Communications Division / ISA100 Wireless for Factory Automation Workshop in April

Posted by The Webmaster on February 18, 2012 under ISA News, Wireless Systems for Automation | Be the First to Comment

There will be a Communications Division / ISA100 Wireless for Factory Automation Workshop in Detroit on Monday and Tuesday, April 16-17, 2012.

This event, hosted by the ISA Communications Division, provides the opportunity to meet with peers to share ideas and learn about the latest advances in the use of industrial wireless communications in a factory setting. In addition to the workshop, there will be standards committee meetings taking place as well. The standards meetings will provide attendees with the opportunity to meet with the authors, editors and contributors of standards documents in development. The resulting conversations with these experts will significantly increase your understanding of wireless communications technology thus better preparing you for this ground-breaking technology and how to effectively deploy it in your facility.

The call for papers is available on the symposium website. Abstracts are due on January 31, 2012, but late submissions may still be considered. First draft papers are due on February 28, 2012.

Online registration will be available shortly via the symposium website. A discount will be available for ISA members.

More information about the 2012 ISA Communications Division Spring Symposium can be found at this website or by contacting the workshop chair Cliff Whitehead at +1 (440) 646-3779.

Register for FDT Seminar in Dearborn May 5th

Posted by jpwright on March 14, 2011 under Section News | Be the First to Comment

Please register for our FDT Seminar in Dearborn on May 5th and learn about FDT, also known as IEC 62453, which standardizes the communications and configuration between field instrumentation devices and control systems.

Date: Thursday, May 5, 2011
Time: 11:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Hyatt Regency Dearborn
Fee: Complimentary; hot lunch included.
Registration:Click here to register online to attend. Space is limited.

- Earn 3 PDH CEU’s
- Network with your section peers
- See technology displays and talk to the experts

See the attached flyer for more information. Email Jason Wright with questions.

ISA_Michigan_May_2011_Flyer

ISA Michigan Board Meets in Troy

Posted by Mike Van Voorhis on February 17, 2011 under Automation Federation News, ISA News, Section News, Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

The ISA Michigan Executive Board met for a strategy meeting in Troy, MI on Wednesday 2/9/11.

The executive board met in person to discuss key 2o11 section goals.

Our discussion included:

1.2011 Section Report to ISA HQ

2.May 5th joint event with FDT Group

3.Board vacancies and leadership development

4.Student Section recruitment at Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills Campus (MTEC)

5.We reviewed ISA Region and HQ administrative consolidation activities of the ISA Northern MI Section into ISA Michigan.

6. Tom Powell, Treasurer reported that we are financially solid. Our best investment is to seek student and new member investment opportunities. Our section is looking for members to point to student resource scholarships. Be on the lookout for students who need to benefit ISA Student memberships. Only- ($10.oo)

7. The board will be meeting on line in Webinar/Webex sessions once / month starting in March 2011.

We welcome your contact and updates on your career and professional education activities.

ISA Michigan Board-2011

FDT group to talk device integration standards with ISA Michigan- May 5th 2011

Posted by Mike Van Voorhis on February 3, 2011 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

ISA Michigan is co-sponsoring an event with FDT Group. This event is a joint event. The evening will include a discussion on open software standards. References: www.fdtgroup.org.

NOTE: This is a day event.

Location: Hyatt Dearborn, MI.

http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2006/027.html

Contact Jason Wright  (517) 599-4536.

FDT-ISA Joint Event Flyer

FDT Group and ISA sponsor joint meeting event

ISA SOUMI August Event Flyer

Posted by jpwright on August 4, 2010 under Section News | Be the First to Comment

Here is a flyer for our upcoming event at NSCL in East Lansing. Please feel free to post and share with your colleagues.

ISA_SOUMI_Event_Aug2010

ISA SOUMI 2010-11 OFFICER ELECTION RESULTS

Posted by Mike Van Voorhis on July 28, 2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

In July 2010, ISA SOUMI members voted on their 2010-11 section board members. Our elections are complete.

Congratulations and thank you for our volunteer elected leaders serving on the Section board! There would be no section without you!

President: Jason Wright
Vice President: Allan Schissler
Treasurer: David Jackson
Secretary: Robert Shubert
Delegate: Mike Van Voorhis

Please contact your leadership team for networking support, ISA resource direction and professional development assistance. We are your local ISA.

ISA SouMI to tour the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU

Posted by Mike Van Voorhis on June 21, 2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

An ISA SouMI event is scheduled to tour the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU on August 17th, 2010. They have an 18,000 point control system based on open-source software and LabView, neat sensing technology, and their own data acquisition software. This should be a great tour. We are thinking about scheduling a dinner afterward at a local spot here in East Lansing. Any takers?

We are limited to 30 guests. Please RSVP NOW to Jason Wright.

If you would like to know more about the lab and the tour, please view and/or download these online files:

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/files/NSCLTourInstructions.pdf

(includes a map to the laboratory, parking instructions, suggestions for visitors, and what to expect on the tour)

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/files/MinorPermissionForm.pdf

(a permission form that all visitors under 18 MUST BRING to tour NSCL)

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/files/NSCLbrochures.pdf

(a set of brochures about NSCL research, outreach, and safety)

Jason Wright receives DLC President Recognition

Posted by Mike Van Voorhis on June 10, 2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Jason Wright 2010 DLC President Award

At the ISA District 5 DLC, Jason Wright was recognized for his service as the ISA Michigan President. (Mike Van Voorhis, in photo, represented Jason’s acceptance.)

ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute Garners GE Expertise to Drive the Commercialization of the ISA100 Wireless Standards that will Streamline and Optimize Industrial Automation

Posted by The Webmaster on May 29, 2010 under ISA News, Wireless Systems for Automation | Be the First to Comment

GE’s worldwide industrial, communications, energy and process experience is helping to drive industry recognition of the ISA100 wireless communications standard, with the addition of GE to the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute Governing Board.

GE is a supporter of the ISA100 family of open standards, which is a reliable, flexible and deterministic communications protocol that helps streamline and optimize the integration of industrial processes’ automation applications. This protocol makes it easier for different equipment and systems to communicate and work together.

“As a leader in technical innovation and open standards, GE is excited to participate in establishing the ISA100 standards,” said Melanie Cook, communications general manager for GE’s Digital Energy business. “Our customers rely on GE to deliver reliable solutions for their mission-critical communication networks and are increasingly demanding products that are interoperable for easier infrastructure deployments. From Smart Grid modernization to oil and gas and industrial automation applications, the ISA100 standards will help us in meeting our customers’ requirements.”

The ISA100.11a Industrial Wireless Networking Standard, approved in September 2009, is the first in the ISA100 family of standards. This mesh standard protocol helps companies build interoperable communications equipment. As a result, manufacturing and processing plants can create, modify and optimize beginning-to-end operations quickly, cost-effectively, and seamlessly.

Future ISA100 standards will include support for backhaul functionality, factory automation and other key-use cases. Details on the approved standard, the ISA100 roadmap, and use-case presentations are available atwww.isa.org/ISA100.

“The addition of GE expands coverage of industry verticals represented in the WCI and gives us another great resource for ensuring conformance, interoperability, and marketplace adoption of standards that best meet the needs of users around the world,” said Andre Ristaino, Wireless Compliance Institute managing director.  “GE’s depth of technology expertise in process industries and creative application of technology is impressive. We look forward to working with the GE team to help improve communications for a new generation of process innovation.”

ISA Launches New Standards Committee on Procedural Automation for Continuous Process Operations

Posted by The Webmaster on May 21, 2010 under ISA News | Be the First to Comment

The International Society of Automation (ISA) Standards and Practices Board has approved the formation of a new committee, ISA106, to develop standards, recommended practices, and technical reports on the design and implementation of procedures for automating continuous process operations.

The ISA106 committee work products will apply to continuous processing applications and will address topics including:

  • Models and terminology
  • Modularization of procedural steps to foster re-use and lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
  • Exception handling for abnormal situations
  • State models for procedural logic
  • Process unit orientation with operational perspective
  • Recommended best practices
  • Implementation of start-up, shutdown, abnormal situations, hold states, and transition logic
  • Recommended target platform (i.e. control system vs. safety system) for different types of procedures
  • Lifecycle management best practices
  • Training and certification best practices

Board member Dr. Maurice J. Wilkins of Yokogawa, will serve as managing director of the new ISA106 committee. Dr. Wilkins has appointed Mr. Marty King of Chevron and Dr. Yahya Nazer of The Dow Chemical Company as co-chairs, and Mr. David Emerson of Yokogawa as vice chair and editor.

“The ultimate goal of ISA106 is to provide generic, cross-industry standards for procedural automation in continuous industries, in much the same way that ISA88 has done for the batch industries,” explains Dr. Wilkins. “In fact, I am hoping that some of the ISA88 work will apply to ISA106 and thus help speed up the process. It is also possible that ISA106 could develop joint recommended practices for various industries and work with standards committees that already exist, such as the ISA67 (nuclear) and ISA77 (fossil) power plant standards committees—as well as for industries that do not have separate ISA standards committees, such as petrochemical, refining, and upstream oil and gas.”

Much of the work of the ISA106 committee will be carried out electronically via web meetings and email; however, a kickoff, face-to-face meeting is planned for 9–10 June 2010 in the Houston, Texas, area.

Individuals who are interested in contributing their expertise and becoming active members of the ISA106 committee should send their contact information to Ellen Fussell Policastro at efussell@isa.org.