One of the great things about being editor of a technology magazine is that someone actually pays me to keep up to date with technology and the businesses in this field - and I come across some fascinating news items at the bleeding edge.
We have all seen the progress in wireless networking at the sensor level and there is little doubt that this will become mainstream technology in the near future. But one of the limitations of a wireless sensor is that the sensor still needs to be powered. The benefit in making the data loop wireless is diminished if the power loop still requires a physical connection. Consequently, a lot of work has been focused on eliminating the power loop - and the most obvious way of doing this is using batteries. But what if sensors could generate their own power? Read our article on 'Energy independent sensors' to get the low-down on this emerging technology.
As I was putting together the alarm management feature for this issue, and reading background material on the subject, I was forcibly struck by the importance of the role that instrumentation and control practitioners have. Reading some of the official incident reports about fires and explosions in the process industry it is quite apparent that there are decisions made by managers, engineers and technicians that are literally 'life or death' in nature.
The engineering design of trips and alarms, their definition, documentation and prioritisation is far from trivial and yet I wonder how well a subject like this is covered in the formal syllabi of our tertiary education institutions. I&C end-users need to ensure that they, their staff and system integrators who are configuring their DCS and scada process control systems are well-versed in this important aspect of safety engineering. Leaving alarm decisions up to the individual who is configuring the system without putting a formal and documented engineering standard or practice in place may lead to culpability for loss of life.
It is interesting to look at the parallels between SAIMC and the skills shortages in the field of instrumentation and control in South Africa vs. the ISA in America and the same skills shortages being experienced there, albeit for different reasons. Pat Gouhin, ISA's new executive director, is on a mission to drive the membership and profile of ISA - to the point of meeting with senators in Washington DC to increase their awareness of automation.
In June ISA announced a new workforce development programme that focuses on every stage of a person's career - from early, formative education programmes for children to continuing education and cross-training programmes for professionals in the field.
Several core projects have been identified as areas of focus for the programme over the coming years. These include an education programme, utilising companies and professionals in the industry to bring manufacturing and automation awareness into schools; a diversity recruitment programme to help companies reach out to under-represented cultures and ethnicities; a revamped university relations programme linking faculty from universities around the world with corporate R&D centres; the creation and adoption of an automation degree curriculum; expansion of certification programmes; enhanced technical training opportunities; a corporate partnership programme; and a brand new government relations programme.
At the August SAIMC Johannesburg branch meeting Ivor Evans gave a presentation on the ECSA draft regulations concerning the identification of engineering work and registration. We all have a natural initial resistance to such regulation, but when viewed from the perspective of safety it seems that this is necessary. It has been the case in other fields such as accounting that when regulation, registration and accountability have gone hand in hand the individual's risk profile has been elevated and rewards have been increased accordingly. Could this become the driver for improved remuneration for automation professionals?
Andrew Ashton
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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