The Clock Is Ticking!

If you go the website for the Boy Scout Jamboree 2010 (http://www.bsajamboree.org/), you will see the ticking clock, counting down to the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of scouting in America next year.

Why is this important to automation professionals and to the Automation Federation?

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) selected the Automation Federation to be a Technology Partner for Technology Quest at the 2010 Jamboree. As a Technology Partner, the Automation Federation will have an exhibit at the Jamboree which will consist of a series of interactive stations that will give the Scouts and booth visitors a chance to take part in hands-on demonstrations that will give insight into a variety of automation careers.

It is anticipated that over 140,000 Scouts will be in attendance for this ten-day event, which will run from 26 July – 4 August 2010. Leo Staples and I serve as co-chairs for the planning of the AF presence at this highly anticipated event. We invite you to contact us or Mike Marlowe (mmarloew@automationfederation.org) with any questions you have about our presence and how you can take part.

At the ISA Leaders Meeting in Indianapolis last month, I got some great comments of support for the Automation Federation being part of the Jamboree. One ISA Member asked what our participation in this event meant for ISA and our profession. I thought it was an excellent question that deserved the following response:

The automation profession, for as long as I have been around, has never attained any visible recognition as a profession for the value it brings to manufacturing, nor the recognition for the men and women that have spent a lifetime in these careers that have made contributions to the betterment of manufacturing and to our profession.

In the past, when I have asked students—elementary, high school, and even college level—about what kind of job they would like to have and mention automation, I got the blank expression of “lady what are you talking about.”

For years ISA has tried to build a marketing effort around educating students about career paths in the automation profession and we made some progress. And yet, there was more that needed to be done.

In 2006, the leaders of ISA made an important decision to become the founding member for the creation of the Automation Federation. Since that time, the Automation Federation has aggressively stepped forward as the “Voice of Automation” to reach out to students and their advisors with a consistent message that tells the story about the value and importance of the automation professional.

The efforts undertaken by the Automation Federation have given our profession the recognition by and support of others, including the U.S. Department of Labor, several congressional constituents, government entities in Asia and Europe, and the Boy Scouts of America, to be a part of our effort to open the eyes of students—and the world—to the many careers in the fields of automation.

Just think: it was only a few years ago the ISA leaders were asking, “How we can reach out to students about what our profession has to offer?” Now, just take a look at what we will be doing in 2010.

This is just one of the many efforts underway to raise local—and global—awareness and the esteem of automation professionals at all levels. Don’t think being part of the Boy Scout Jamboree 2010 will be the crowning achievement for the Automation Federation’s efforts to reach out to students. I can assure you this is just one jewel in the crown and there will be many more to come.

Here’s to a successful Technology Quest at the 2010 Boy Scout Jamboree!

-Kim Miller-Dun
AF Chair