Scholarship awarded to industrial automation students

James O. Gray-Fieldbus Foundation Scholarship provides funding to students seeking a career in the industrial automation profession.

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The Fieldbus Foundation announced the 2010-2011 recipients of the James O. Gray-Fieldbus Foundation Scholarship Fund. The program honors the memory of James (Jim) O. Gray, a long-time leader in the Fieldbus Foundation who passed away in 2002. It establishes a perpetual $250,000 endowment fund providing scholarships to students around the world seeking a career in the industrial automation profession.

The 2010-2011 scholarship recipients include:

• Darren Windle, SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Darren Windle is currently enrolled in the Instrumentation Engineering Technology program at SAIT Polytechnic. Born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta, he is employed by the City of Red Deer’s Parks and Recreation Department in the summer, where he operates and maintains a variety of heavy equipment. His other employment has included work as an emergency medical responder for an industrial paramedic company. Mr. Windle has been a member of The International Society of Automation (ISA) since enrolling at SAIT in 2009.
• Hideaki Yamashita, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan: Hideaki Yamashita is a first year master course student at Waseda University, focusing on process diagnosis with Foundation fieldbus. His studies have concentrated on diagnosis of corrosion within Coriolis mass flowmeters, as well as changes in pipe thickness. These studies were presented at the Dynamics and Design Conference 2010, held at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. Mr. Yamashita previously belonged to Waseda Ecorun Club, a competition team that builds automobiles intended to achieve maximum fuel efficiency, and was awarded as a mechanic at the Suzuka Convention. He also holds a second grade class in Shodou (the Japanese Art of Calligraphy).
• William Odom, Fieldbus Center at Lee College, Baytown, Texas USA: William Odom brings experience as an instrumentation installer to his studies at the Fieldbus Center at Lee College. He has earned a Certificate of Completion in Instrumentation Technology, and is nearing completion of his Associate of Applied Science degree in Instrumentation Technology. He is also progressing toward a second AAS in Electrical Technology. Mr. Odom has volunteered his time and technical skills to the construction of the analytical instrumentation skills training lab at Lee College. This facility is part of ATOP, the Analyzer Technician Opportunities Project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Fieldbus Foundation President and CEO Rich Timoney congratulated the 2010-2011 scholarship recipients.

“The James O. Gray-Fieldbus Foundation Scholarship Fund is pleased to award these scholarships to three very deserving instrumentation students,” said Timoney. “The foundation and scholarship recipients appreciate the donations from automation technology supporters around the world, whose efforts will help maintain a strong and vibrant control industry.”

Honored by the scholarship fund in his name, Jim Gray was employed by Invensys/Foxboro for 25 years as sales and marketing manager. In addition to being very active within the Fieldbus Foundation from its inception, he held the positions of: secretary of the Board of Directors, member of the Executive Committee, and member of the U.S. Marketing Committee. www.fieldbus.org

Fieldbus Foundation

- Edited by Amanda McLeman, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com