2015 ISA Process Control & Safety Symposium, 9-12 November in Houston, Texas, USA

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA (25 August 2015) — The best and brightest minds in process industries—including three distinguished keynote speakers—will come together at the 2015 ISA Process Control & Safety Symposium, 9-12 November in Houston, Texas, USA.

Seven ISA technical divisions—Process Measurement and Control, Safety and Security, Chemical and Petroleum, Communications, Education, Pulp and Paper, and Management—as well as the ISA Houston Section have collaborated to forge a world-class technical program.

By attending, engineers, technicians and plant managers will gain the latest insights, news and trends in process measurement and control—particularly in the chemical and energy processing and other key process industry sectors.

Conference sessions, led by the worlds leading experts, will cover the critical issues in instrumentation, safety, security, communications, control systems, pulp and paper, advanced control and simulation. Among the wide-ranging topics to be covered include:

* Procedural automation
* The NIST Cybersecurity Framework
* Safety Instrumented Systems
* KPI Lifecycle for process control
* Big Data
* Data analysis and historization
* Smart manufacturing
* IACS cyber risk assessment
* The future of manufacturing
* Wireless networks
* Virtualization - A powerful tool for process control
* Performance-based gas detection system design
* Wireless for safety applications
* Toxic gas detectors for Shelter In Place (SIP)
* Defining and exchanging Key Performance Indicators
* Big data systems/analytics/readiness
* Upgrading your calibration program
* Industrial advances in wireless control
* How to beat your startup date
* Manufacturing enterprise solutions for process industries
* Panel asset management
* Metrics that matter
* Artificial intelligence in process control
* Reliability in measurements: Common misconceptions in calibration management
* The Internet of Things (IoT) and Manufacturing

An exhibit showcase will feature the latest product and service information at engaging vendor and supplier exhibits, and daily networking luncheons and nightly receptions will set the stage for mingling, meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends.

Three outstanding keynote presentations and speakers
Three remarkable automation and control professionals will deliver keynote addresses during the event. Below are the presentation titles and summary biographies of the three keynote speakers.

"30 Years of Experience—Is there an App for that?"
Speaker: Maurice Wilkins, Ph.D.

Maurice Wilkins is the vice president of Yokogawas Strategic Marketing Center, based in Dallas, Texas. His keynote presentation will examine recent workforce trends, the differences between the Boomer and Millennial generations and their expectations; and how standards and technology can help Millenials gain the experience needed to close the so-called "skills gap."

Dr. Wilkins possesses more than 37 years of experience in human factors, batch solutions, procedural operations, HMI design, advanced process control and benchmarking analysis in the chemicals and refining industries. He is a Chartered Engineer in the UK, a Fellow of the UK IChemE, and represents them in the US as a Senior Ambassador. He is also an ISA Fellow and a Fellow of the Institute of Measurement and Control. Dr. Wilkins was inducted into the Process Automation Hall of Fame in 2011.
_____

"Tomorrow's Analytics Today—Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence in Dow M&E"
Speaker:Lloyd F. Colegrove, Ph.D.

Lloyd Colegrove is the director of Data Services and Fundamental Problem Solving at the Analytical Technology Center within The Dow Chemical Company. His keynote presentation will highlight how Dow Chemical is leveraging Big Data to transform chemical manufacturing data to information, then knowledge, then wisdom.

Over the past 15 years, Dr. Colegrove has been driving the implementation of novel applications of multi-variate analysis into real-time batch and continuous process data analysis. During this time his strategies related to data usage within manufacturing have evolved significantly. His desire for novel approaches to data interpretation and integration of these capabilities in manufacturing assets has coalesced into an effort within Dow manufacturing to re-think how data is viewed and used.

Recently, he has focused his energy and his teams on developing and piloting an enterprise data analysis and collaboration space that would tie multiple plants together with Dows Technology Center and R&D resources to troubleshoot in real time and preemptively detect and alert plant trouble well before a crisis emerges.

Dr. Colegroves background is in chemical physics. He obtained a bachelor of science degree and a doctorate degree in this field from Texas A&M University. He spent seven years in polymer research at Dow before moving into the companys manufacturing area. He served in analytical improvement and quality leader roles for five Dow businesses before moving into the then newly formed Analytical Technology Center in 2009.
_____

"Process Industry Accidents: Lessons Learned the Hard Way and How to Avoid Them"
Speaker: Paul Gruhn

Paul Gruhn is a Global Process Safety Consultant at Rockwell Automation, a position he has held since June 2005.

Utilizing a collection of videos, photographs and stories, Gruhns presentation will cover lessons learned from previous accidents and how to best avoid any future accidents. Key topics covered in his presentation include:

* Everyone needs training (yet they often dont get it or accept it)
* People must follow procedures (yet they often dont, for a variety of reasons)
* Even trained people make mistakes (and sometimes they do really stupid things)
* Some people don't know what they don't know (and ignorance is definitely not bliss)
* Were not as immune or indestructible as we may think
* We can't foresee every possible hazardous scenario
* Reuse of software is not always successful
* Near misses are often not followed up
* The past is often ignored (and history definitely repeats itself)
* The various personnel functional safety certification/certificate programs available (e.g., CFSE, TUV & ISA) and the differences between them

Gruhn is a highly acclaimed and awarded safety expert in the automation and control field. He is an ISA Fellow, a member of the ISA 84 standard committee (on safety instrumented systems), a member of the ISA 101 standard committee (on human machine interfaces), and a developer and author of ISA courses on safety systems.

An accomplished author, he has written two ISA textbooks (Safety Instrumented Systems: Design, Analysis & Justification and Sell More through Effective Technical Presentations), other book chapters and more than two dozen published articles.

Gruhn developed the first commercial safety system modeling company. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Texas, a member of Control System Engineer (CSE) exam team and an ISA84 expert. He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.

Take advantage of four ISA training opportunities

Attendees will add value to their event experience by taking an on-location ISA training course. Four courses will be conducted throughout the day on Monday, 9 November, the day before the technical program commences. They include:

* IC39C - Introduction to the Management of Alarm Systems
* Introduction to Industrial Automation Security and the ANSI/ISA-62443 Standards (IC32C)
* An Introduction to Safety Instrumented Systems (EC50C)
* Industrial Wireless Systems (IC85C)

Register for this remarkable event today
To register, and gain more information on the 2015 Process Control and Safety Symposium, please visit www.isa.org/PCS2015. For assistance and answers to any questions, call ISA at +1 919-549-8411.

About ISA
The International Society of Automation (www.isa.org) is a nonprofit professional association that sets the standard for those who apply engineering and technology to improve the management, safety, and cybersecurity of modern automation and control systems used across industry and critical infrastructure. Founded in 1945, ISA develops widely used global standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; hosts conferences and exhibits; and provides networking and career development programs for its 36,000 members and 350,000 customers around the world.

ISA owns Automation.com, a leading online publisher of automation-related content, and is the founding sponsor of The Automation Federation (www.automationfederation.org), an association of non-profit organizations serving as "The Voice of Automation." Through a wholly owned subsidiary, ISA bridges the gap between standards and their implementation with the ISA Security Compliance Institute (www.isasecure.org) and the ISA Wireless Compliance Institute (www.isa100wci.org).