CSIA names officers, directors, award winners

Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) named a new chairman, directors, and award winners, at the CSIA annual executive conference. Piercarlo (PC) Romano was elected chairman of the CSIA board. Awards were given to Jeff Miller, Randall Powell, and MatrikonOPC.

By Mark T. Hoske May 4, 2013

New staff members and awards were presented at the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) at the association’s annual executive conference in St. Pete Beach, FL. Piercarlo (PC) Romano was selected for a two-year term as chairman of the board of the  Romano is president of Avid Solutions Inc., a CSIA Certified control system integrator based in Winston-Salem, N.C. Jeff Miller was appointed treasurer by the board. Miller is chair of CSIA’s Best Practices Committee and director of automation services at Interstates Control Systems. More than 500 attended the 2013 CSIA Executive Conference, CSIA said, exceeding the 2012 record of 470. 

New directors elected during the association’s annual executive conference are:

• Michael Miller, president, ESCO Automation, Marion, Iowa, U.S.

• Don Ulrich, president, Stone Technologies Inc., Chesterfield, Mo.

The new directors join the following directors, whose terms continue:

• Eduardo Acosta, chief executive officer, Omnicon S.A., Cali, Colombia;

• Richard Brueggman, president and chief executive officer, Data Science Automation, Pittsburgh, Penn., U.S.; and 

• Sam Hoff, president, Patti Engineering, Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich.

Lynda J. Patterson, FASAE, CAE, continues as president. Robert Lowe is the association’s executive director. Lowe provides additional meeting information in his CSIA blog.

Romano said, “It’s an exciting time to be a part of CSIA. We’re focusing our resources on creating maximum value for our members and their clients, plus we’re rolling out innovative new benefits,” said Romano. “With our continued growth, we can expect CSIA’s influence to expand and elevate the industry and everyone associated with it.” 

Romano succeeds Stephen Goldberg, director of information technology at Matrix Technologies, a founding member and CSIA Certified member headquartered in Maumee, Ohio. During Goldberg’s 2-year term, interest in CSIA membership by system integrators located outside of the United States grew, and the organization adopted a global strategy to serve an increasingly diverse, international membership. In addition, gains were made in educating system integrators’ potential clients about CSIA. Goldberg continue to serve on the board as immediate past chair.

Joe Martin, president of Martin Control Systems Inc., Dublin, Ohio, U.S., concluded a four-year term on the board of directors.

Award winners

At a May 3 recognition dinner at the conference, CSIA awarded:

– Partner of the Year to MatrikonOPC, citing its efforts to translate CSIA materials into Portuguese. The company is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The award recognizes a company that has significantly contributed to the betterment of CSIA and its members and promoted CSIA certification. Candice Ducharme, global channel program manager, MatrikonOPC, has been an active member of the association’s partner committee and instrumental in developing membership in Latin America.

– Rising Star Award, recognizing significant efforts and contribution to CSIA from a control system integrator, to Randall Powell, General Control Systems (GSA). Powell is engineering manager, at GSA, based in Green Island, N.Y. The award recognizes young professionals who have demonstrated a commitment to the profession and exhibited leadership potential.

– Charlie Bergman Remember Me Award to Jeff Miller, citing significant efforts on the CSIA Best Practices and Benchmarks Committee, especially completion of the 4th edition of the CSIA Best Practice and Benchmarks manual. The award recognizes an individual member for outstanding service to the organization through leadership, education, mentoring and advancement of CSIA’s goals. Miller has served on the Best Practices and Benchmarks Committee for 12 years, including four years as chair. During his time as chair, the committee released the fourth major revision of the CSIA Best Practices and Benchmarks Manual and made the manual available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Bergman was the CSIA founder, meeting with about 30 control system integrators in 1993 before starting the organization in 1994.

Control Engineering also presented awards to representatives of the three System Integrator of the Year firms for 2013,  Patti Engineering, Integrity Integration Resources (I2R), and SAIC.

Founded in 1994, the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is a not-for-profit, global professional association that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration. Control system integrators use engineering, technical, and business skills to help manufacturers and others automate industrial equipment and systems. CSIA members provide services for dozens of industries. Headquartered in Madison, Wis., CSIA helps members improve their business skills, provides a forum to share industry expertise, and promotes the benefits of hiring a certified control system integrator.  CSIA has more than 400 member firms in 27 countries.

– Mark T. Hoske, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering, Plant Engineering, and Consulting-Specifying Engineer, with information from CSIA, mhoske@cfemedia.com.

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Author Bio: Mark Hoske has been Control Engineering editor/content manager since 1994 and in a leadership role since 1999, covering all major areas: control systems, networking and information systems, control equipment and energy, and system integration, everything that comprises or facilitates the control loop. He has been writing about technology since 1987, writing professionally since 1982, and has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree from UW-Madison.