Once you leave engineering school and move into the trenches, you'll appreciate the collective experiences of this group.

Paul Galeski

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Real World Engineering, a new blog from Control Engineering, is written by engineers who are on the job working in the world of manufacturing automation every day.

The collective experience of this group totals more than 12,000 man-years of experience and has taught us the things you can’t learn in engineering school:

• That there’s no such thing as a standard implementation – every plant, every situation brings fresh challenges.

• That the keys to a successful implementation don’t just lie in engineering know-how, but in understanding an organization’s dynamics– from the rumblings of the executive suite to the politics of the plant floor.

• That the real problem is often very different than the one you start out to solve.

• That you need to keep a close eye on both the forest and the trees – strategic, big picture thinking and flawless technical execution.

• That system upgrades and technology choices are career decisions for executives and plant managers – who need to understand the real benefits and real risks.

• That no project goes according to the project plan, and flexibility is an engineer’s greatest asset.

This is a blog for the control engineering industry, written by engineers who are working in the technology, fuel and chemical, oil and gas, pulp and paper, and food and beverage industries daily. Our goal is to provide you with practical advice and a platform-independent view of obstacles and issues. We’ll be sharing the insights gained through years of lessons-learned and provide our perspective on industry developments and evolving technologies.

Real World Engineering will be a valuable resource for everyone challenged with the maintenance and management of control systems. We’d also like it to be the home of a robust dialogue. So share your thoughts, comments and experiences. It’s a fascinating time in this industry and we are anxious to hear how our readers are solving real-world challenges.

This post was written by Paul Galeski. Paul is the CEO and founder of MAVERICK Technologies, a leading system integrator providing industrial automation, operational support, and control systems engineering services in the manufacturing and process industries. MAVERICK delivers expertise and consulting in a wide variety of areas including industrial automation controls, distributed control systems, manufacturing execution systems, operational strategy, and business process optimization. The company provides a full range of automation and controls services – ranging from PID controller tuning and HMI programming to serving as a main automation contractor. Additionally MAVERICK offers industrial and technical staffing services, placing on-site automation, instrumentation, and controls engineers. 

Follow MAVERICK Technologies on Twitter: @mavtechglobal