners and posed for photographs, after presenting them with special oversized replicas of the check.

“The opportunity to support students interested in an engineering or automation career is valuable as it promotes growth within our industry,” says Mroz.  “We certainly appreciate these future innovators and hope that our contribution to their education makes a great impact in their current studies and beyond.”

Yokogawa selected qualified recipients from the applications submitted and essays, which asked students to "describe their future career goals and explain how the scholarship would help attain them."  Essay answers ranged from goals of becoming electrical engineers to aspirations of subsea engineering in the future. Some students described their need to support tuition and book expenses, while others mentioned a need to support mounting student loans that they would soon have to repay.

The five students are: Dilioha Igbo, Chukwudi Omire, Sarah Rai, Monica Rexach, Ali Siddique

Yokogawa decided to offer the scholarship as a way to benefit aspiring engineers.  Students were invited to visit the Users Conference and Exhibition on the dedicated Student Day, Thursday September 11.  Nearly 30 college and university students were in attendance.  The event provided a platform whereby participants could learn more about the products, solutions, and services offered by Yokogawa and see live demonstrations.  They were encouraged to attend a technology keynote, tour the demo showcase, and network with industry experts and engineers.   A Yokogawa recruiter was available to discuss internships and job openings.  LinkedIn, the business and professional networking service, also had a representative onsite to provide giveaways and recommendations geared toward future graduates who would soon be entering the workforce.  Students walked away armed with valuable information for their career development.

Yokogawa believes in the advancement of college and university students in the industrial automation and related fields as they prepare to become future engineers for companies like itself.

Lego League Tournament!

Seven teams of children from schools in various part of England recently competed in a FIRST^® LEGO^® League (FLL^®) regional tournament, organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and hosted by National Instruments UK & Ireland in the company’s Newbury headquarters. 

FLL is a team-based robotics programme and competition for 9-16 year olds, designed to excite children about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and real-world issues, as well as teach them valuable life, career and teamwork skills. The key aim is to encourage students from primary and secondary school into science and engineering. National Instruments LabVIEW graphical programming software powers the LEGO^® MINDSTORMS^® robotics platform, which is used by hundreds of teams of schoolchildren in the UK & Ireland, and over 250,000 young people globally, in the FLL robotics competition. 

With “Nature’s Fury” the theme for this year’s tournament, the teams deployed their robots to address a real-world challenge on the game tables, showcasing their creativity, technical skills and enthusiasm with topics such as a volcano eruption, zombie apocalypse and a plan to minimise forest fire devastation.  Each team was tasked with three challenges, judged by NI employees: a robot game, where pre-programmed robots moved around the FFL table to complete tasks for points; a presentation about their project; together with a  demonstration of their team working skills in the Core Values section of the tournament. 

“From building better medical devices to providing renewable energy, engineers will play an important role in improving our future. As such, the current global deficit of engineering talent is a big problem for society.  At National Instruments, we believe that events like FLL will play a key role in inspiring and nurturing the UK's next generation of engineers, which will lead to a better future for us all” said Robert Morton, Managing Director, National Instruments UK & Ireland, who attended the tournament. “FLL provides children with a real insight into the wonderful world of engineering. On the run up to the event, the student teams had to identify a real-world problem, before combining software and hardware to create a solution. That is exactly what many professional engineers do every day." 

The winning team, Abingdon School from Oxfordshire, is now through to the national finals, where the British winner will proceed to compete in the global tournament, held in the United States later this year. 

Process control design competition

Honeywell has launched its annual process control design competitions in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to recognise the most talented chemical engineering students across the globe.

2012 winner (left) Davide Bocciardo from
the University of Edinburgh with his
advisor Dr. Maria-Chiara Ferrari
and Orhan Genis of Honeywell

Rewarding innovative projects using Honeywell’s UniSim^® Design simulation software for the process automation industry, winners will receive an expenses-paid trip to their regional Honeywell Users Group Conferences (HUG): HUG Americas, taking place in Phoenix, Arizona; HUG Asia-Pacific, being held in Perth, Australia; and the EMEA event, celebrating its 25^th year in Nice, France.

The events provide winning students with an opportunity to present their project, learn more about the process industries, and network with attendees, including potential employers. The sponsoring tutor will also receive the opportunity to attend a training course on cutting-edge technological innovation at one of Honeywell’s world-class automation colleges. The prize covers all travel, accommodation and registration costs for the event.

“It is always encouraging to see so much global talent through these student competitions,” said Bradd Schneider, vice president of global sales for Honeywell Process Solutions. “I’d really encourage students to participate in their region. It’s a great opportunity to showcase your talents and learn more about the industry.”

Competition details

All entries must use Honeywell UniSim^® Design Suite software, available free to professors teaching at students’ universities. It provides an interactive process model that allows engineers to create steady-state and dynamic models and is used extensively for plant design, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, operational improvement, business planning, and asset management around the world.

Entries must be submitted through professors lecturing at the student’s university by 30 April for the Americas, 31 May for Asia Pacific and 30 September for EMEA. Submissions should include an abstract of approximately 300 words detailing the benefits derived from the design, and a short presentation. Further information, entry requirements for all regions, and details for professors wishing to obtain the UniSim Design software can be found at unisim.studentcompetitions.com.

Educational scholorships in automation

Recipients of 2011 ISA Educational Foundation Scholarships announced

The International Society of Automation (ISA) has proudly announced the winners of the 2011 ISA Educational Foundation Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded to college and university students who demonstrate outstanding potential for long-range contribution to the fields of automation, instrumentation, and control. The scholarship awards support tuition and related expenses and research activities and initiatives.

ISA awarded a total of $30,500, which was distributed among students in two- and four-year colleges and universities, and to graduate students. The recipients are:

2-year programs
Daniel Dwinell - $1,000
Francis Tuttle University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Bob and Mary Ives Endowment Fund

Heather Roberts - $1,000
Lee College, Baytown, Texas, USA
Life Members and Executive Board Endowment Funds

Nena Wilson - $1,000
Lee College, Baytown, Texas, USA
Executive Board and Daris and Gerald Wilbanks Endowment Funds

4-year programs
Michael Lopresti - $5,000
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
Chemical and Food and Pharmaceutical Division Scholarship Funds

Paul Aritra - $5,000
RV College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
Food and Pharmaceutical Division and Norman E. Huston Endowment Fund

Rajam Deepa Visivanathan - $2,000
NSS College of Engineering, Kerala, India
Norma E. Huston and General Education Endowment Funds

Ashley Wondergem - $2,000
Saginaw Valley State University, Michigan, USA
Norman E. Huston Endowment Fund

Robert Benson - $2,000
A&T University, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
General Education Endowment Fund

Daniel Dwinell - $1,000
Francis Tuttle University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Bob and Mary Ives Endowment Fund

Joshua Alfaro - $500
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
General Education Endowment Fund

Nimesh Manoharan - $500
Kamaraguru College of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
General Education Endowment Fund

Graduate programs
Naseeb Adnan - $2,000
University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
Paros-Digiquartz and General Education Endowment Funds

Mahdi Sharifzadeh - $2,000
Imperial College, London, England
Paros-Digiquartz and Bob and Mary Ives Endowment Funds

Ruben Gonzalez - $1,500
University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
Paros-Digiquartz Endowment Fund

District 3 scholarship
Guillaume Batungwanayo - $500
Portsmouth University, Portsmouth, United Kingdom

District 5 scholarship
Ashley Wondergem
Saginaw Valley State University, Michigan, USA

District 7 scholarship
Sherrie Lehman - $2,300
Lee College, Baytown, Texas, USA

District 8 scholarship
Daniel Dwinell
Francis Tuttle University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

District 9 scholarship
John Carley - $400
Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

District 11 scholarship
Cristino Castro - $400
California State University - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

District 12 scholarship
Alexey Tirtichny - $1,500
St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg, Russia

These ISA Educational Foundation Scholarships are presented annually by the global Society.

Some individual Sections also award scholarships or bursuries in their local areas.

Power control strategy for team’s hybrid vehicle wins!

National Instruments Technology Helps Virginia Tech Win EcoCAR Competition

Virginia Tech recently was named the overall winner of EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, a three-year collegiate vehicle engineering competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors (GM). The Virginia Tech Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) designed and built an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) that uses E85 (ethanol) and achieves fuel efficiency of 81.9 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent. With National Instruments reconfigurable software and hardware, the team used a graphical system design approach to design, prototype, validate and deploy a control strategy for the vehicle’s hybrid components.

Watch out for new developements from National Instruments at NI Week 1st August 2011 as forecast in our story, Fostering discovery and innovation, last week.

To interface with and control the vehicle, the team chose NI CompactRIO, which acted as a hybrid vehicle supervisory controller that balanced power distribution between the vehicle’s combustion and electric systems. They programmed the controller with NI LabVIEW system design software, which also served as the runtime environment for the main driver display in the vehicle. The LabVIEW Statechart Module was used to create a high-level state machine control architecture for splitting torque between the hybrid components. Before deploying their control strategy to hardware, the team used NI VeriStand real-time testing software and NI PXI to create a hardware-in-the-loop simulation and validation system that evaluated the vehicle’s fuel and electric energy consumption and tested safety features.

“The members of the HEVT come from a variety of engineering backgrounds and concentrations, and it was critical for us to have an easy-to-use platform that could be used by everyone and from start to finish,” said Jesse Alley, graduate advisor for the Virginia Tech HEVT. “National Instruments software and hardware streamlined our vehicle development, allowing us to rapidly develop a sophisticated hybrid control strategy that ultimately helped us win EcoCAR.”

Sixteen North American universities participated in EcoCAR and re-engineered GM-donated vehicles to minimize fuel consumption and emissions while maintaining utility, safety and performance. The competition culminated in a trip to the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Mich., where the teams put their vehicles through a series of safety and technical tests. In addition to winning the overall competition, Virginia Tech won awards for Shortest 60-0 MPH Braking Distance, Best AVL Drive Quality, Best Dynamic Consumer Acceptability and Best Fuel Consumption. The team also received the National Instruments Most Innovative Use of Graphical System Design award. National Instruments is a platinum sponsor of EcoCAR.

“We must continue to eliminate any obstacles to hands-on, project-based learning if we truly want to return to an era of experimentation within academia,” said Ray Almgren, vice president of product marketing for core platforms at National Instruments. “The EcoCAR competition does just that, and through the hard work and determination of the Virginia Tech team and the enabling power of National Instruments technology, experimentation resulted in innovation that has the power to transform the future of transportation.”

National Instruments supports numerous academic initiatives, including EcoCAR, to help students get real-world engineering experience while in school so that they are prepared for careers in industry. National Instruments equips today’s students for their roles as tomorrow’s innovators who are responsible for addressing the engineering grand challenges, which include improving urban infrastructure, making solar energy more economical and engineering better medicines. Many students have used the experience gained through the EcoCAR competition to secure automotive industry careers to work on sustainable mobility efforts.