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The Read-Out Instrumentation Signpost
Measurement, Control and Automation Resources throughout the World
Last changes to this page: 29/5/2023
Training, Education and Research  in the area of
Measurement, Control and Automation
There are many resources available throughout many colleges and research establishments which are available on the Net. Some of these are detailed here.
 Before you start on your studies and you feel your maths is not up to scratch then the Calculator Edge will be an invaluable resource making calculations a doddle!
Automation Forum A Complete Forum about industrial automation, plc programming, PLC training, pid control system, Scada system & process control system.
VI Shots The VI stands for virtual instrumentation. Although the bulk of this is concerned witn NI's LabView, pioneers in Virtual Instrumentation it does have useful information enthusiastically presented.
MESA Webcasts contain useful information and insights. Also on this site are details of past presentations (click on "Reference Center" on menu and select the type of presentation you are interested in!)
TeLearn, the world's first internationally available Open Archive for technology-enhanced learning. TeLearn takes research results from across Europe drawn from diverse and converging disciplines such as computer, social and education sciences and puts them in one place.
The Fieldbus Center provide regional direction to the technical education needed for networking, instrumentation, and electrical technologies impacted by the advent of fieldbus networks. Based in Lee College, Baytown in Texas (US).
Affordable Colleges Online provides free higher education tools and information for current and future college students and their families. Although they try to be fair to all accredited colleges, this resource focuses more heavily on the not-for-profit programs. It is critical that students seek out accredited programs to ensure transferability of credits and financial aid eligibility.
Khan Academy "With a library of over 2,700 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 276 practice exercises, we're on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace."
Masters Degree in the US -
Free guide for graduate students interested in pursuing a masters or phd education.
The IDC Technologies Software Compedium
An excellent list of over 120 programs, share- and freeware. The list has been broken up into Electronics/Data Communications/Electrical Engineering/General Engineering/software utilities/Office Freeware/
ISA's CyberU
If self paced distance education is a better fit for your schedule, ISA has a wealth of distance learning options. You have hundreds of self directed courses to choose from in a format that meets your needs. These courses are sure to become a critical part of your technical training program!
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OptimizedAutomation.com This site from Automation World and sponsored by National Instruments has automation solutions, webcasts, case studies, videos and more - all at your fingertips!
IDC-Technologies On-line Training "We like to think of it as learning at the click of a mouse, as if the instructors were at your desk". IDC Technologies also provides instructor led public courses held throughout the world as well as distance learning courses using a comprehensive manual, assignments and live online video conferencing sessions with the instructor.
 ILDÁNA Technical & engineering training specialists & consultants, providing expert training & consulting service to public & private sectors.
Hightech Multimedia Tutorials (HMT) produces introductory and advanced instructional media in the area of high-tech learning including fieldbus.
John M. Campbell & Co offers a variety of training you need to succeed in today's oil and gas industry.
Online masters in teaching This site offers a wealth of information for students interested in an advanced degree in teaching.
The purpose of Pacontrol.com is to give free information about DCS systems, PLC, Instrumentation, new technologies like OPC and Fieldbus, Advanced Control, Batch. "With the learned "Know How" you are able to avoid wrong decisions, which could lead to expensive consequences."
STEM.org is the longest continually-operating, privately-held STEM education research and credentialing organization in America.
As a post-secondary technical institution recognized globally for quality and spirit, The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology SAIT is a leader in providing learners with the skills they need to succeed. See their Fieldbus Courses.
See also the The
Fieldbus Center at Lee College (Houston, Texas US) which is recognised and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Job Training Systems, Inc run many short "training programs for performance & profit," including a range on Instrumentation and Control.
Control Draw invite you to wander around the pages here and you can find out about process control systems from an engineer who knows them well. This is a useful site for a short overview of our discipline.
Concepts for Automation and Control is a network for the pursuit and advancement of readers' professional activities and ambitions and is part of IEE's Professional Networks
The ISA Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST) promotes the professional development of the control systems technician, providing recognition and documentation of the technician's knowledge, experience, and education in measurement and control. Industry is finding the CCST program advantageous due to its three
levels. This allows employers the opportunity to evaluate the skill level of their employees through a reliable third party.
The US National Academy of Sciences is on line with over 1000 publications which is growing all the time.
The Distance Learning Course Finder contains over 50,000 courses - For all of those who have been thinking, "I should further my degree or go back to school but I have no time" The Distance Learning Course Finder is here to help you make the first step.It includes a directory of over 50,000 distance learning courses from 65 countries worldwide.
Cambridge University has a most impressive site when it comes to control engineering resources. Its Virtual Library is now available as a Mirror Site in the US which may be faster.
DIAC Dynamic Institute of Automation & Controls, Delhi, India - "..imparting training on cutting-edge Industrial Automation technologies to the aspiring fresh engineering graduates/diploma engineers who wish to make their career in the ever-growing automation field."
The Ethernet University The purpose of the university is to educate the public on the benefits of deploying Industrial Ethernet in a variety of solutions for applications.
The Electrical Engineering Portal (EEP). This is one of the worldÕs largest professional web portal dedicated to electrical science and education.
Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library is another useful gateway to engineering resources.
The ETS International Training Institute is now online, and includes a complete catalog of their tutorials and textbooks, and their current seminar schedule.
ENSYS Engineering Training is a highly specialized engineering CEP-continuing education provider, based in the US, specializing in technical problem-solving training programs for the engineering industry. They are the market leader in engineering license exam preparation, and set the standard with their EIT and PE exam training programs in which users work in a structured, hands-on problem-solving environment, with unparalleled pass rates of over ninety percent.
Fast Forward Publications "Best practice maintenance, reliability, engineering and manufacturing Training."
Control and Instrumentation Systems Page an information resource for the interaction of Malaysians all over the world who are working on the theory, analysis, design and operation of control and instrumentation systems.
GITA - Geospatial Information & Technology Association (Don't let the name frighten you!), is the only non-profit educational association in the world that focuses on applying Automated Mapping and Facilities Management (AM/FM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and related information technology applications for utilities, government agencies and other organizations concerned with land records and facilities management.
Department of Biological Engineering at the University of Minho, Portugal, has a site dedicated to Information Sources in Control & Systems Engineering. Quite a bit is in Portugese but you'll be surprised how easy it is to follow. I was!
NCFE is a British, educational awarding organisation that designs, develops, and certificates diverse, recognised qualifications and awards, including for distance learning courses. is recognised as an awarding organisation by the qualification regulators for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including Ofqual, the Welsh government, and the CCEA in Northern Ireland.
Postgraduate qualifications and short CPD courses in Process Automation are provided by the University of Newcastle in association with eleven
industrial companies and ISA (England Section) as the PACT for Process Automation and Control Training. Each year the PACT delivers 11 one-week residential modules in Newcastle on aspects of process automation and control, which are designed for people already employed full-time in the process industries
Martin Rowe is the Technical Editor at Test & Measurement
World magazine and he has an interesting page of Test and Measurement Info which has links among other things to all of Cahners Publications.
I've recently come across a non mathamatical tutorial on Feedback and PID Controllers by C.D.H. Williams of Exeter. This features the only interactive demonstration of an oven controlled by a PID controller. Controller Tuning and Control Loop Performance, A Primer, 2nd edition, by David W. St. Clair, gives some good practical insights into control loop operation and tuning.
The Technical Information at Academic Instituitions Site at Techexpo is an other useful resource.
Prof. Douglas J. Cooper hosts a Process modeling, monitoring and control lab at the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Connecticut.
A recent addition to the Quality Homepage is their Education Section which includes Degree Courses which can be completed over the Net. (Bill Trappen, the Webmaster of this site welcomes any additions to this listing.)
Many people are interested in the exploration of space. The European Space Agency (ESA) is an international organization composed of 14 Member States. The NASA site is well known and provides lots of information on the US space programme. The Mid-Atlantic Technology
Applications Center (MTAC) is one of six Regional Technology Transfer Centers (RTTCs) funded by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration to help U.S. firms improve their competitiveness by assisting them in the location, assessment, acquisition, and utilization of technologies and scientific and engineering expertise within the US Federal laboratory system. This is situated not in the Saragossa Sea as its name might imply but well inland at the University of Pittsburg.
The Institute for Scientific Information is a database publishing company that produces reference products in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
CRAN Research Center for Automatic control of Nancy contains links to interesting research project groups in production engineering, signals and instrumentation and continuous process automation.
Department of Instrumentation and Analytical Science (DIAS) at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, (England).
The GRAFCET home Page descripes a modelling tool used to build sequential controls of automated systems.
There are two copies of the Automation and Control Page on the web: one in
Karlsruhe, Germany and one in the
Silicon Valley, USA. This has lots of links to interesting control topics.
Auf Deutsche Sprache:
Automatisierungstechnik und Prozeßsteuerung.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineering has interesting sites on control modelling and software.
A facinating site for Control Engineers is mantained by Los Alamos National Laboratory and it includes studies on computer science, environmemntal work and process control.
The Information Center for Automation Technology in Korea welcomes you to their site.
Systems and Control Archive at Dallas (SCAD)
Motion Control Resource Center
Robotics Internet Resources Page
The CAST Email List Archive
The Linux lab project is intended to help people with development of data collection and process control software for LINUX. It should be in understood as software and knowledge pool for interested people and application developers dealing with this stuff in educational or industrial environment.
National Science Foundation
SENN introduced us to what they call a mega-site on Neural Networks at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This site is a useful jumping off point for exploration of the subject with links to just about everywhere.
In 1993 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Great Britain embarked upon the Neural Computing Technology Transfer (NCTT) programme. The NeuroComputing Web is part of this programme and provides a comprehensive range of on-line, hypermedia services and resources for UK industry to exploit Neural Computing technology.
In this regard the Artificial Neural Nets Page will be of interest as will the Aston University Neural Computing Site near Birmingham (GB).
A recent technical report about modular neural networks is in the web page of the Center for System and Control in the University of Glasgow. They welcome any comments on this work. There are also details of other projects which would be of interest.
Anf if you've just had about as much as you can take of the subject take a peep at the NeuroGeek Page at Hong Kong University. This besides looking at the less than serious side of things also has much useful information and links in their resources section.
SCADA systems have now been commonplace for the last 30 years. Applications include control of
automatic car washes, hydro-electric power stations and railways. Now SCADA plays an important role in the supervisory control and monitoring of wind farms.
This paper aims to define the main concepts of SCADA and how these are applied to a wind farm. Ideas for future developments, Super SCADA, are presented.
Tom Bullock a director of Control Technology Corporation has written a tutorial on PID loops as they apply to servos. Although written to describe servo tuning, there is a general description of the PID parameters and how they affect tuning.
The Water Measurement Manual Web Pages, one of the best resources for the understanding of the flow of water is now entirely on line! The US Bureau of Reclamation has been writing and updating this extensive manual of flow in open and closed pipe conduits for over 50 years now, and it is one of the "bibles" of flow measurement.
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Automation & Process Control
Automation Systems and Process Control Directory & Suppliers.
Find Automation Systems and Process Control news and information. |
Top ten tips for industrial training! - MCP's John Saysell has these useful recomendations to ensure that training delivered to employees is effective. "In many cases, the training is either irrelevant to the organisation's real needs or there is too little connection made between the training and the workplace or even workstation!"
John Shaw's interesting site provides information about process control, particularly the PID control algorithm, controller tuning, cascade control, and other topics. |
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IQPC International Quality & Productivity Center delivers thought provoking, unbiased, information through an optimum mix of conferences, tradeshows, workshops, seminars and study tours, attracting a dedicated group of top decision makers year in and year out.
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Patent Searching
The FreePatentsOnline search engine is one of the most powerful, fastest and easiest patent search engines on the web. This search allows advanced search techniques such as word stemming, proximity searching relevancy ranking and search term weighing to help you find exactly what you are looking for. Latent semantic searching is also available, and their account features let you organize, annotate and share documents, along with other helpful work-flow features.
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