Control Amplified

When Manfred Morari learned of his election to the 2026 Process Automation Hall of Fame, his first reaction wasn’t triumph, but humility. The list of past inductees includes several colleagues, whose work he admires and whose advice shaped his own career.

Editor in chief Len Vermillion spoke with Morari in this first podcast from the 2026 Process Automation Hall of Fame podcast and video series.

In this episode of the Control Amplified podcast, you will hear an informative discussion about industrial relays and their role in automation and manufacturing. Hosted by Len Vermillion, Editor-in-Chief of Control Global/Control Magazine at Endeavor Business Media, the conversation features Patrick Casey, Senior Offer Manager for Control and Signaling at Schneider Electric.

Together, they explain what relays do, why solid-state relays are gaining popularity, and how modern relay design is evolving. The episode covers key trade-offs such as heat, cost, lifespan, and speed, while also highlighting newer trends like slim relays, smarter connected relays with NFC programming, and improved wire management.

Len and Patrick also compare relays with controllers and contactors, and discuss environmental considerations, such as hazardous-location and hermetically sealed relays for harsh industrial settings. This episode provides a practical look at how relays continue to support reliable, space-saving, and increasingly intelligent industrial control systems.

Can't wait for the April edition of Control? Have no fear, because editor in chief Len Vermillion spoke to executive editor Jim Montague in this podcast about one of the biggest topics being covered in the upcoming issue: agentic AI.

How are controls engineers using it? And what are the implications for the automation workforce going forward? Montague gives a sneak preview of those questions and answers in this episode of Control Amplified.

In this episode of Control Amplified, editor in chief Len Vermillion talks to executive editor Jim Montague about February 2026's ISA Will-DuPage Chapter Tabletop Show and Technical Conference. Jim learned about effective ways to protect instrumentation from freezing temperatures and more at this show on Feb. 26 in Joliet, Illinois.

In a second conversation with Control editor in chief Len Vermillion and executive editor Jim Montague following ARC Advisory Group's February Industry Leadership Forum, the editors delve more in depth into the conference's most intriguing highlights: not just how artificial intelligence (AI) is being implemented into control systems, but also what it will mean for processing engineers; how O-PAS members are testing applications; what new innovations caught their eye; and more.

Control's editor in chief, Len Vermillion, and executive editor, Jim Montague, attended ARC Advisory Group's February Industry Leadership Forum in Orlando, Florida. There, attendees heard industry experts discuss the most pressing issues in the process industries, from artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity to large-language models (LLMs) and system design.

For even more information on the conference, visit https://www.arcweb.com/events/arc-industry-leadership-forum-orlando.

Liquified natural gas (LNG) occupies an essential role in the energy transition, and integrated digital solutions--from process technology through advanced control and cybersecurity--are essential to optimizing its production while also minimizing its carbon footprint. In this Solutions Spotlight podcast, Control's Keith Larson talks with Srikanth Venkat, director of consulting for Honeywell Connected Industrials, about industry's transition from isolated point solutions to a comprehensive digital approach. 

The concept of the digital twin is perhaps the centerpiece of digital transformation when it comes to the industrial enterprise. Think about it: What if the same digital model used to optimize the design of an industrial facility or other complex machine lived on in the form of a continuously current simulation that could optimize the real-time performance of the system over its entire lifecycle? According to Christian Salazar, portfolio manager for Honeywell Process Solutions, such is the promise of Honeywell's Digital Prime offering. 

Control's Keith Larson caught up with Salazar at the company's recent users group meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, to discuss how Digital Prime brings together all of the connected offerings within Honeywell Process Solutions to deliver real-time performance insights to its customers.

The emergence of artificial intelligence in the industrial automation space is elevating the role of the control system from simply executing operator commands to providing expert guidance to human operators. At Honeywell, they call this Digital Cognition, and at the company's recent users group meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Control's Keith Larson had a chance to talk with Jason Urso, chief technology officer for industrial automation, as well as Peter Davis, director of engineering for Honeywell Process Solutions, about how today's control systems are helping even relatively inexperienced operators achieve their facilities' best performance yet.

SRF is a global producer of chemicals and specialty chemicals with locations not only in India, but also Thailand, South Africa and Hungary. It maintains a long and storied history of growth and innovation dating back more than a century.

In this episode of Control Amplified, editor in chief Len Vermillion discusses the 2025 Plant of the Year pick, SRF Dahej.