Andrew Thomas of Skkynet | Episode 87

Can we be solving hard problems that make the economy work better? That make the world a more efficient place? Those are the questions that inspired Adam Gluck to leave his engineering job at Uber and found Copia Automation, which brings modern DevOps tooling to industrial automation, standardizing processes to drive quality, efficency, and uptime at scale. Hear all about the past, present and future of this up and coming start up -- as well as its founder -- in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.

It's not often that an industrial autlomation podcast features a rockstar as a guest -- but it's happening today.  Sandy Gennaro -- former drummer for bands as diverse as The Monkees to Joan Jett to Cyndi Lauper -- is here to tell you about his lessons learned from life on the road and other musings. Full disclosure: He is also a keynote speaker for the upcoming CSIA Conference, where he will parlay his experience as a drummer in rock band to leading successful teams.  You also migh be surprised with how much you have in common with Sandy -- all glamour aside.

Meet Ken Hackett, who is Director of Business Development for General Control Systems. In this role, he uses his 30 years of expertise in engineering design, sales, service, and installation of process controls, instrumentation, and electrical systems to partner with clients in the life sciences, industrial, and food beverage sectors. In addition, for the past three years, he has served as President of the ISA Eastern Chapter. Finally, full disclosure, Ken will be a speaker at the upcoming CSIA Marketing Workshop held in conjunction with the 2024 CSIA Conference in Dallas this April. Hear how he has moved through the industry and what he's learned along the way in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.

We are doing something a little different with this episode of Talking Industrial Automation because TIA host Lisa Richter was invited to be a guest on the Rivergate Marketing Podcast,  produced by Rivergate Marketing, a full-service digital marketing company and CSIA member. This episode touches on a little bit about a lot of things – from marketing to the CSIA Conference to the upcoming CSIA Makreting workshop.  Even if you don’t plan to attend the conference, this crossover episode still offers some insights you might be interested in and maybe even a spicy take or two. (RIP Koozie). If this doesn’t sound like something you’d be into, that’s okay. IIA will be back with the regular programming with the next episode. For more information about Rivergate Marketing, including the podcast, visit www.rivergatemarketing.com. For more information about the 2024 CSIA Confernece, inlcuding the marketing workshop, visit www.controlsys.org/conference2024.  

Over the course of three decades, Dave Bader, who is Vice President of Business Development at Eurotech, has been involved in several automation revolutions including the evangelism of artificial intelligence at the edge, industrial IoT, and autonomous mobile robotics for industrial and warehouse applications. Serving as the Head of Sales, National Business Develop Manager, National Sales Manager, and Global Channel Manager for a variety of automation and robotics companies, Dave brings a unique ability to convey very highly technical solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences.  Get to know him in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.

Finding a role that allowed her to advance her technical skills while also progessing her career was exactly what Karen Griffin was looking for when she landed at Hargrove Controls and Automations.  She went on to serve in various automation roles over the next 10 years such as engineering leader, main automation contractor program sponsor, senior program manager and controls and automation engineer for the refining, oil and gas, chemicals and pulp and paper industry. Today, Karen is vice-president and managing member representative of Tormod, an asset life cycle company. There she leads a team of 150 professionals including automation engineers and specialists.  Finally, full disclosure, Karen is the Chair of the CSIA Board of Directors. Hear about her career journey -- and advice -- in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.

With more than 18 years of experience in industrial automation with a focus on Open Control, IIoT Industry 4.0, Networking and Cybersecurity, Ira Sharp, director of product marketing automation at Phoenix Contact USA, has seen a few things.  Based on this experience -- and his  active digital presence as a LinkedIn Content creator focused on automation -- Ira share's his thoughhts on where the industry is headed and how system integrators and others can make the most of it in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.

Joining the company just one year after inception, Ben Durbin has climbed through the Cybertrol Engineering ranks to the top spot: CEO. Along the way he's gained on-the-job experience in every corner of the business -- from programming to sales. Hear about his career journey -- and his advice for newer folks -- in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.

After decades of living in the same ecosystem, WIN-911 and SyTech merged to form SmartSights, blending the best of both and triggering a fresh look, brand and approach. Hear all about it in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation from SmartSights CEO Greg Jackson. Greg also reveals what he has learned from his experience as a strategic leader with a unique blend of 30 plus years’ experience and achievements in international sales, business development, operations and product solution development. 

Frustrated with the lack of tools to reliably communicate among different process areas, Andrew Thomas decided to do something about it. So in 1995, he and a partner developed real-time communication software that resulted in a program called Cogent Real Time Systems. Over the following two-plus decades, he continued to reiterate eventually resulting in what is now called Skkynet -- a platform that enables real-time data connectivity for industrial, embedded, and financial systems, with no programming required. Hear about his journey -- and his predictions -- in this episode of Talking Industrial Automation.