Congratulations go out to Project Engineer, Natarajan Ashok Anand, for becoming the first graduate from IEU.

For the past decade, Natarajan has been employed with Tectronics in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he designs, tests and commissions special integrated systems related to Industrial Ethernet. One future project is the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in Dubai which requires Ethernet switches. That's how he became interested in the IEU.

Not wanting to miss any opportunity to learn more about this technology, he enrolled in IEU. Natarajan says, "the material presented in the curriculum is excellent, even for someone in the field." "It is structured with detail and clarity providing proper training on the basics in order to achieve more complicated solutions."

OTHER ALUMNI

As of FEB 1, 2008, more than 300 graduates include the following:

M.N. Jayaram

Don Thomas Rhoades

Craig A. Stoudt

Iain Scott

Marius van der Wait

Chen Xiao

J. Rocca

Paula Doyle is a doctoral researcher with the Circuits and Systems Research Centre at the University of Limerick in Ireland. She has a first class honours B. Eng. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Limerick.

Her research interests include embedded real-time systems, with emphasis on control networks for smart tranducers with applications in the field of industrial automation. Paula is currently in the final stages of her Ph.D. research, based on the time-triggered transducer clusters in an Ethernet networking environment.

For the past five years, Jens Pionczewski has been employed with Pilz GmbH & Co.; KG, Germany which is a leading provider for safety solutions. His work entails project management and application engineering. Jen's key areas of expertise are the development of customized visualization systems, industrial computers and HMI solutions which also includes advice and instructions on which fieldbus communication method is the best to utilize.

Jens says the information provided by IEU is comprehensive and easy to understand. He says the information has already aided him when tracking down communication problems with Modbus/TCP and other Ethernet-based fieldbus protocols. Jens feels it is important to get the basics of Ethernet to be able to keep up with the rapid development of this medium and its applications in factory automation.

In 2003 Dafei Fan received his B.A. in Mechanical Engineering and Automation from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) in China. Dafei intends further study in the same speciality at the University. As an engineering graduate, Dafei says he is very interested in industrial control and network technique.

Dafeil says that one day he read about the Industrial Ethernet University in a magazine, and he realized this was a good learning opportunity for him. He says the IEU site provided him with a better understanding of Industrial Ethernet and the chance to further his knowledge about this technology.

Carlos Ramirez Carrascal has applied his experience and studies in the field of telecommunications as head of the automatization area and telecommunications in the mining company, "CONSORCIO MINERO HORIZONTE S.A." in Peru.

Carrascal says the information provided by IEU was very beneficial to him and his co-workers. They were able to successfully deploy Ethernet technology in all of the industrial processes for the extraction of gold in the underground mines and plant.

Andy Verwer is a Principal Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University where he currently runs the Automation Systems Centre, ASCENT. He is involved full-time in industrial training and consultancy at the university for modern automation and control technologies such as industrial networking, fieldbus and programmable control systems. A number of "Certified" courses have been developed over the last few years for PROFIBUS, AS-i and Open PLC technologies.

Marcos de Oliveira Fonseca is employed as the director of the Automation Technology Division at ATAN Sistemas in Brazil He has an extensive background in Industrial Automation including Control Systems and Information Technology design. Interest areas encompass Automation Systems, Information Technology, Process Control, Optimization and Artificial Intelligence.

"The IEU site increased my knowledge about Ethernet technology greatly," he said. "I feel that Ethernet is going to be the winner among network technologies on the plant floor. The IEU site gave me a better understanding of this technology. By being able to better comprehend and to work with Ethernet, this is a major goal for automation engineers like myself."

Karl Hodil has worked for 31 years in the industrial electrical field for a number of Midwest companies. Hodil's experience spans from power systems to industrial controls and instrumentation. Most recently, he has worked extensively with PLC control systems, and he has already used knowledge gained from the IEU site on a recent fiber optic project. Hodil is presently employed as a consultant at LHB, Inc., working in their Pipeline and Industrial areas.

Hodil feels the IEU site is a well-designed resource for Industrial Ethernet information. He feels that the "mini course" structure followed by short exams not only promotes interest and retention, but also allows the process to qualify as Personal Development Hours for professional license renewal.

Constantino Seixas Filho is a part-time instructor at the public university in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Besides his employment at the school, he is the P&D Director of ATAN Automation Systems, a 350 engineers' system integrator.

Filho recently graduated from IEU and has invited his students to attend IEU and become graduates. "I found the training on IEU outstanding for my students," he said. "I eliminated my regular courses in Industrial Ethernet in the university's curriculum and encouraged my students to study about this technology on IEU. This allowed me to concentrate on other subjects. I am also recommending Contemporary Controls' training to automation professionals in Brazil. All of these professionals appreciated IEU's courses."

He further commented that it is rewarding to know that IEU is benefiting professionals and students around the world. "It is nice to know that all the work that you and others place into IEU is having a positive impact."

Huy Trong Le is an Automation Engineer and Project Manager of the BMS section within the T&D Engineering Co. in Vietnam. Le works in building automation design so the knowledge of Industrial Ethernet provided by the IEU site was very useful to him. He adds that IEU gave him a better understanding of Ethernet technology.

Suresh Adusumilli is a consultant in India. Earlier, he was employed as a Senior Projects Manager for Oil Country Tubular Ltd in Hyderabad, India. He says the material on IEU was quite informative and more important, relevant to the needs of the industry. "I would like to thank Contemporary Controls for the opportunity and experience," says Adusumilli.

Larry Ziniel is employed as a Senior Electrical Engineer for Abbott Laboratories in Columbus, Ohio. His primary areas of expertise are in the fields of industrial power systems, process controls, process instrumentation and process automation.

Ziniel says that Abbott Laboratories uses many network systems such as Modbus, Data Highway Plus, DeviceNet, Fieldbus and Ethernet in their process control systems. "Ethernet gives us faster communication speeds and permits us to remotely monitor our production lines and collect data on their performance," says Ziniel.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1979 and his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1980—both from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Ziniel says the Industrial Ethernet University has helped him to understand design requirements as well as limitations for the new network installations that he will install in Abbott's plants in the future.

Richard van de Laarschot is employed as a software architect at ICT in the Netherlands. His work focuses on embedded and real-time applications, mainly in the medical domain.

Laarschot says he enrolled in IEU to learn more about real-time Ethernet and Ethernet as a fieldbus He also took this opportunity to refresh his understanding of Ethernet technology in general.

"The material on IEU was quite informative and relevant to my needs," he says. "Much thanks."

Li Jianfeng is employed as an Application Engineer with the Misubishi Electric Automation (Shanghai) Ltd Shenzhen office. Jianfeng says his work employs Industrial Ethernet technology. He desired to learn more about Industrial Ethernet. Jianfeng says the information on IEU was very useful, taking him step-by-step to learn what he required in his position.

Marco Solazzi received his M.S. in Electronic Engineering (summa cum laude) in 2001 from the University of Ancona, Italy and his M.S. in Business Engineering in 2005 from University of Rome "Tor Vergata," Italy.

Since 2002 he has been working as a Senior Technology Consultant at Altran, Italian subsidiary. His main fields of interest are digital design (particularly System on Programmable Chip), real time software in distributed environments and software reengineering processes.

He found the IEU site as a useful resource providing a unique access to a collection of valuable classes about Ethernet technology. He particularly appreciated the organization and the modular nature of the courses.

Thamer M. Munir AL-Salek is employed as a mechanical engineer for the largest construction and maintenance company in Saudi Arabia, known as Saudi Oger Ltd.

Currently, he is involved in various projects using communication protocols such as Ethernet. Thamer has good knowledge with various types of PLCs as well as solid experience in Scada.

He considered the IEU site to be very beneficial to his work. He is happy to be an IEU graduate.

Mubarak Ali Shaik Ismail is a Senior Programmer/Analyst in a reputed government organization in Saudi Arabia. Mubarak has more than six years of software experience, but he is interested in networking and troubleshooting.

Mubarak says he is fortunate in having the golden opportunity to improve his knowledge in Ethernet solutions. He says, "I'm proud and happy to be a member of IEU." "I thank the entire IEU team in providing this valuable resource."

S. Inthikaf Alam is an Electronics and Communication Engineering graduate. Alam is employed as a Systems Engineer with more than 10 years of experience in the Process Control and Automation field. Currently, he is working with Kuwait National Petroleum Company. His field of interest includes DCS, PLC and Data Communication.

Alam says he found the material about Industrial Ethernet on IEU very informative and interesting. "I am proud to be among the IEU alumni," says Alam. "My sincere thanks to Contemporary Controls for bringing this innovative idea to light."

Sachin Mane is an Instrumentation Engineer with more than eight years of experience in the Process & Automation field. He is employed with General Electric-India Innovation Center (GE-IIC), Hyderabad, India as a Technical Specialist. His projects focus on industrial communications as well as PLC-Ethernet.

Mane said he enrolled in IEU as an opportunity for self-development since he is working in this area. "IEU provides lots of knowledge on Ethernet layers, its implementation and networking concepts," he explained. "The information is very useful and structured properly. This will definitely help me in my job and in my future career. I recommend all those who are in this field to enroll and make it your solid base of information on Ethernet. This sets a good example of online learning. Thanks!"

C. ArulMani Vasagam is employed as a Regional Sales Manager: India sub-continent with Advantech's Industrial Automation Group. He is responsible for channel sales and key account sales of industrial communication products like switches, media converters, HMI, embedded PC controllers, and distributed DAQs in the area of rugged industrial applications. Prior to this position, ArulMani worked with ABB India in the SCADA Group for Power, Railways & Oil Pipeline for 15 years. He received his engineering degree in Electronics from CPT Chennai, India and graduated in Computer Science. ArulMani pursued his MBA in International Business.

He felt the course content of IEU was structured well and provided an in-depth knowledge of Ethernet technology. ArulMani said IEU made his fundamentals of Ethernet that much stronger. He is thankful for IEU and wishes all the staff involved much success with the site.