August 5-6, 2013 (2 day course)
Using the ANSI/ISA99 Standard to Secure Your Control System / In-Depth SCADA Cyber Security (IC32)
Instructor: John Cusimano, CFSE, CISSP – bio
Credits: 1.4 CEUs / 14 PDHs
Course Fee: $1395 List Price; $1115 ISA Members – Register
course contents (pdf)
full course description (pdf)

August 6, 2013 (1 day course)
Selection and Sizing of Flow Meters / Industrial Flow Measurement Overview (EI10C)
Instructor: Jerry Gerlich, Senior ISA Member – bio
Credits: 0.7 CEUs / 7 PDHs
Course Fee: $630 List Price; $495 ISA Members – Register
course contents (pdf)
full course description (pdf)

Attendees of 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium will receive 2.0 CEUs (or 20 PDHs) for participating.  These will be issued jointly by the ISA and the Florida Section of the AWWA, and apply to operators and engineers who work in the water and wastewater sectors.

Thanks to our partnership with the Florida Section of the AWWA, the CEUs have been certified as being FDEP-approved. This means that water and wastewater operators can use these CEUs towards their continuing education requirements for their state-issued operator licenses.  Thus these CEUs count towards their annual license renewals with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.   The FSAWWA can also issued the CEUs in the form of 20 PDHs, for use by other types of license holders such as professional engineers.

For out of state attendees, the FSAWWA-issued CEUs are also recognized by most water/wastewater jurisdictions as a approved continuing education credits for water and wastewater operator licenses.

All attendees will also receive a certificate for 20 PDHs from the ISA for attending the symposium.  These PDHs can be used as proof of continuing education in most jurisdictions.

Furthermore, attendees that take teh symposium’s optional short courses can receive even more credits.  There is the In-Depth Cyber Security course (1.4 CEUs) and the Flowmeter Selection/Sizing Course (0.7 CEUs).

Using Data from Municipal Water/Wastewater
SCADA Systems (and Other Sources) to Make
Smarter Operational, Maintenance, and Infrastructure
Investment Decisions

Carey E. Hidaka, PE, MSc, MBA
Worldwide Smarter Water Solutions,
IBM Software Group

The keynote introduces the concept of Smarter Water Management and uses examples to illustrate how innovative application of data analysis and visualization can play a pivotal role in addressing industry challenges.  It leverages existing and new data sources and applies analysis / visualization / optimization tools, aggregating siloed data and creating situational awareness and insights to make better and timelier decisions.  Better decision making, whether in treating/conveying water or in repairing/replacing infrastructure prior to catastrophic failure, ultimately improves water/wastewater operations and efficiencies..

Fresh water, a fundamental requirement for life on the planet, is becoming a scarce resource as the world’s population grows and competition increases for available water.  It’s estimated that by 2050 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, stressing an already fragile infrastructure that provides basic city services like transportation, water, power, wastewater collection and treatment.

Against this backdrop, the world’s cities will require new and innovative approaches to address these significant challenges. Business-as-usual and traditional engineering solutions won’t be enough.

Smarter Water Management, through the smarter use of data from its many available sources, facilitates planning processes and maintenance and repair operations to better manage and forecast future water/wastewater needs and requirements.  Smarter Water Management, in combination with the discovery of new sources of fresh water, can help address the impending water challenges facing the planet.

About the Speaker:

Carey E. Hidaka, PE, MSc, MBA is a member of IBM Software Group and a subject matter expert in Smarter Water Management solutions and business development.  He has over 29 years of information technology experience and nine years practicing as a consulting engineer and PE focused on water resource planning and water and wastewater treatment plant designs and implementations for public and industrial sector clients.

Carey is a certified IBM consultant and has a Master of Business Administration degree with finance specialization from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  He has published work in the Journal American Water Works Association, IBM Journal of Research and Development, Water Practice and Technology, and World Water.

Read the Full List of Technical Speakers

Of the 46 speakers, the symposium includes one keynote address, three invited speakers and two guest speakers. This year’s keynote address will be delivered by Carey E. Hidaka from Worldwide Smarter Water Solutions, which is part of the IBM Software Group. His talked entitled “Using Data from Municipal Water/Wastewater SCADA Systems (and Other Sources) to Make Smarter Operational, Maintenance, and Infrastructure Investment Decisions,” will focus on the vast amount of intelligence that can be generated by using process data and other data sources in smarter ways.

Invited speakers at this year’s symposium also include Bill Hollifield, Principal HMI Consultant from PAS, will will discuss the results of a real-life study on the operational benefits of High Performance HMIs.  P. Hunter Vegas will delivery a talk about techniques for  successfully managing a SCADA retrofit project.  Lastly, John Cusimano, from the security services division of exida, will deliver a eye-opening address about the state of cyber security in municipal water plants across the world.

The 2013 symposium will also also continue the ISA’s tradition of including guest speakers from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA).  Tom DeLaura, who is chair of the WEF Automation and Info Tech  Committee, will deliver a talk about automation trends in the wastewater sector. The AWWA guest speaker will be announced shortly.

Topics addressed by the 2013 symposium technical program include: Automation, Instrumentation, Human Factors, Standardization, Security, Process Control, Smart Water, Wireless, Case Studies and several other SCADA-related topics.  The symposium is an excellent opportunity to sharpen your technical skills, learn about industry trends, network with professionals on your sector, and earn valuable CEUs/PDHs to support your professional qualifications.

Online registration for the symposium is now available. Register now to get the early-bird discount.

DeLaura was named ISA’s Water and Wastewater Industry Division Member of the Year for his work to promote collaboration between WEF’s Automation and Information Technology Committee and the ISA Water and Wastewater Division. The award is given by the ISA Water and Wastewater Division to recognize a volunteer leader whose contributions have had a significant impact on the water and wastewater automation community.

The WWAC Symposium is experiencing a new-found growth in popularity thanks to newly formed alliances with the WEF, the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA) and the National Rural Water Association (NRWA). By forming strong partnerships with other associations, the symposium has been able to reach a broader cross-section of water and wastewater professionals across the industry. For members of these associations, the symposium provides targeted professional development and training opportunities otherwise inaccessible.

“This collaboration aligns with WEF’s Strategic Direction, connecting water professionals to leverage knowledge and promote innovation,” said DeLaura. “I am very much looking forward to continuing WEF’s technical co-sponsorship of the 2013 WWAC Symposium. It has been a pleasure to be part of the team that brought ISA and WEF together for this symposium, as well as on several other initiatives. The power of such collaboration is uplifting.”

DeLaura, who also serves as vice chair of WEF’s Utility Management Workforce Subcommittee and chair of Michigan Water Environment Association’s (Bath) Asset and Infrastructure Management Committee, has been a member of WEF since 1982. He has more than 38 years of experience in creating strategic plans, conducting research and developing integrated programs of interrelated projects. DeLaura has served as end user and manager of information and process-control computer systems with a municipality, and has consulted with water utilities across the United States, Canada and Australia. He has written and presented on numerous topics of interest to the water and wastewater industry, been involved in research projects for the Water Research Foundation and the Water Environment Research Foundation and received several awards from the industry for dedication and service.

Registration for the 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium is now available on the symposium website. Registration for the two and one-half day symposium is priced at $425, with discounts available for WEF, AWWA and ISA members. Two short courses on SCADA cybersecurity and flowmeter selection/sizing are also being offered in conjunction with the symposium. More information is available at www.isawwsymposium.com or by calling +1 919-549-8411.

About the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium

Presented by the ISA Water and Wastewater Industries Division, in collaboration with the Florida Section AWWA and the WEF Automation and Info Tech Committee, the ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium (WWAC Symposium) helps professionals in the water and wastewater industries understand how instrumentation, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and automatic control applications are vital to the treatment and distribution of water, the collection and treatment of wastewater and the management of storm water.

The 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium is being held on 6-8 August 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Orlando-Universal Hotel in Orlando, Florida. More information can be found at www.isawwsymposium.com or by contacting Graham Nasby, general symposium chair, at graham.nasby@eramosa.com.

The ISA water/wastewater division (WWID) is pleased to award up to $2000 of scholarship money to encourage WWID members and their sons/daughters to pursue higher education. In addition, winners will receive a complementary 2 year student ISA membership. Applications are due by postal mail or email by January 31, 2014. Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications by email (scanned PDF files).

Winners will be notified by February 28, 2014 via telephone and email, and will be required to provide a photo, a short 2-4 sentence biography, and a 1-2 sentence “thank you quote”  that can be used for publicity reasons. Scholarship money will be distributed by check and mailed after the winner is contacted and has supplied the required photo/bio/quote. Scholarships will be awarded at the sole discretion of the WWID scholarship committee, with preference being given to students enrolled in technical programs that lead to careers in the water/wastewater sector.

Download and view the 2014 student scholarship application form.

Email completed application as scanned PDFs to:

scholarship //at// isawwsymposium.com  AND mfedenyszen //at// vanderweil.com

Alternatively, applications can also be mailed to the following address:

Michael Fedenyszen
WWID Scholarship Chairman
60 Whittier Street
Haverhill, Massachusetts, 01830, USA

2013 ISA Water/Wastewater Industries Division
Student Scholarship winner

Jennifer Holmes-Smith
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA

“Many thanks to the ISA Water and Water & Wastewater Division for selecting me to be a scholarship winner. I plan to use the award funds to help finance my senior year at the University of Arkansas and will look forward to your publication InTech. Thank you very much.” Photo credit: Jennifer Hartman.

Biography: Jennifer Holmes-Smith, age 17, is a senior at the University of Arkansas and is a dual Civil Engineering/Water Resources and French language major. Jennifer resides in Pea Ridge, Arkansas with her mother and 4 siblings. She was homeschooled, graduated after 8th grade and was admitted to NorthWest Arkansas Community College at age 14. Jennifer has overcome a congenital hip disease to succeed in her studies. Currently she is studying French at the IAU College, Aix-en-Provence, France for the Spring 2013 semester and will be returning to complete her senior year in Environmental-Water Resources Engineering in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

2013 ISA Water/Wastewater Industries Division
Student Scholarship winner

Ben Lueders
Villanova University
Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA

“I would like to thank you for the generous scholarship you have awarded me. As a college student and prospective engineer, the field of water and wastewater management is one that interests me greatly. This award will go towards my education and I hope to one day be able to provide support in this field. “

Biography: Ben Lueders is enrolled as a Civil and Engineering Student at Villanova University in Villanova, PA, USA. He is currently completing his first year of studies and has keen interest in how instrumentation automates the process and treatment of water/wastewater. “It seems that there are more and more parameters that must be measured to satisfy federal requirement, and water resources are becoming more valuable over time. Keeping our supplies safe and clean is also becoming more and more important as the population continues to expand, “ says Lueders, “I see the water/wastewater sector as a growing field, and would like to contribute to the profession”. Lueders, originally from Needham, Massachusetts is looking forward to pursing his education.

How to Apply for the next year’s 2014 Scholarship

2014 ISA WWID Student Scholarship: Applications are due January 31, 2014. Download/view the 2014 application form.

For more information about the ISA water/wastewater division visit www.isa.org/wwid/

Details about the annual ISA water/wastewater symposium can be found at www.isawwsymposium.com

The full details are as follows:

2014 ISA Water/Wastewater & Automatic Controls Symposium
Date: August 5-7, 2014
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Venue: Crowne Plaza Orlando-Universal Hotel
Format: 2.5 day symposium, plant tour, optional training short-courses
Speaker Abstracts will be due December 2013.

2015 ISA Water/Wastewater & Automatic Controls Symposium
Date: August 4-6, 2015
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Format: 2.5 day symposium, plant tour, optional training short-courses

More information will be released as planning for these future symposiums continues.

Webinar: Cyber Security – Application to the Water Sector
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST  (starting: 11:00 am Central time, 9:00 am Pacific time)

(click to play video, video hosted by YouTube)

About the Webinar:

Webinar: Cyber Security – Application to the Water Sector
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST  (starting: 11:00 am Central time, 9:00 am Pacific time)

This webinar will focus on the ever increasing needs for implementing cyber security strategies for operations involving control systems. It will include a brief overview of the evolution of the cyber threat, the trends in the market as they relate to addressing these issues, and some general recommendations for addressing concerns related to cyber security. Additionally, our presenters will provide insights and perspectives on United States FEMA’s recent National Level Exercise (NLE) 2012.

The NLE is part of a series of US congressionally mandated preparedness exercises that are held each year with the intent of preparing and educating the industry in the event of a catastrophic event on the nation’s infrastructure. Each year, different hazards are examined, and often involving one or more of the nation’s critical infrastructures. In 2012, the NLE examined a national response to a major cyber attack, and it included notional impacts to control systems for several markets, inclusive of water/wastewater. Various levels of government, emergency responders, utilities from several states and software manufacturers themselves were involved in the exercise to help gain an understanding of the potential impacts of, and responses to, a cyber attack.

The presentation will run approximately 45 minutes with a Q&A session held during the last 15 minutes of the Webinar.

Special thanks to our presenters Chris Fogle from Delta Risk and Rick Hidalgo from Signature Automation. The presentation was hosted by Kevin Patel, Director-elect of the ISA water/wastewater division.

Like what you see?  Come to the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium to hear many other great speakers.

The technical paper archive can be accessed by visiting www.isa.org and clickong on “Publishing” and then “Tehcnical papers” on the left side.  On the “Automation Technical Papers” page, the “Find Technical Papers” link can be used to search for “WWAC2011″ and “WWAC2012″ technical papers.

The papers are available to the general public for a cost of $9/each.  A compilation CD-ROM is planned to be made available at a later date.  Attendees continue to have access to the papers using the login from their attendee package.

ISA members can access the papers/presentations at no cost using their ISA web account.  Simply visit www.isa.org and login, and then click on “My ISA” in the left-hand menu, and select “My Online Files”. From there navigate to “Technical Papers” and click on “Access your free papers now”. Under the “Events” drop down box, you can select “WWAC2011” or “WWAC2012” and then click the “Go” button.

I encourage you to view this great treasure trove of papers, presentations and posters from our ISA water/wastewater symposia.  Like what you see?  Check out our 2013 WWAC Symposium website at www.isawwsymposium.com – registration is now open.