WEF and ISA collaborate on 2012 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium and WEFTEC 2012

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the International Society of Automation (ISA) are teaming up to co-promote the 2012 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium. Now in its seventh year, the symposium offers a unique opportunity for automation professionals from the water and wastewater sector to come together to share ideas. As a technical co-sponsor of the 2012 WWAC Symposium, WEF is helping ensure that the symposium continues to meet the needs of automation professionals who work in the wastewater sector. For the first time, discounted pricing is available to both WEF and ISA members.

Barry Liner, director of the WEF Water Science & Engineering Center based out of the Washington, D.C., area, adds, “The collaboration between WEF’s Automation and Info Tech Committee and ISA’s Water and Wastewater Industries Division (WWID) will strengthen an already well-established ISA WWAC Symposium and bring specialized content to the WEF’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) to enhance knowledge transfer across the entire water sector.”

Taking place Aug. 7-9 in Orlando, Fla., the 2012 ISA WWAC Symposium focuses on the challenges associated with automation and instrumentation in the water and wastewater sectors. It features two full days of technical speakers/presentations, a tour of a local water treatment plant, a general reception, networking events, a poster session and a supplier showcase. This highly focused symposium has a long tradition as an event that caters to the needs of automation professionals in the water and wastewater sectors.

“Automation plays an important role in the effective control of wastewater collection, treatment and reclamation systems,” says ISA Executive Director & CEO Pat Gouhin. “ISA has a wealth of expertise and resources in all areas of automation and we are pleased to share this with members of WEF. Through the new-found partnership between WEF and ISA, we are able to bring together professionals from both associations to focus on effectively leveraging wastewater and automation technologies.”

“This type of collaboration aligns with WEF’s new Strategic Direction, connecting water professionals to leverage knowledge and promote innovation,” adds WEF Automation and Info Tech Committee Chair Tom DeLaura. “I am very much looking forward to leading WEF’s technical co-sponsorship of the 2012 WWAC Symposium. It has been a pleasure to be part of the team that brought ISA and WEF together for this symposium, as well as on several other initiatives.”

One of these initiatives is to promote greater involvement of ISA’s automation and instrumentation expertise within WEF’s annual wastewater show WEFTEC. Later this fall, after the WWAC Symposium, the WEFTEC 2012 conference in New Orleans will be hosting a special session entitled “The Best of the 2012 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium” where select speakers from the 2012 WWAC Symposium will be invited to present their talks.

At this year’s WWAC Symposium, invited guest speaker and WEF Automation and Info Tech Chair, Tom DeLaura, will give a presentation about automation technology trends in the wastewater sector. DeLaura, vice president of Eramosa Engineering International Inc., is a long-time member of both ISA and WEF and has a career in the wastewater sector that spans over 38 years. He has written and presented on numerous topics of interest to the water and wastewater industry; he has received several awards from the industry for his dedication and service.

The 2012 ISA WWAC Symposium will feature over 25 technical presentations on a wide variety of automation, cybersecurity, instrumentation, plant optimization and system integration topics. Two major themes this year are creating high performance human machine interfaces (HMIs) to improve operational effectiveness and developing effective SCADA/automation cybersecurity best practices. The symposium continues with its traditional strength of sharing new ideas and lessons learned from recent plant upgrades and new-builds.

“ISA’s WWAC Symposium is targeted at professionals involved with automation, instrumentation and automated control systems in the water and wastewater sectors. Attendees typically range from plant operators, facility owners, maintenance and technical personnel to engineers, programmers and system integrators,” says General Symposium Chair Graham Nasby of Eramosa Engineering Inc., who was the driving force behind the newly signed agreement between WEF and ISA. “We are delighted to welcome the WEF onboard as a technical co-sponsor for the 2012 WWAC Symposium.”