Some of you may remember that I lost my wife about four years ago to a sudden pulmonary embolism. Some of you may also, if you follow me on Facebook, know that I got re-married on Saturday 4/27 to a fantastic woman named Joy Ward-- she's keeping her name...put her first and my last names together and you'll undoubtedly see why. She is a brilliant woman, a writer, a renowned market research director, a leading dog rescuer, a science fiction and fantasy author and currently blogging for Life With Dogs.
We were married in a rainy ceremony in Tower Grove Park in Saint Louis, where I live now, with many of my friends in attendance, including columnist Ian Verhappen, publisher and VP content Keith Larson, Eddie Habibi from PAS, Tom Nelson, formerly of Racine Federated, Dave Holmes and his wife from Emerson in Austin and Larry O'Brien, who showed up with his wife just before leaving for Rio for the Fieldbus shindig there this week.
We've been in Ireland since. It has been remarkably sunny here. I guess the spirits are trying to make up for the rain at the wedding.
I met a young man named Thomas who was desk clerking at our hotel in Dublin...he is a fifth year engineering student at Trinity, studying building systems engineering...we talked a lot about the future of automation. I think he'll be a great addition to the field. He's from Poland and Bosnia, if I remember correctly, but in his five years in Ireland, he has even developed an Irish accent in his English. Smart guy.
I am also following what's going on in automation in the world. Here's a press release from the CSIA, talking about the new officers. I know them all, from my long association with CSIA, and I'm happy for them. They will do CSIA proud.
May 2, 2013, MADISON, Wis. – Piercarlo (PC) Romano was selected for a two-year term as chairman ofthe board of the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) at the association’s annual executive conference. Jeff Miller was appointed treasurer by the board.
New directors elected during the association’s annual executive conference are:
•
Michael Miller, president, ESCO Automation, Marion, Iowa, U.S.•
Don Ulrich, president, Stone Technologies Inc., Chesterfield, Mo., U.S.The new directors join the following directors, whose terms continue:
•
Eduardo Acosta, chief executive officer, Omnicon S.A., Cali, Colombia;•
Richard Brueggman, president and chief executive officer, Data Science Automation, Pittsburgh, Penn., U.S.; and •
Sam Hoff, president, Patti Engineering, Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich., U.S.Lynda J. Patterson, FASAE, CAE, continues as president. Robert Lowe is the association’s executive director.
Romano is president of Avid Solutions Inc., a CSIA Certified control system integrator based in Winston-Salem, N.C., U.S. “It’s an exciting time to be a part of CSIA. We’re focusing our resources on creating maximum value for our members and their clients, plus we’re rolling out innovativenew benefits,” says Romano. “With our continued growth, we can expect CSIA’s influence to expand and elevate the industry and everyone associated with it.”
Romano succeeds Stephen Goldberg, director of information technology at Matrix Technologies, afounding member and CSIA Certified member headquartered in Maumee, Ohio, U.S. During Goldberg’sterm, interest in CSIA membership by system integrators located outside of the United States grew significantly, and the organization adopted a global strategy to serve an increasingly diverse, international membership. In addition, great gains were made in educating system integrators’ potential clients about CSIA. Goldberg will continue to serve on the board as immediate past chair.
Joe Martin, president of Martin Control Systems Inc., Dublin, Ohio, U.S., concluded a four-year term on the board of directors.
