RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, Nov. 2, 2015 -- The International Society of Automation (ISA) and its affiliate, the Automation Federation (AF), recently announced that they have officially designated November 2015 as Automation Appreciation Month.
Throughout November, ISA is offering its members special benefits, promotions and discounts on multi-day classroom or online instructor-assisted ISA training and other select ISA products, which include technician guides, safety books and cybersecurity resources.
As part of Automation Appreciation Month's celebration of the automation profession, ISA and AF seek to raise awareness throughout industry and manufacturing around the need to encourage more young people to pursue STEM-centered (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) learning, which is essential to developing the next generation of automation professionals.
"Automation Appreciation Month is an opportunity to celebrate the value and importance of the automation discipline and to thank ISA members for their dedication and volunteerism to the Society and to the automation profession as a whole," said Patrick Gouhin, ISA Executive Director and CEO.
Throughout October, ISA highlighted -- through emails distributed to its membership -- four valuable ways ISA members can contribute to STEM initiatives. They include:
- Hosting a workplace tour for students
- Organizing an automation career fair or related event
- Sponsoring, participating in or contributing to a robotics or STEM-related activity
- Serving as a mentor -- speaking at a school or to others about automation-related careers
All automation professionals, engineers and others within STEM-centric career fields will find numerous ways to get involved through programs established by ISA- and AF-supported affiliates, such as:
- FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
- DiscoverE (formerly The Engineers Week Foundation)
- Project Lead The Way
Boosting the availability of STEM-savvy workers provides manufacturers with the competent workforce needed to drive corporate growth and meet critical performance metrics. For qualified employees, today's jobs in manufacturing are well paying and offer solid advancement potential. The average annual salary of a manufacturing worker is $77,000.
See also:
"ISA now accepting applications for 2016 educational scholarships"
"ISA officially announces Mangan Software Solutions as ISA Corporate Partner"
About ISA
The International Society of Automation is a nonprofit professional association that sets the standard for those who apply engineering and technology to improve the management, safety, and cybersecurity of modern automation and control systems used across industry and critical infrastructure. Founded in 1945, ISA develops widely used global standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; hosts conferences and exhibits; and provides networking and career development programs for its 36,000 members and 350,000 customers around the world. For more information, visit www.automationfederation.org.
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