HART Communication Foundation (HCF) is currently seeking nominations for the 6th annual HART Plant of the Year Award. The global award is presented each year to recognize innovative use of HART Communication in real-time industrial process plant applications. Nominations are encouraged globally and will be accepted through May 31. Nomination forms are available at www.hartcomm.org.

“We are seeking the innovators who have taken the capabilities of their HART instruments beyond configuration and calibration and have discovered new and better ways to use the HART technology already in their plants,” says Ron Helson, HCF executive director. End-users can nominate themselves or suppliers can nominate a plant. Nominations should include a description of how the plant is using the diagnostics and other intelligent capabilities of HART-enabled devices in real-time applications with plant control, safety, and asset management systems to improve operations, lower production and maintenance costs, and increase plant availability.

The HART Plant of the Year winner receives an award plaque to display at its facility, special recognition at an international trade show, exposure to the global industry press, and is covered as an article inControl Engineering magazine. Information also appears in the Foundation’s HARTLine newsletter and on the HART Website. An official awards presentation is held at the plant site.

The HART Plant of the Year is the only public award presented to end-user companies to recognize ingenuity in the application of HART technology, according to the HCF organization. 'We want to recognize the hard work and creativity of those engineering teams around the world who are using the information in their intelligent devices to help them keep their plants competitive,’ says Helson.

HART Communication Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organization providing worldwide support for application of HART technology. Established in 1993, the foundation is the technology owner and standards setting body for the HART Communication Protocol. Major instrumentation manufacturers and users around the world support the Foundation. Membership is open to anyone interested in the use of HART technology.

www.hartcomm.org