ISA announces Don Dickinson as Symposium Chair for 2018 Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium

December 13, 2017 – The International Society of Automation (ISA) announced that Don Dickinson of Phoenix Contact has been named as General Symposium Chair for the upcoming 2018 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium. 

Taking place at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda on 7-9 August 2018—only 15 minutes from the nation’s capital—the WWAC Symposium will feature two days of technical speakers, an exhibitor hall, a tour of a local water plant, and technical training courses on a variety of topics. The event, now in its fifteenth year, brings together automation professionals in the municipal water/wastewater sector from around the world.  

Dickinson and Phoenix Contact, a global leader in electrical engineering, electronics and automation, have been involved with the WWAC Symposium for many years. In 2012, when the event was rebooted as a modern conference, Phoenix Contact was one of the key sponsors of the event, a role it has held ever since. Over the years, Dickinson has served as a presenter, a member of the program committee, and Assistant Symposium Chair.

“I look forward to continuing to lead what has been a very successful symposium for the ISA,” says Dickinson in a recent interview. “Automation plays an integral role in addressing the significant challenges that we face in our industry, such as modernizing an aging infrastructure. The WWAC Symposium is focused on ensuring that the automation workforce is equipped to deal with these challenges and continues to benefit from advances in technology.”

Each year the symposium boasts an attendance of 200-300 water professionals, which includes plant managers, operators, engineers, and system integration personnel. With its focus on SCADA, instrumentation and automation, the gathering offers targeted training and knowledge-sharing that is not available at other conferences.

The WWAC Symposium partners with local sections of the AWWA (American Water Works Association) and the WEF (Water Environment Federation), in order to offer MDE/state-approved Continuing Education Credits (CEU), which can be used by state-licensed water operators for their annual license renewals. The event also offers PDH (professional developments hours) that can be used by both engineers and Certified Automation Professionals (CAP) to meet their continuing education requirements.

Abstracts are currently being solicited for the symposium. Potential authors and speakers are encouraged to submit a 250-word entry summarizing proposed presentations and papers for the 2018 conference. Submissions are due on 31 January 2018. The complete Call for Papers, author information kit, and a list of suggested topics of interest can be found at www.isawwsymposium.com. Announcements about invited and guest speakers will be made in the new year.

About the 2018 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium

Presented by the ISA Water and Wastewater Industries Division, the ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium helps 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, the collection and treatment of wastewater, and the management of storm water. As a three-day event, the symposium features technical speakers, invited speakers, an exhibit hall, plant tour, training and a general reception. The 2018 symposium will take place 7-9 August at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. More information can be found at www.isawwsymposium.com.

About ISA

The International Society of Automationis a nonprofit professional association that sets the standard for those who apply engineering and technology to improve the management, safety, and cybersecurity of modern automation and control systems used across industry and critical infrastructure. Founded in 1945, ISA develops widely used global standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; hosts conferences and exhibits; and provides networking and career development programs for its 40,000 members and 400,000 customers around the world. 

ISA owns Automation.com, a leading online publisher of automation-related content, and is the founding sponsor of The Automation Federation, an association of non-profit organizations serving as “The Voice of Automation.” Through a wholly owned subsidiary, ISA bridges the gap between standards and their implementation with the ISA Security Compliance Instituteand the ISA Wireless Compliance Institute