ISA BIRMINGHAM SECTION JULY MEETING REPORT
- A Christmas Social in December of 2026 will be discussed. Action Item: John Cover
- The February meeting will be the ECOB Engineer’s Week Banquet in February of 2027. ISA H&A awardees to be recognized. Action Item: Chuck Jones
- Locations will be investigated for a Plant Visit in April of 2027. Action Item: Everyone
- The Annual “Fundamentals of Industrial Automation, Instrumentation, and Control” training class is scheduled for May 4 – 6, 2027. Action Item: Gerald Wilbanks
- The ISA Birmingham Section Honors and Award Dinner will be scheduled for May 11, 2027. Action Item: Chuck Jones
- Verification of venues for meetings and training class to be determined. Action Item: Gerald Wilbanks
- The invitations are to be sent out for the Corporate Sponsor Program with benefits including a complimentary seat for each participating company at the annual training class. Action Item: Stefanie Funk, Andrew Green, and Gerald Wilbanks
- A representative of the ISA Birmingham Section should attend the national Section Forum and Workshop to be held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on September 26 -27, 2026. Action Item: John Cover, Ramsey Saab, Andrew Green, and Patrick Joseph.
- The ISA Birmingham Section Budget is to be established based on actual cost from last year and anticipated actions in 2026-2027. Action Item: Patrick Joseph and John Cover with input from all leaders.
- Planning and coordination to continue to establish a functional ISA Student Section at the University of Alabama. Action Item: Victor Ivanav, John Cover, Stefanie Funk.
- John Cover would like to have a virtual meeting of the Executive Leadership Team each month on the Friday prior to the ISA Birmingham Section Meeting. This will be a one hour session starting at 11:30 AM and be limited to one hour. The next planning meeting for the Leadership Team will take place on August 14, 2026, with reports on the action items.
ISA Birmingham Section 2026-2027 Executive Leadership Team
- PRESIDENT: JOHN COVER: BBP SALES
- VICE PRESIDENT: RAMSEY SAAB – ALABAMA POWER COMPANY
- TREASURER: PATRICK JOSEPH – SOUTHERN COMPANY
- SECRETARY: ANDREW GREEN – TRIHEDRAL
- PROGRAM CHAIR: DAVID AMERSON – AMERSON ENGINEERING
- MEMBERSHIP CHAIR: STEFANIE FUNK – BBP
2026-2027 Board Members
- STUDENT LIAISON: JOHN COVER – BBP / VICTOR IVANOV – MERCEDES
- PAST PRESIDENT: DAVID HARRIS – REVERE CONTROL SYSTEMS
- HONORS & AWARDS: CHUCK JONES – PROCESS VALVE & INSTRUMENTS
- EDUCATIONAL CHAIR: GERALD WILBANKS – DES
- HISTORIAN: VICTOR IVANOV – MERCEDES/SKIP WELLS – RETIRED
- COMMUNICATIONS: GERALD WILBANKS – DES / DAVID HARRIS – REVERE CONTROL SYSTEMS
- ASSOC. TREASURER: RAMSEY SAAB – ALABAMA POWER
- ECOB REPRESENTATIVE: MEG MOORE – W.G. YATES
- BOARD MEMBER: DAVID WALSH – PASS
- BOARD MEMBER: KIUMARS BAHRI – BAHRI ENGINEERING
- BOARD MEMBER: CATHERINE ANDREWS – RETIRED
- BOARD MEMBER: CHARLES MORRIS – RETIRED
- BOARD MEMBER: GRADY ANDREWS – HATFIELD COMPANY
- BOARD MEMBER: DELANE PONDER – RETIRED
CORPORATE SPONSOR PROGRAM
2026-2027 Executive Leadership Team
The ISA Birmingham Section appreciates the partnership with the 2025-2026 Corporate Sponsors. These companies are a real key to advancement of the automation, instrumentation, and controls field of work.
- Amerson Engineering: www.amersoneng.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- BBP Sales Inc.: www.bbpsales.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- Fluid Flow: www.fluidflow.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- Hatfield and Company: www.hatfieldandcompany.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- Kendall Electric: www.kendallelectric.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- PASS Inc.: www.pass-inc.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- Process Valve & Instruments: www.provandi.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- Quanta ISG: www.quantaisg.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- Revere Control Systems: www.reverecontrol.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
- W.G. Yates: www.wgyates.com [us19.mailchimp.com]
The ISA Birmingham Section encourages everyone to support these corporate sponsors and acknowledge the importance of creating a better world through the professional practice of automation, instrumentation and controls.
The Corporate Sponsors for this year will cover September 1, 2026 until August 31, 2027. The enlistments will be taking place in August 2026, and all members are encouraged to suggest future participants in this program.
ISA Birmingham Mission
The ISA Birmingham Section exists to advance automation, instrumentation, and controls technology, promote professional development of members, and create a network of professionals to share and learn.
Goals- Provide technical presentations and meetings
- Offer student scholarship assistance
- Establish a forum for information exchange
- Allow networking opportunities
- Promote automation, instrumentation, and controls value to public.
- Host a fundamentals short course for training
Technical Brain Teaser
The control algorithm for a flow control loop is under consideration. It is determined that the flow must be maintained near set point with little or no offset and the signal will be rapid response and noisy. The best choice of control modes for this loop will be:
- Proportional Mode
- Integral plus Derivative
- Proportional plus Integral
- Proportional plus Integral plus Derivative
Scroll down for the answer
Scroll down for the answer
Scroll down for the answer
Scroll down for the answer
And the answer is–
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Our mailing address is:ISA Birmingham 125 Woodward Rd Trussville, AL 35173-1251