Process Points: Conferences, courses, centrifugal pumps

The new year brings a variety of resources for learning more about process-related topics and the process industries. Among the offerings are a user conference from Pavilion Technologies , a schedule of courses on industrial process automation systems from Emerson Process Management, and a new book on centrifugal pumps from Elsevier Books. Following are details on each, along with links to more information.

Former Southwest Airlines CEO Howard Putnam will headline the upcoming Pavilion Technologies 2005 user conference, scheduled for April 26-29, 2005, in Austin, TX. Announcing the program agenda, the advanced process control and environmental compliance solutions company noted that Putnam and other conference speakers will discuss practical ways to meet such challenges as rising energy prices, growing environmental compliance regulations, customer quality demands, and lack of insight into operation performance.

Also on the program are Christopher Miller, Emirates Team New Zealand’s software engineer, and industrial leaders from NOVA Chemicals and SABIC EuroPetrochemicals. More than 20 manufacturing leaders from the cement, chemicals, consumer goods, paper, and polymers industries will discuss how Pavilion’s solutions have helped them reduce operating costs, enhance revenue, and achieve environmental compliance.

For more on the conference or to register, click here .

From Emerson Process Management comes the availability of its 2005 course schedule. The Educational Services course catalog, available in print or on CD, describes more than 250 training courses designed to facilitate the engineering, operation, maintenance, and optimization of industrial process automation systems and devices. Engineers and technicians who take these courses, says the company, can better optimize the performance of processes and enhance productivity in plants. Classes are offered across North America at factory locations, regional training centers, and customer sites.

Click here to view the course catalog online . Click here to email your request for a print copy of the catalog .

Practical Centrifugal Pumps (ISBN: 0-7506-6273-5) comprehensive guide to pump construction, application, operation, maintenance, and management issues is now available from Elsevier Books . Coverage includes pump classifications, types, and criteria for selection, as well as practical information on the use of pumps, such as how to read pump curves. The book—written by Paresh Girdhar, senior engineer for Girdhar and Associates, and Octo Moniz, senior hospital engineer for the government of Western Australia—focuses on best practices and on developing skills and knowledge to recognize and solve pump problems in a structured way.

Visit the Elsevier Books Web site for more on this and other technical books. Click here for information on ordering this book .

—Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, Control Engineering, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com

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