Ask Control Engineering
|
Can I leave a memory about Michael Babb?
April 11, 2011
Did I hear that your former editor, Michael Babb passed away? Is there somewhere I can leave a comment or memory?
Please leave a memory below about Michael Babb, former editor of Control Engineering and Control Engineering Europe.
(To prevent spam, we need to review all submissions; please be patient; we'll approve your comment as soon as we can.)
Click here to link to additional information about and articles from Babb (including his first Control Engineering editorial. He passed away April 6, 2011 ).
Mark Barton
Thursday, 14-04-11 10:02
Although it was a short time that I worked with Michael, it was a pleasure. Michael was the best and most respected editor I have ever worked with, and he will be greatly missed.
Zakia Demaghelatrous
Wednesday, 13-04-11 04:41
I'm very sorry to hear that one of the true stalwarts of the industry is gone - and after such a brief retirement as well. Last time I saw Michael was at our annual users' conference in Barcelona last October. I'd set up an interview for him with our CEO but instead of questions on the future of the control industry they spent over three quarters of their allotted hour looking at an iPad and discussing its various bits and bobs. They were having such a good time I didn't have the heart to call them to order! Michael was always informed, eloquent and a true gentleman. He will be sorely missed. Rest in peace.
Vance VanDoren
Tuesday, 12-04-11 19:06
I first met Michael at the 1990 Advanced Control Conference at Purdue University. That was the 16th of 20 conferences that he, Ed Kompass and Professor Ted Williams of Purdue’s Laboratory for Applied Industrial Control organized for the benefit of “real world” control engineers rather than academic theorists. I was a Purdue graduate student trying to hawk an article about my research at the behest of my sponsor, and Michael spent considerable time explaining how I could make my story applicable to Control Engineering’s audience. Michael published the final version in 1991 then asked me for more! I hadn’t intended to pursue a writing career with a PhD in Control Theory, but come this fall, I’ll have been doing so for 20 years, thanks to Michael. I’m sorry he won’t be here to help me celebrate that milestone.
Liz Patranella
Tuesday, 12-04-11 17:30
Michael Babb was a true gentleman and one of the finest people I ever knew. He was also one of the very best writers in this industry. His knowledge and understanding of technology was so evident in every article he wrote. He not only asked the right questions but he wrote the right words -- always accurate, thorough, and interesting. He was a consummate professional who really knew his stuff. He most recently worked with us at the HART Communication Foundation on our 2010 HART Plant of the Year story for Control Engineering Europe magazine. As always, his article was beyond the best. What a nice man he was and how we will miss him. My condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.
Mike Gerow
Tuesday, 12-04-11 16:55
Sorry to learn that Mike has crossed the bar. Condolences to his family. I have been out of the controls space for more than a decade now but fondly recall several press tours, which always included a stop in Barrington and, later, Des Plaines. I remember Mike as a very interested, congenial fellow who was never too busy to take a call from a PR type. I recall with some nostalgia the old salad days of the 1980s when the majors, Control Engineering, I&CS, IAN and a few others, really kept the market on its toes. Iron sharpens iron, as they say. Farewell, Mike, may your eternal voyage bring fair winds and following seas.