Steve Forbes, Chairman, Forbes Media, and a former Presidential candidate, will address the impact of the President and his administration on the future of the U.S. economy and business growth during a keynote presentation on Tuesday, January 22 at the Automate 2013 Show and Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

(Ann Arbor, Michigan - September 20, 2012) Steve Forbes, Chairman, Forbes Media, and a former Presidential candidate, will address the impact of the President and his administration on the future of the U.S. economy and business growth during a keynote presentation on Tuesday, January 22 at the Automate 2013 Show and Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Automate 2013 is, sponsored by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) and its affiliates Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA-Advancing Vision & Imaging, and Motion Control Association (MCA). It is North America's broadest automation solutions event featuring exhibits of robots, vision systems, motion control products and related automation equipment from more than 150 leading global suppliers.

"We're very much looking forward to the insights that Steve Forbes and Henrik Christensen provide," said Jeff Burnstein, President of A3. "Forbes' talk will be especially timely since it's the day after the Presidential inauguration. He will be able to give us a good feel for where the economy is headed.
Dr. Henrik Christensen, Director of Robotics at Georgia Tech, will give a keynote on the Future of Robotics on Monday, January 21. "Henrik Christensen's talk is also very timely, since he has been spearheading the effort for a U.S. Robotics Roadmap, the results of which he'll highlight during his talk," said Burnstein.

Both keynotes are cosponsored by the ProMat 2013 Show and Conference, North America's leading event for material handling and logistics. ProMat 2013 is collocated with Automate 2013 at McCormick Place and is sponsored by the Material Handling Industry Association (MHIA).

The two keynotes are part of a five-day Automate 2013 Conference that runs from January 21-25 (the show runs four days, closing on January 24). More than 30 paid sessions and 75 free sessions will be offered at Automate, many geared toward the needs of small and medium sized companies who are just beginning to consider automation.

"Business owners are increasingly turning to automation to help them become stronger global competitors," Burnstein said. "But, there are still many companies who fear automation is too complex or costly - Automate 2013 will show them that this isn't the case. In fact, attendees will meet business owners who have succeeded because of automation, and they'll find system integrators and global suppliers who can help them do the same."

The Association for Advancing Automation is the not-for-profit umbrella corporation of the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and the Motion Control Association (MCA). Together these associations represent nearly 700 member companies from 32 nations. Members include suppliers, system integrators, end users, universities, consulting firms and others involved in automation.

For more information on RIA, visit www.robotics.org. For AIA, visit www.visiononline.org. For MCA, visit www.motioncontrolonline.org. Automate show and conference information can be found at www.automate2013.com. To reach Association Headquarters, call 734/994-6088.