Control Amplified

Every manufacturer, every system  integrator, every process plant operator I talk to says the same thing: we can’t find enough technicians, we can’t find enough engineers, and we can’t find enough people for sales and support. We talk about that shortage a lot. What we talk about less is what anyone’s doing about it, and when.

Editor in chief Len Vermillion took a drive to Edgmont, Pennsylvania, to get a first-hand look at what two companies are doing to inspire and inform students, parents and teachers about all the future career opportunities in process control and automation, and why it’s an important outreach for the industry. There, he spoke to Kevin Lavelle, general manager of Eastern Controls; Nicole Otte, director of workforce development at Endress+Hauser; and Dan McGrath, Eastern Controls’ new workforce development specialist. Here's what they had to say.

Every control engineer knows measurement noise is a problem, but not all noise is the same, and the wrong fix can make things worse. This episode digs into how noise distorts what you think your process is doing, and what to do about it.

Editor in chief Len Vermillion reflects on his time in New Orleans at Yokogawa's YNOW2026 event, which took place Sept. 1-4. From delicious gumbo to the AI bubble, everything you need to know about the conference is here. Plus, check out all the articles from the event, written by Vermillion, Control Design's Mike Bacidore, Machine Design's Rehana Begg and Automation World's Chris McNamara.

At the 50th Anniversary Honeywell Users Group meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, Keith Larson was joined by Honeywell's Rick Stopf and Paul Hodge, product management leaders for the company's Experion PKS process automation system to discuss major trends impacting OT infrastructure today.

In this episode of Control Amplified, Honeywell's Marcos Detilio, global vertical lead for Honeywell's LNG and gas processing business, talks about the role liquified natural gas is playing across a dynamic energy landscape.

Honeywell's Colin Hams, offering manager for the company's Experion Process Knowledge System, joined Control Amplified at the 50th Anniversary Honeywell Users Group meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, to talk more about Experion Cognition, which puts the Knowledge into PKS.

In this episode of Control Amplified, Keith Larson is joined by Vishal Mehta, vice president and general manager for Honeywell Connected Industrial Solutions and Autonomy X enterprise consulting practice, to talk about how energy companies are adopting a new framework for resilient operations.

In this episode of Control Amplified, executive editor Jim Montague spoke with Brian Romano, technology development director of Arthur G. Russell. They discussed engineering workforce development issues, the ensuing brain drain, and how to build, recruit and retain operators and engineers.

In this Solutions Spotlight episode of Control Amplified, sponsored by Honeywell Process Automation, Keith Larson reports from the 50th Anniversary Honeywell Users Group meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. He was joined by Russ Ford, Honeywell president of projects and automation solutions, to discuss modular approaches to energy resilience and how they can help industrial organizations protect themselves from production interruptions.

In this episode of Control Amplified, executive editor Jim Montague spoke to Christopher Hudson, operations manager at independent system integrator Applied Control Engineering.