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The Process Automation Assisted by Audio

April 30, 2013
Our Articles Get Accompanying Audio and Video Recordings. Check Them Out
About the Author
About the Author
Jim Montague is the Executive Editor at Control, Control Design and Industrial Networking magazines. Jim has spent the last 13 years as an editor and brings a wealth of automation and controls knowledge to the position. For the past eight years, Jim worked at Reed Business Information as News Editor for Control Engineering magazine. Jim has a BA in English from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and lives in Skokie, Illinois.

Check Out Montague's Google+ profile.

If someone ever throws you a microphone, think twice before catching it—it could stick to you. What started out as a fun little diversion from the usual reporting, editing and writing for print and online at Control has turned into a whole sideline and accompanying library of audio and video recordings. You can check most of them out in the Multimedia section. Lately, I've been doing the ones with the experts at ARC Advisory Group, who graciously answer and analyze a bunch of questions about each month's Control cover article and give each story some added analysis that really helps to flesh it out. You do have to fill out a registration form, but based on the high-quality answers to my questions, I'd say it's worth it. The whole lineup is at Control/ARC Process Automation Podcast Series.
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My personal favorites in the Control/ARC Process Automation Podcast Series include:
  • Advanced Process Control, in which Peter Reynolds, senior consultant at ARC, talks about advanced process control, and how to make it simpler to implement and maintain.
  • Process Simulation, in which ARC's Dick Slansky discusses process simulation and how simulations for design, configuration, training, optimization and other tasks are coming together in new ways.
  • Staffing and Knowledge Management, in which ARC's Dave Woll analyzes how the market for control engineers and related professionals is staying red hot, despite the economic doldrums in the U.S. and worldwide.
  • Control Room of the Future, in which Reynolds examines whether smart phones, tablets PCs, simulations and other hi-tech tools can help turn control rooms into futuristic collaboration centers, and how some common-sense design practices may also help reach that bright future.
  • Process Security, in which Barry Young, ARC principal analyst, discusses the state of process security, how the U.S. government, standards organizations and suppliers are responding, and what end users can do to improve their own process security.
  • Lifecycle Costs, in which Paula Hollywood, ARC senior analyst, evaluates how end users and systems integrators are becoming more aware of how automation can help reduce expenses over the lifetime of their application and equipment and shows how others can do it too.
  • Process Sustainability, in which ARC's Wil Chin discusses how process sustainability is evolving and examines applications where it's emerging.
About the Author

Jim Montague | Executive Editor

Jim Montague is executive editor of Control.