The Signpost has reviewed the ISA shows since the year 2000.

Other Reports Eoin Ó Riain was at ISA EXPO this year for the Signpost. 10/11/2008: A society for us all! (Jim Pinto in PACE) 4/11/2008: ISA EXPO 2008 Attracts Thousands, Features 70 Technical Conference Sessions (ISA Press Release). 4/11/2008: ISA goes International (Jim Pinto's eletter - includes links to Dieter Schaudel's famous open letter!) 30/10/2008: ISA goes international Jim Pinto in InTech e-Weekly 14/10/2008: ISA Council of Society Delegates Approves Name Change and Additional Member Benefit (ISA Release) 15/10/2008: Jim Pinto in an article in PACE (Australia's Process & Control Engineering website), With strong management, enlightened volunteer leadership and new focus on international automation, ISA is headed for significant new growth and success. Today, one can sense a spirit of new drive and determination within the Society, making it much more than it has been for several years. Executive director Pat Gouhin joined in January 2006, experienced with the dynamics of volunteer-driven organisations, bringing a new spirit of leadership. Pat Gouhin has clearly developed a strong relationship with the volunteer chain-of-command, which includes past president Steve Huffman and current president Kim Miller Dunn. This group has a consistent vision and leads a unified executive committee and executive board that are focused on the future. ISA was formed in 1945 as the Instrument Society of America, and the name was changed in 2000 to Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. In my opinion, this name was an uninspired, lack-luster acronym which did nothing to promote the society's ambitions as an international organisation and its championship for the Automation profession. As a symbol of the new expanded focus, it is anticipated that, subject to review by society delegates, the name will be changed to International Society of Automation. This name reflects two important differences in focus: 'International' and 'Automation'. While originally an 'instrumentation' society, ISA is now focused on the broader aspects of automation and aims to be a catalyst for creation and promotion of the Automation Profession of the future, marketing the society's core competencies to automation professionals around the world. Total ISA membership is still about 30,000. The original name was reflected in membership being overwhelmingly American - 65 per cent US, 10 per cent Canada. If ISA is to truly be a successful global organisation the membership percentages should be the inverse of the current ratio, about 75 per cent from outside North America. If one makes the reasonable assumption that membership has stabilised in North America, then international membership should generate growth of at least 300 per cent, to over 100,000 members. Stimulated and rejuvenated by its new name, ISA expects and intends to expand world membership and become truly 'international'. To the many ISA delegates that have been friends and associates over many years, please support the name change. Help make ISA the International Society of Automation. What happened at previous shows? ISA EXPO 2000 in New Orleans. ISA 2001 in Houston. ISA EXPO 2002 in Chicago ISA EXPO 2003 in Houston ISA EXPO 2004 in Houston ISA Expo 2005 in Chicago ISA EXPO 2006 in Houston ISA EXPO 2007 in Houston These are archived accounts and not all links will work! Andrew Bond in November's Industrial Automation Insider Fur flies as ISA dubs itself 'International' Last month's vote by ISA 'Society Del- egates' - one per geographical region - to change the name of the organization from the Instrumentation, Systems and Auto- mation Society to the International Soci- ety for Automation seems to have upset pretty much everyone. Readers may recall that last year delegates voted down the same proposal and, rather in the manner of the European Union when faced with recalcitrant countries rejecting its propos- als in referenda, were told to try again. This they duly did and, after a minimum of discussion and a show of hands, came up with the 'right' answer. Whether that puts an end to the matter seems far less certain however. Two objections Members appear to have had two principal objections to the name change, one the exclusion of the word 'instrumentation', the other the inclusion of the word 'inter- national'. ISA president Kim Miller Dunn addressed the first issue when she said, "We are no longer just instruments and systems. Yes, these are an important part in of any automation scheme and to the operation of plants, but we are more. Each member had an important decision to make and a responsibility to consider our future as an organization. The new name ensures that when science and technol- ogy advance beyond our wildest imagina- tions, we'll still have an identity that en- compasses and embraces all of the cur- rent and future members that make up our Society." Missing the point That may not have convinced everybody but it at least attempted to allay their concerns. When it came to the 'interna- tional' issue, however, Ms Miller Dunn seems to have completely missed the point. "The International Society of Automation is clear, concise, all encompassing, and easy to comprehend by our membership as well as lay people outside the industry. ISA leaders have reinvented the society," she said. "We are global." While it is certainly true that ISA has an international membership, it is equally true that its identity is still essentially American. Calling it 'International' will, for many, have as much credibility as describing the play-offs of a domestic competition in a sport which nobody else plays "The World Series". And when Ms Miller Dunn says that "We are engaged with government in areas such as workforce development and cyber secu- rity" she means engaged with the US government. What she fails to acknowl- edge is that other countries have their own organizations and indeed their own governments, not to mention their own standards making bodies. An approach which can be seen at worst as arrogant or at best unthinking seems particularly inappropriate at a time when the US is less than popular, even among its friends, and in an industry where, based on CONTROL's 2007 survey, seven out of the top 10 vendors globally come from outside its borders. But if Ms Miller Dunn and the rest of the ISA top brass anticipated that the dust would soon settle, they were rapidly disillusioned by an open letter of resigna- tion from Dieter Schaudel, former Endress+Hauser Executive Board mem- ber and vice chairman of the German engineers' society, GMA. "Today, I termi- nate my membership in ISA with immedi- ate effect. I am not prepared to support the decided change of name to 'Interna- tional Society of Automation'," he wrote and, while regretting the end of a long standing friendship with ISA, he explained, "I see in the change of name an implied claim of ISA to world dominance in auto- mation engineering, i.e. a further form of American imperialism ("the voice of the automation profession worldwide"). Inter- nationally, we are excellently positioned with IFAC in automation. The world does not need a new American society with an international claim to power." Furthermore, lest anyone should have any illusions about how the US is cur- rently regarded even among highly edu- cated Europeans, he added, "The finan- cial crunch of the last 12 months should have taught us a lesson, and Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq too." Pinto to the rescue Never one to miss the opportunity to pour oil on troubled waters and then set light to it, it was almost inevitable that it would be Jim Pinto who mounted his white charger and rode to the aid of the damsel in distress. Describing Schaudel's letter as "reflecting xenophobic paranoia about America's 'international claim for power'", he described the linking of ISA's name change with US foreign policy mistakes as "narrow-minded nonsense." Pinto asserts that "No other organiza- tion anywhere serve(s) the global automa- tion business," a claim which organiza- tions such as NAMUR might take issue with, but then goes on, perhaps uninten- tionally, to concede at least part of Schaudel's case when he says that "The new ISA expects and intends to expand membership to become truly 'interna- tional'." Perhaps it might have been more diplomatic to wait until it had done so before aspiring to the title. In the meantime, suggesting that "Herr Schaudel's resignation should be accepted happily" is unlikely to allay the fears and suspicions of other non-US members.

20/10/2008: Houston was the venue again for the ISA EXPO show.

People were a little apprehensive after the well publicised reports of the destruction wrought on the south east corner of Texas by Hurricane IKE. ISA had issued a message shortly after this storm that things were ok for the show and people who intended visiting should continue with their plans.

Arriving there one could see some signs of the damage and it was extraordinary to see very tall buildings with the windows boarded up and in some places some damage done to trees on the way into town from the airport.

The hotel in which much of the ISA's pre-show business was conducted was a good bit out of the city centre and damage if any was slight. The Reliant Centre, where the show and conferences were held seemed relatively unscathed.

In the days before the show much society was conducted and this terminated in the meeting of Society Delegates, the legislature of the society, which makes major changes in how the society governs itself. It controls the policies of the Society, and Members are represented by one delegate for each geographic ISA Section.

Last year this body had rejected a change in name from Instruments, Systems, and, Automation Society, to International Society of Automation. This was a major upset though the reason it was rejected was not necessarily that which was publicised. It was taken in some quarters to mean that the Society was rejecting the term "International" in the name. While that may have been in some minds by far and away the most common reason for the rejection was the apparent jettisoning of the term "instrumentation," in favour of the more complex "automation." Since last year a great debate had happened in the society and many views were expressed as to what automation was and what it included. So everybody was wondering what the Delegates would in fact decide. In the event the discussion on the floor was minimal and the vote taken on a show of hands. The motion passed and the name of the society is now The International Society of Automation. The initials "ISA" remain the same -- but what they stand for has changed.

In other votes, this time by roll call, The Council approved an increase in members dues increase to accommodate two Technical Division Memberships for individual members, and an updated policy on Section rebates. The majorities in each case were substantial.

So how does the society see Automation in the scheme of things? Let's listen to Kim Millar Dunn, President of the Society for 2008: "We are no longer just instruments and systems. Yes, these are an important part of any automation scheme and to the operation of plants, but we are more. Each Member had an important decision to make and a responsibility to consider our future as an organization. The new name ensures that when science and technology advance beyond our wildest imaginations, we'll still have an identity that encompasses and embraces all of the current and future Members that make up our Society," She goes on: "The International Society of Automation is clear, concise, all encompassing, and easy to comprehend by our Membership as well as lay people outside the industry. ISA leaders have reinvented the Society. We are global. We are engaged with government in areas such as workforce development and cybersecurity. We have successfully established the Automation Federation as "The Voice of Automation," creating a home for the many special interest groups that exist in the automation space without taking away their identities. We have reorganized the governance and enhanced our core competencies: Standards, Certification, Education and Training, Publications, and Conferences and Exhibits. At a time when many volunteer organizations are struggling to remain relevant in a cyber-world, ISA has succeeded and continues to grow." So there you have it!

Business having been completed it was off to the Reliant Centre and the show.

Well, in one way ISA EXPO is a show, but in another it is a learning experience. The conferences, symposia, forums and training sessions, free on the Show floor and charged for in separate rooms, make it a fairly unique experience.

Hall of mirrors' key to wireless reliability.

The major keynote speaker on day one was Dr Kris Pister, Founder of Dust Networks and its current Chief Technical Officer He spoke about how wireless sensor networks have advanced in the past few years to allow people to get all the sensor data they need, but cannot afford with the cost of installing wire. Industries such as gas, oil refiners, chemical processing, paper mills, water and wastewater treatments, and breweries and pharmaceuticals are just some of the applications where wireless sensors are proving their mettle. And "there are a lot more they wish they could install," he said. He described in detail how the company went about providing a solution in wireless which was designed to answer the problems of industry.

Though it is touted as an international show it is really a US show and while in Houston (where it has been since the start of the decade) it is a Texas show. Many of the stands - or booths as the call them there - are of small local distributors. Still there is enough of interest to the international and "out-of-state" visitor on the stands of some of the smaller internationals, people like Phoenix Contact, Hima, National Instruments, MTL, Wurldtech and others. But as is usual these days the "Big Boys" did not have a great exhibition presence though they were not far away and we found them on other stands and in the conference rooms.

Leading Process Automation Suppliers Commit to WirelessHART Standard

HART, for instance, had an interesting press conference in which executives from leading automation companies expressed their commitment to the WirelessHART standard and announced product release schedules. Representatives from ABB, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser, and Siemens spoke of the positive impact WirelessHART technology will have on the process industry and their expectation for the quick adoption of the technology by end users. For this observer the really interesting thing that only one of the company representatives was American. The rest appeared to be European.

And of course there was lots and lots of wireless to be seen throughout the show.

Tofino™ Enforcer™ revolutionises MODBus TCP/IP security.

Another theme was security. In fact it was interesting that the US Department of Homeland Security had a stand at the show. However it was Eric Byers of Byers Security that got people enthused over this. "Your average PLC is very easy to attack," he told a roomful attending a session on firewalls, ISA99 standards, and plant floor security. And he proved it. He set up a demonstration with laptops configured as HMIs controlling a live PLC. The PLC controlled a pump, which, in turn, controlled flow into a pretend chemical blending system visualized on a screen in the room.

Byres then plugged a common thumb-sized USB key device into the PLC's network. The HSB contained "hacker" software (written in less than a day by a Byres Security employee) that prevented the HMI student "operators" in the room from knowing what was going on and, eventually, it crashed the controller. His company then unveiled a network protection device being marketed MTL Instruments. Called the Tofino Modbus TCP Enforcer Loadable Security Module (LSM), the module performs detailed analysis and filtering of all Modbus TCP messages. The device uses technology based on the still-evolving ISA99 plant security standard.

New experiences, culture keep students in International Games.

A highlight of ISA EXPO is the international student games, where students from all over the world, it really is international with teams competing from Canada, Europe, Latin America as well as the US. The point of the competition is to give students from around the world real-world problems in the field of process control and instrumentation. The games give students a chance to compete and demonstrate their skills, while having an opportunity to network and meet other students interested in the fields of automation and engineering. Each team of four contestants has a set time period to solve each problem. Problem providers evaluate each team's performance. Then, evaluators combine their scores and identify the order of performance. This years winners came from Canada but as the organisers said they were all winners!

YAPers seeing opportunities knocking at door

And they were all eligible to attend the strictly under thirties YAPFEST. In case you didn't realise it YAP = Young Automation Professional! This is a networking even especially for the younger members of the Automation community giving them the chance to mix with their peers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Industry view: This is no great depression.

In one of the many talks given by many speakers during this years show Dr Jeff Dietrich, senior analyst at the Institute for Trend Research, attracted this writers attention. He started by quoting Donald Rumsfield, former Defence Secretary of US President George W. Bush. "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know." Having got people's attention he went on "We can make up words that describe anything and not know what anyone is talking about." He was talking about "the recession." We have so many new terms and acronyms to contend with and the so-called experts try to tell us what is happening. He quoted Heller to describe things: "Nothing makes sense anymore, and neither does anything else." However, this is not the Great Depression he maintained. In fact, many business and industry verticals are doing well. He pointed to non-residential construction, hi-technology production, exports, some service sectors, and a host of others as doing well now and likely to continue doing well. However business like life suffers lows and highs and the important thing is to recognise this and plan accordingly.

We left Houston stimulated and almost hopeful as business went on as usual in the automation community.