Association News Nov/Dec 2019

Association News

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ISA reaccredited as provider of IACET CEUs

The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded reaccreditation status to ISA. IACET-accredited providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET continuing education units (CEUs). The accreditation period extends for five years, and includes all programs offered or created during that time.

“ISA is proud of our education programs, which educate engineers, technicians, and management each year in crucial industrial automation skills so that our members and customers maintain relevancy in today’s world,” said Mary Ramsey, executive director of ISA. “Our renewed accreditation with IACET is a demonstration of our continuing commitment to quality adult education and high standards for all of our programs. We are very pleased to maintain our relationship with such a prestigious organization as well as an elite group of organizations that offer excellent continuing education and training programs.”

Peter Finn, president of IACET, said “ISA joins nearly 500 organizations around the globe that have had their programs vetted by third-party experts in continuing education, thereby ensuring the highest possible standards are met.”

ISA completed a rigorous application process, including a review by an IACET site visitor, and successfully demonstrated adherence to the ANSI/IACET 1-2018 standard addressing the design, development, administration, and evaluation of its programs.

Beamex, ISA New Orleans create $25,000 scholarship fund

Using proceeds from its Annual Calibration Exchange, ISA Corporate Partnerships Program member Beamex USA teamed up with the ISA New Orleans Section to create a new scholarship fund. A scholarship totaling $25,000 was created for the University of New Orleans engineering program.

“This donation will do a lot of good for the students for a long time,” said Dean Bickerton, president of the ISA New Orleans Section.

The original scholarship amount from Beamex and the ISA Foundation was estimated to be $15,000. During the check presentation, the ISA New Orleans Section announced it would add $10,000 to create a $25,000 endowment. This endowment will generate a perpetual scholarship with an award that will be given to a deserving engineering student annually.

A Beamex spokesman said the company was “delighted” to give back to future automation professionals and make a bigger impact through a partnership with the ISA New Orleans Section. The stories of the students who are selected as scholarship recipients in the coming years will be followed and shared.

“We are very grateful to have Beamex and ISA’s support to establish an endowed scholarship within the University’s College of Engineering,” said Eric Balukonis, major gifts and planned giving officer, University of New Orleans.

ISA’s 2020 executive board announced

ISA is pleased to welcome its executive board for 2020. Eric Cosman, principle consultant at OIT Concepts, LLC, is the incoming president. He is a founding member and the current co-chair of the ISA99 committee on industrial automation and control systems security, which is responsible for the development of the ISA-62443 standards. Cosman also served as past vice president of Standards and Practices. The president-elect secretary is Steve Mustard, PE, CEng, CAP, GICSP, an industrial automation consultant and subject-matter expert for ISA and the Automation Federation. He is president of National Automation, Inc. Paul Gruhn, PE, CFSE, takes the role of past president, and Jon DiPietro is treasurer.

The board also includes:

Mark Arkell	JMP Solutions
Don Bartusiak	ExxonMobil
Marty Bince	TEC Edmonton
Nilangshu Dey	Qatar Petroleum
Jim Garrison	aeSolutions
Carlos Mandolesi	Sigmma Automação
Matthew Maynard	Francis Tuttle Advanced Technical Center
Mary Ramsey	ISA
Scott Reynolds	Johns Manville
Debashis Sadhukhan	NASA Glenn Research Center
Dawn Schweitzer	Eastman Kodak Company
Prabhu Soundarrajan	Honeywell Process Measurement and Control
Ashley Weckwerth, PE	Burns & McDonnell
Maurice Wilkins, PhD	Yokogawa UK Ltd.
Shari Worthington	Telesian Technology, Inc.

Global security products, services firm becomes latest ISA corporate sponsor

WisePlant—a global provider of industrial solutions in secure automation and energy, industrial cybersecurity, asset security, and functional, intrinsic, and worker safety—is now an ISA corporate sponsor.

Founded in South America and headquartered in Pompano Beach, Fla., WisePlant has been providing customized safety and cybersecurity services to South America’s process companies and mission-critical industries since its 2012 inception. The company specializes in consulting and training—through its independent WiseSecurity and WiseCourses Academy divisions—based on the ISA/IEC 62443 series of industrial automation and control systems (IACSs) security standards. WisePlant’s mission is to provide the proactive capabilities and defenses needed to mitigate serious security and safety risks.

WisePlant was the first South American company to become a member and supporter of the ISASecure certification program, which assesses industrial automation and control products and systems to ensure they are robust against network attacks and free from known vulnerabilities, and that they meet the security capabilities defined in the ISA/IEC 62443 standards. WisePlant also has collaborated with ISA to educate industrial leaders in South America on ISA/IEC 62443 standards and ISA training courses based on the standards.

“We are very excited to be partnering with ISA to educate owners and operators of critical infrastructure about the value and significance of the ISA/IEC 62443 standards, and to demonstrate how efficiently and effectively they can be adopted and implemented,” said Maximillian G. Kon, CEO and managing director at WisePlant. “We expect our alliance with ISA, a widely and long-recognized leader in industrial automation security standards, training, and education, will build on our strategic strengths and enhance our ability to deliver value to our customers around the world.”

Under the agreement, WisePlant will work with ISA to codevelop a range of informational resources, including webinars. “As a company that provides ISA/IEC 62443–based cybersecurity solutions and services across the same broad industry spectrum that ISA serves, WisePlant is a natural fit for the ISA Corporate Partnerships Program,” says Jennifer Infantino Halsey, ISA’s director of marketing and communications. “WisePlant is well positioned, given its knowledge of the ISA/IEC 62443 standards, to complement our efforts to expand global awareness around the need to protect IACS from the growing risks of a cyberattack through internationally adopted cybersecurity standards.”

Second edition of motors and drives guide released

Keeping pace with significant advances in motor speed control technologies, ISA has published a second edition of Motors & Drives: A Practical Technology Guide. This release has been updated to reflect innovative motor and drive technologies that are safer, smarter, and easier to program and implement; provide superior diagnostic capabilities; and deliver seamless integration.

“The second edition will continue to serve as a straightforward guide for those seeking to understand the key engineering principles of motors and drives,” says author Dave Polka, a widely recognized expert on motors and drives. “However, while basic theory of AC and DC drives hasn’t changed, technology certainly has. The book takes a fresh look at how market demands have advanced motor and drive technology and are pushing the industry in new directions.”

Polka explains complex technical concepts and defines terminology such as “harmonics” and “power quality” in a practical, easy-to-understand way. The book is rooted in the practical side of drive and motor use, with the design engineering side of technology presented in commonly used terms. Included are clearly stated summaries, highly relevant review questions, glossaries, and reference tables for formulas and conversions.

Scholarships bolster process measurement and control

The ISA Process Measurement & Control Division (PMCD) has named six scholarship recipients for 2019–2020. Organized within the Automation and Technology Department of ISA, PMCD supports its nearly 6,000 members through active technical committees focusing on primary sensors, control hardware and software, and final control elements. Scholarship applicants had to be nominated by PMCD members and be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program related to process measurement and control.

Scholarship recipients include: Pankaj Goel, Texas A&M, College Station, Texas, U.S.; Abdulhussain Kanchwala, K.K Wagh Engineering Education and Research, Nashik, Maharashtra, India; Hussain Rangwala, DY Patil School of Engineering, India; Anahita Sadeghian, University of Alberta, Canada; David Scott, University of Alberta, Canada; and Rifaa Tajani, University of Texas, Austin, U.S. For more information about PMCD, visit https://www.isa.org/division/pmcd.

New CAPs and CCSTs

Qualifying for and passing one of ISA’s certification exams is a noteworthy accomplishment. The exams are rigorous and require a solid command of various disciplines in automation and control. Below is a list of individuals who have recently passed either our Certified Automation Professional (CAP) or one of the three levels of our Certified Control System Technician (CCST) exam. Congratulations to our new certification holders!

For more information about the ISA CAP and CCST certification programs, please visit https://www.isa.org/certification.