July 31, 2014 - The OPC Foundation appointed Ziad Kaakani to the Board of Directors. Kaakani was unanimously elected by the OPC Foundation Board to replace David Eisner, who resigned his seat upon retiring from Honeywell. Kaakani leads the Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) System Engineering and Architecture organization in Phoenix. His team is responsible for driving product strategies, invocations, architecture and realization of solutions related to HPS Systems business, which includes OPC technology adoption.
Kaakani has been with Honeywell Inc. since 1988 and has held various positions in Honeywell Corporate Labs, Aerospace and HPS. “The OPC Foundation Board of Directors is representative of the world's most prominent global industrial automation suppliers. The commitment and dedication of the board members, as well as their contributions to OPC technology, are a major reason for the success of the OPC Foundation,” says Thomas Burke, President and Executive Director. “I welcome Mr.
Kaakani to the OPC Foundation Board and look forward to his leadership and insight in driving the future direction of the OPC Foundation.” In addition to Kaakani, the OPC Foundation Board includes: Thomas Burke, President and Executive Director of the OPC Foundation; Dr. Grant Wilson, Vice President of Technology at Emerson Process Management and Chairman of the Board; Dr. Juergen Weinhofer, Vice President of Control Architecture and Technology at Rockwell Automation; Russ Agrusa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ICONICS; Thomas Hahn, Chief Software Expert at Siemens AG; Nobuaki Konishi, Vice President of Industrial Automation Systems Business Division at Yokogawa Electric Corporation.
About The OPC Foundation
Since 1996, the OPC Foundation has facilitated the development and adoption of the OPC information exchange standards. As both advocate and custodian of these specifications, the Foundation’s mission is to help industry vendors, end-users, and software developers maintain interoperability in their manufacturing and automation assets. The organization serves over 430 members worldwide in the Industrial Automation, Building Automation, Oil & Gas, and Smart Energy sectors.