2014 ISA WWAC Symposium issues call for abstracts

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The Program Committee of the 2014 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium issued a Call for Papers, inviting authors, innovators, thought leaders and other professionals in the water and wastewater industry to submit abstracts for presentation consideration at the conference.

The symposium, which will be held Aug. 5-7, 2014, at the Crowne Plaza Orlando-Universal Hotel in Orlando, Fla., is aimed at helping professionals in the water and wastewater industries understand how instrumentation, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and automatic control applications are vital to the treatment and distribution of water, and the collection and treatment of wastewater.

Presented by the ISA Water/Wastewater Industries Division, in collaboration with the Florida Section of the AWWA (FSAWWA), the Florida Water Environment Association (FWEA), the WEF Automation and Info Tech Committee, and the Instrumentation Testing Association (ITA), the 2014 WWAC Symposium is expected to draw approximately 300 attendees and more than 30 speakers.

“Instrumentation, controls and automation professionals in the water and wastewater industry know they need to be prepared for the many changes, emerging trends and challenges, and advances in technology,” says Kevin Patel, the Vice President of Dallas-based Signature Automation and General Symposium Chair for the 2014 and 2015 WWAC Symposium. “WWAC Symposium attendees receive the information they need to stay informed and gain the critical insights and tools required to make their facilities more robust and efficient.”

Particularly in demand, he explains, are applications that can leverage and share the large amounts of data that are being collected within water and wastewater facilities. “Being able to quickly access and convert data to usable, actionable information is essential in today’s fast-moving work environment.”

In addition to these applications, other compelling and popular subject areas for abstracts include:
• SCADA security, ISA99, CSET, and mitigating risks
• Control system redundancy and robust design
• Wireless technologies
• New control system technologies
• Process optimization
• SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
• Energy use modeling and optimization with SCADA
• HMI design for operator effectiveness
• Human factors and control room design
• Alarm management and alarm rationalization
• Data reporting and presentation techniques /strategies
• Data management, historians and data retrieval

Prospective authors are invited to submit a 250-word abstract based on a 30-minute presentation, a 6- to 12-page paper, or large-format poster. Papers for acceptance should address topics in automation within the water and wastewater industry.

All papers are peer reviewed to conform, or to be modified to conform, to ISA Water and Wastewater Industry Division and ISA format, content and quality guidelines. The submission deadline for papers, which must not be product- or company-specific in nature, is Dec. 15, 2013. For complete guidelines and other important Call for Papers dates and information, visit https://isawwsymposium.com/call-for-abstracts.

“I continue to receive feedback that this event is truly one of the best of its kind due to the fact that the attendees and exhibitors are focused on solutions to real-world challenges and what’s actually experienced in on-the-job settings,” Patel reports. “Adding to its value are the training opportunities, and the networking, professional development and continuing education credits (CEUs and PDHs).”

Two optional training courses will be offered in conjunction with the 2014 WWAC Symposium:

• Troubleshooting Instrumentation and Control Systems, a two-day training class providing instruction on typical control system architectures and troubleshooting these systems for technicians.

• Introduction to Industrial Automation Security and the ANSI/ISA99 Standards, an eight-hour introductory training class introducing automation security and ISA99.

The last three WWAC symposiums have attracted increasingly greater numbers of attendees.

“Our secret is our focus,” says Robert Lindeman, the past-President of ISA who provided the opening remarks at the 2013 WWAC symposium. “The symposium caters specifically to professionals involved with automation, instrumentation and SCADA in the municipal water and wastewater sectors. There is no other event like it in North America.”

For more details on the 2014 ISA WWAC Symposium, including the program schedule, events, networking opportunities and training, visit www.isawwsymposium.com.