Conference speakers, workshops announced for CSIA event

Economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, will open the conference held in Washington, D.C., and two new education workshops will be held in conjunction with the conference. The event is aimed at educating control system integrators and those who work with them or on integration projects.

By CSIA February 12, 2015

Economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, will open the CSIA 2015 Executive Conference in Washington, D.C. with an overview on the economic outlook for manufacturing. Registration is open for the event, which will be held April 29-May 2. Beaulieu’s overall message is one of optimism and action for attendees. 2015 will present some challenges, but that can work to the advantage of firms that are proactive to the anticipated economic expansion.

"The financial condition of the world appears to be in a dangerous place, given new order trends from Europe, to China, to the United States. We will take a hard look at the numbers and determine where the growth opportunities can be found," said Beaulieu regarding new insights for 2015 and beyond.

In addition, Beaulieu will be joined on the stage by Nick Setchell, CEO of Practice Strategies, for a "stump the experts" session and will answer economic and financial questions. Beaulieu will focus on external influences affecting business operations and success; Setchell will focus on internal influences. Their presentations will be the first of more than 20 educational sessions offered throughout the three-day event.

A new addition to the event is two workshops that will be held in conjunction with the conference. The "Best Practices Training" workshop is designed for those who are interested in learning more about the application of CSIA’s Best Practices to improve their system integration businesses. The second workshop, "A Commonsense Approach to Automation Upgrades and System Migrations," is designed for project managers, control engineers, and designers to learn commonsense migration fundamentals and best practices, and to discover how to best manage common high-risk areas to ensure reliable delivery of effective migration project solutions.

An industry expo, awards banquet, and a closing reception to honor retiring Executive Director Bob Lowe are also scheduled.

Control System Integrators Association (CSIA)

www.controlsys.org 

– Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com. See more Control Engineering system integrator stories.

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See the Control Engineering event calendar for more information about the CSIA 2015 Executive Conference and other industry events.