More of the best

Mark T. Hoske -- Control Engineering, 3/1/2000

Each year, Control Engineering editors have the pleasure of reviewing more than 1,000 products covered through the year to select Editors' Choice Award winners. We've located and "presented" you with the 40 best products of 1999 in the cover story, based on technology advancement, service to the industry, and market impact.

This year, we've added more text and images about these leading technologies and products at Control Engineering Online, www.controleng.com, including hotlinks directly to winners' web sites, for even more information and innovations. Winners receive the awards on the eve of the National Industrial Automation Show at National Manufacturing Week in Chicago.

Live or Memorex? That slogan (from Memtek Products) is still familiar, yet at National Manufacturing Week, March 13-16, expect attendees to find plenty of differences between live interaction with people and products, compared to remote mediums. And, just in case we don't see you there, we'll sort through and summarize what we see, hear, and experience, then post our findings at www.controleng.com and in subsequent issues of Control Engineering.

Please welcome Antonia McBride, assistant editor, at amcbride@cahners.com. (Michael Drakulich moved on to newspaper reporting at a suburban Chicago daily.) Ms. McBride—most recently editor of Illinois Institute of Technology's American Power Conference—joined the Control Engineering team in early February, and contributed significantly to the cover article in this issue. Additional responsibilities include writing the monthly "Product Focus" by working with leading manufacturers, Control Engineering research staff, and other beat editors. Antonia will also coordinate the Automation and Control Buyer's Guide, mid-June, and the Automation Integrator Guide, mid-December, as well as cover the "Control Components" beat.

Launched in February, Control Engineering Channel E-News—e-mail newsletters on Process and Advanced Control and on PC-based Control—each offer critical information to readers. The newsletters provide additional information on targeted topics—more of what you need to succeed. They're written by trusted Control Engineering senior editors, Dave Harrold and Gary Mintchell, in cooperation with web editor, Laura Zurawski, and director of web development, Jane Gerold. Watch for more Channel newsletters in the future.

If you didn't receive one of these newsletters, it's because we didn't have a valid e-mail address for you. You can subscribe at www.controleng.com.

Acquisitions continue with Siemens Energy and Automation expected purchase by early March of Moore Process Automation Solutions for $170 million. With Siemens' resulting expansion of process capabilities, listen for more discussions of "total solutions," as work teams seek distribution-channel and platform-based synergies for end-users.

Let's applaud Ford Motor Co. for announcing an agreement to supply personal computers, printers, and Internet service for each of more than 350,000 employees worldwide, for a nominal fee of $5 (in the U.S.) each per month. More exposure to Internet and PCs will help employees with emerging e-business and e-manufacturing initiatives.