The EATC met 12–13 October 2023, Osceola, Ark., USA.
Big River Steel Works hosted a two-day meeting with 27 attendees, making it one of the largest EATC meetings in recent memory. Hiranya Pathak opened with a welcome to many first-time attendees, with a preview of the activities occurring through committee efforts. Mo Ahmed (attending virtually) with Andy Wojcik (in person) both guided the discussion of two AISTech 2024 sessions that are being planned. A change in the Call for Papers will be reviewed again at the spring 2024 meeting to highlight the newest interplay of renewable energy integration and intelligent sensors into the scope of requested abstract topics. Subcommittee reporting came from three active areas: the I-EEE IAS MetIC AIST Standards Subcommittee chair by Tom Dionise, Farrington Award planning from Alec Glenn, and a fall 2024 Technology Training Conference update from Kevin Bort and Bryan Beard.

Hiranya Pathak (right) presented a plaque of appreciation to Tim Burttram (left) for hosting the EATC’s tour of Big River Steel Works.

Hiranya Pathak (left) presented the EATC service plaque to Tim Burttram (right).

The EATC met 9 May 2023, Detroit, MI, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Hiranya Pathak - Primetals Technologies USA LLC

• Vice Chair: Alec Glenn - AM/NS Calvert LLC

• Education Chair: Kevin Bort - TMEIC Corp. Americas

• Digitalization Liaison: Marc Elliott - Eaton Corp.

• Decarbonization Liaison: Ramesh Khajjayam - Primetals Technologies USA LLC

• IEEE Coordination Subcommittee Chair: Tom Dionise - Eaton Corp.

The EATC met 1 February 2023, Mobile, Ala., USA.
The EATC met in Mobile, Ala., USA, to receive updates on two active subcommittees that are working on projects and making great progress. 
 The group began the meeting by finalizing its planned technical session for AISTech 2023 and solicited nominations for 2023–2024 committee officers. The EATC Award Subcommittee announced the winners of the 2023 James Farring-ton Award, which will be presented at AISTech 2023 in Detroit. The committee also held a roundtable discussion based on the latest AIST Steel Industry Fatalities Report. 
EATC education chair Kevin Bort provided an update from the Electrical Engineering Basics: 102 Conference Plan-ning Subcommittee. The subcommittee has planned several enhancements to the training course, including a facility tour of U. S. Steel’s Big River Steel facility and tying the tour to the course training content. 
Tom Dionise reported on a joint development team which meets with members representing both AIST and the In-stitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The focus of this subcommittee is to create an AC transformer standard for electric arc furnace applications, which is presently unavailable in the industry.
At the close of the meeting, the committee visited AM/NS Calvert LLC for a comprehensive tour of their facility, including the electrical backside and basement chambers of the hot sheet rolling mill, as well as an extensive look at the centralized data human machine interface (HMI) located inside the plantwide power vault control room. Members noted the visible progress on AM/NS Calvert’s EAF #1 construction, and learned more about the expansion plans for an additional EAF at the facility.

Members of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee attended a plant tour of AM/NS Calvert LLC on 1 February 2023 (left to right): Lynn Mitchell, Siemens; Alec Glenn, AM/NS Calvert LLC; Sam Rawson, JNE; Mike Kadar, Fisher Scientific; Andy Wojcik, Siemens; Jim Hendrickson, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.; Jasmine Ifeadike, Primetals Technologies; and Carlos Hunter, AM/NS Calvert LLC.

Jim Hendrickson (left) presented a plaque of appreciation to Neeraj Baxi (right) for hosting the EATC’s tour of Virginia Transformer.

The EATC met 7–8 September 2022, Savannah, Ga., USA.
The meeting started with a tour of the nearby Virginia Transformer manufacturing facility, offering a rare look inside the production of large-scale industrial electrical transformers. 
EATC chair Tim Burttram opened the meeting with 17 attendees along with four online attendees. Almost immediately, the discussion of fatalities and near misses turned into several personal discussions of habits formed from members’ own observations from being inside mill operations.
An extensive range of activities were summarized through subcommittee reports, including a committee member survey by Mo Ahmed, and the planned enhancements of the upcoming Electrical Engineering Basics 201 training course led by Kevin Bort.
Decarbonization topics of specific interest to electrical technology were presented by decarbonization liaison Ramesh Khajjayam. 
Tom Dionise reported on a joint development team being formed with members coming from both AIST and IEEE, who are in the early stages of developing an industry standard for electrical transformers that service electric arc furnace applications.
Alec Glenn led the discussions of both the grading process for the 2023 Farrington Award and the first look at abstract selections for AISTech
2023, which form two sessions. 
Presentations: 

• "Growth of Common DC Bus Systems,” by Andy Wojcik, Siemens.

• “Electrical System Considerations of Connectivity for Outcome Driven Designs,” by Duke Dunsford and Jaime Gutierrez, Schneider Electric.

Tim Burttram (right) presented Hiranya Pathak (left) with  the 2022 James Farrington Award.

The EATC met 17 May 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Tim Burttram  /  Big River Steel

• Vice Chair: Hiranya Pathak  /  Primetals Technologies USA LLC

• Papers Chair: Alec Glenn  /  AM/NS Calvert LLC

• IEEE Coordination Subcommittee Chair: Tim Dionise  /  Eaton Corp.

• Education Chair: Kevin Bort  /  TMEIC Corp. Americas

• Digital Transformation Liaison: Marc Elliott  /  Eaton Corp.

• Decarbonization Liaison: Ramesh Khajjayam  /  Primetals Technologies USA LLC

Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) chair Tim Burttram presented a plaque of appreciation to Marc Elliott, Eaton Corp., for hosting the EATC’s meeting on 1–2 March 2022 (left to right): Samuel Rawson, Jeffrey Mason, Burttram, Elliott, Ramesh Khajjayam and Bryan Beard.

The EATC met 1–2 March 2022, Wilsonville, Ore., USA.
The EATC held their two-day hybrid committee meeting in Wilsonville, Ore., USA, at the Eaton Corp. campus. EATC chair Tim Burttram opened the meeting with welcoming remarks.
The committee finalized nominations for its 2022–2023 officers, which will receive a formal vote at the EATC’s meeting during AISTech 2022. This year’s officer election will also establish new roles for the committee, including a members chair, a Young Professional chair and a liaison role on decarburization activities.
Next, EATC papers chair Alec Glenn led everyone through a review of the papers and presentations representing two separate Electrical Applications sessions at AISTech 2022.
Discussion then picked up from the EATC’s fall 2021 meeting as well as the most recent AIST Leadership Conference on methods to better engage members through a survey of the committee for implementable service ideas.

Tom Dionise provided an update on the EATC’s subcommittee for coordination with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)’s Metal Industry Technical Committee. The attendees identified specific topics for discussion with the subcommittee, and indicated that work would begin through exploratory meetings in the next six months.

Presentations:

•   • “Arc Flash Mitigation,” by Peter Hogan, Eaton Corp.

•   • “Electric Arc Furnace Harmonic Filter Failure, Analysis and Repair,” and “Furnace Transformer Transient Protection: Design, Performance, Troubleshooting and Repair,” by Tom Dionise, Eaton Corp.

The following day, the EATC toured Eaton Corp.’s factory floor and heard detailed technical presentations from Eaton’s site manager, arc flash experts and application engineering representatives.

The EATC met 16 September 2021 Mobile, Ala., USA.
Tim Burttram led the EATC meeting the day after conclusion of Electrical Engineering Basics, which featured a behind-the-scenes tour of the electrical control systems powering AM/NS Calvert LLC. For more details on the conference, see page 143.
Burttram, Alec Glenn and Hiranya Pathak finalized new procedures for the Farrington Award selection process. Based on presentations made at AISTech 2021, Glenn will be looking for volunteers to join the Award Grading Subcommittee for selecting an award recipient. The award will be presented at AISTech 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA.
Discussions developed a variety of fresh ideas on effective committee membership service, which will be incorporated into a survey for committee leaders. There are 126 members actively connected with the EATC.

The EATC met 30 June 2021, Nashville, TN USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Tim Burttram, Big River Steel

• Vice Chair: Hiranya Pathak, Primetals Technologies USA LLC

• Education Chair: Kevin Bort, TMEIC Corp. Americas

• Papers Co-Chairs: Alec Glenn, AM/NS Calvert LLC, and Neeraj Nautiyal, JSW Steel Ltd.

• Digital Transformation Liaisons: Marc Elliott, Eaton Electrical, and Ken Kaniewski, Rockwell Automation

• Young Professional Chair: Casey Davis, Primetals Technologies USA LLC

The EATC held a virtual meeting 20 April 2021.
Thirteen EATC members met virtually to review the progress headed into AISTech 2021 in Nashville, Tenn., USA. EATC chair Ramesh Khajjayam reviewed the changing health protocols at this later stage of fighting the pandemic.
Nominations for open EATC leadership positions started at this meeting as the chair position will be moving from Ramesh Khajjayam of Primetals Technologies USA LLC to Tim Burttram of Big River Steel.
The group reviewed the committee roster (with 35 new members since its fall 2020 meeting, for a total of 104 registered members), noting the recent shift of the Sensors Subcommittee from the EATC to the Digitalization Applications Technology Committee (DATC).
Tim Burttram led a discussion on the AIST Steel Industry Fatalities Report. The discussion highlighted the benefits of barricading not only an active worksite, but also choosing to visually mark out the areas considered off-limits during any work outage. This procedure enhances a traditional lockout/tagout activity for additional safety.
Papers chair Hiranya Pathak identified the sessions and abstracts planned for AISTech, and accepted volunteers for session chair. He also thanked everyone who volunteered to grade papers from the AISTech 2020 Conference Proceedings and select the Farrington Award winner. Bryan Beard noted a joint technical session with the Sensors Subcommittee will occur during AISTech.
Education Subcommittee chair Kevin Bort described the brand-new conference titled Electrical Engineering Basics, which will be held in Mobile, Ala., USA, on 12–15 September 2021. The focus is not only for the trained electrical engineers in the industry, but for anyone who wants to understand the use and control of electrical energy, and those who would appreciate receiving basic knowledge of electrical engineering principles as applied in the steel industry. Leading industry experts will describe a working knowledge of the physical equipment, as well as power distribution, level 1/level 2 automation, sensors, gauges, drives and motors.
Ken Kaniewski, Digital Transformation liaison, gave an update on the quarterly liaison meetings.

The EATC and SSSC held a joint virtual meeting 22 October 2020.
Members of the Sensor Systems Subcommittee joined the EATC’s meeting.
Both Sensors and EATC Committees received new Papers Chair volunteers, who were approved in the meeting by a hand-wave vote. New papers Charis are now:  Andrew Carto (Vollmer America, Inc.) and Hiranya Pathak (Primetals Technologies USA LLC), respectively.
Kevin Bort (Education Sub-Committee Chair) gave a report on the new introductory-level course called Electrical Engineering Basics Specialty Training Conference, and this is on target for the fall of 2021, with plans to co-locate it with Cold Rolling Fundamentals — A Practical Training Seminar.
Information for the Digital Application Technology Steering Committee will now be coordinated with the EATC by two new committee members,
Ken Kaniewski of Rockwell Automation and Marc Elliott of Eaton Corp., and there will be continued involvement by Ramesh Khajjayam.
Tom Dionise (Chair of sub-committee on IEEE Coordination) reported the IEEE METC will need to have an IEEE-PAR for developing standards as a guide for the committee, and the AIST Sub-committee will begin meeting in the next six months.
The Sensors Sub-Committee identified a working plan to relocate under the Digital Applications Technical Committee, as this part of the industry is quickly changing, and does warrant a reassignment to match current advances in equipment and digital sensing devices.
Casey Davis gave a report on the Young Professionals Steering Committee. Some key activities of the Young Professionals program include mentoring and university outreach activities, as well as articles spotlighting individuals in Iron & Steel Technology.

The EATC held a virtual meeting 1 October 2020.
Members of the Sensor Systems Subcommittee joined the EATC’s meeting.
A new introductory-level course called Electrical Engineering Basics Specialty Training Conference is on target for the fall of 2021, with plans to co-locate it with Cold Rolling Fundamentals — A Practical Training Seminar.
Information for the Digital Application Technology Steering Committee will now be brought to the EATC by two new committee members,
Ken Kaniewski of Rockwell Automation and Marc Elliott of Eaton Corp., with continued involvement by Ramesh Khajjayam.
Casey Davis gave a report on the Young Professionals Steering Committee. Some key activities of the Young Professionals program include mentoring and university outreach activities, as well as spotlight articles in Iron & Steel Technology.

The SSSC held a virtual meeting 13 May 2020.
The Sensor Systems Subcommittee began their meeting with a review of their mission statement and the AISTech 2021 Call for Papers.
The committee then discussed the role of sensors in the digital transformation of the steel industry and whether the SSSC should be reclassified from a subcommittee of Electrical Applications to subcommittee of Digitalization Applications.
The SSSC then elected the following officers for 2020–2021:

• Chair: Brian Smith, ANDRITZ Herr-Voss Stamco Inc.

• Vice chair: Karl Kessler, AK Steel – Dearborn Works.

The EATC held a virtual meeting 6 May 2020.
The EATC meeting began with a review of the committee mission statement and the AISTech 2021 Call for Papers.
The following committee officers for the 2020–2021 term were elected:

• Chair and digitalization liaison: Ramesh Khajjayam, Primetals Technologies USA LLC.

• Vice chair: Tim Burttram, Big River Steel.

• Papers chair: Poojit Lingam, Primetals Technologies USA LLC.

• Education chair: Kevin Bort, TMEIC.

• Young Professional liaison: Casey Davis, Primetals Technologies USA LLC.

The discussion at this meeting brought renewed focus to areas of prior interest. One earlier topic is the potential development of a basics course in electrical engineering for the steel industry. Work is now underway to reconvene the current set of team members who are advancing this subject. New volunteers are also expressing interest in joining this educational effort.
Tom Dionise brought an update to AIST which was based on his involvement with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Since October 2019, IEEE has established a formal subcommittee for the purpose of working on an AIST-IEEE Industry Applications Society joint effort.

The EATC and DATC jointly met 20–21 February 2020, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Presentations: 

• Scott Christensen, Graymatter, presented “Cyber­security and IIoT.”

• Osvaldo Bascur, OSB Digital, presented “Digital Transformation in the Steel Industry.”

• David Kober, iba America, presented “A Hybrid Approach to Industrial Analytics.”

• Michael Peintinger, QuinLogic, presented “Industry 4.0 — From Reactive to Proactive Quality Assurance.”

Meeting Highlights:
For AISTech 2020, session chairs were encouraged to contact/confirm authors assigned to their sessions.
Kober, outgoing DATC Young Professional chair, requested attendees consider candidates for the position within their Technology Committees.
Jim Hendrickson and Ramesh Khajjayam announced the plans for officer succession for the DATC and EATC, respectively, which will be approved during AISTech.
The last Systems Automation Fundamentals conference was held in September 2018, and while there are currently no plans to organize that training seminar again in the near future, the EATC is planning another training seminar called Electrical 101 to be held in 2021.
The committees reviewed the AIST Steel Industry Fatalities report and discussed a Young Professional Member Conference and the idea of virtual meetings.

The EATC met 15–16 October 2019, Tuscaloosa, Ala., USA.
Poojit Lingam reviewed the EATC’s abstracts for AISTech 2020. The session structure was established, with the possibility of a joint session with the Digitalization Applications Technology Committee.
The roles of papers chair and session chair were reviewed, along with key dates for submitting papers for the AISTech 2020 Conference Proceedings.
The committee was tasked with reviewing and possibly modifying the EATC’s Call for Papers text for AISTech 2021 to include digital applications.
Ramesh Khajjayam gave an update on the ongoing cooperative effort between the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, METC and the EATC. The goal is to have a standard in the next 12 months.
Poojit Lingam then led the discussion concerning planning for the 2020 Farrington Award. The best paper from the EATC sessions at AISTech 2019 was chosen as the 2020 Farrington Award winner. The award will be presented during AISTech 2020 in Cleveland.
The EATC reviewed the 2019 AIST Steel Industry Fatalities report and trends.
Presentations:

• “Nucor Technical Academy,” by Justin Knight, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc.

• “Young Professionals Development — A Case Study,” by Tim Burttram, Big River Steel.

• “Innovation and Education: The Benefits of Collaboration Between Academia and Industry,” by Tyamo Okosun, Purdue University Northwest.

The CSRTC, GTC and SSC met 4–5 September 2019, Louisville, Ky., USA.
The committees reviewed their AISTech technical session development. Brian Smith, CSRTC papers chair, spoke about the abstracts submitted thus far and encouraged all to continue submitting abstracts. Committee leadership also polled the attendees for volunteers for session chairs for AISTech 2020. 
Gary Dallin, GTC education chair, provided a quick review of upcoming MS&T papers related to hot-dip galvanizing and reminded all about Galvatech 2020.
The discussion then focused on the 2020 European Galvanizing Study Tour, which will take place on 14–20 June 2020. The Study Tour will conclude just before Galvatech 2020.
Liz Hunter, CSRTC Technology Training Conference chair, provided an overview of the Young Professional Steering Committee. The steering committee aims to foster an enhanced experience for Young Professionals within the steel industry. As part of AIST’s efforts to engage Young Professionals, a Young Professionals’ Roundtable is held annually at AISTech to seek ideas and actions.
Gary Dallin reminded everyone that the North American Galvanizing Lines Roundup information is available at www.galvinfo.com. A Cold Sheet Rolling Roundup is under development, with Ken Hunter leading this effort.
Chris Winger gave an overview of the Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) – Flat Roll Group Jeffersonville Plant. Today SDI has nine continuous galvanizing lines. A tenth is being added at the Columbus facility, with an eleventh to be built at the new plant in Texas.

Presentations: 

• “Flatness Measurement” and “Continuous Measuring of Strip Temperature Distribution of Cold Strip,” by Brian Smith of ANDRITZ Herr-Voss Stamco.

• “Flatness Influence in Galvanizing Lines,” by Mikael Johansson of ABB.

• “Coating Weight Measuring Technologies,” by Chris Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific.

• “Defect Detection From Cold Mill Through Galvanizing Line” and “Expert 5i Data Tools and SQMS Solutions,” by Greg Gutmann of ISRA Vision Parsytec.

• “Inspection Lighting Systems,” by Tim Dixon of Unilux.

• “Automated Vision Inspection Systems,” by Chris Miller and Mark Cornell of Schenk Vision.

• “Evolving Quality Analysis Using Multi-Sensor Technology,” by Breck Lewis and Manfred Hyak of AMETEK.

• “Eyeron™ — A Metallurgist-Focused Advanced Real-Time Quality Management Software,” by Jean-Paul Nauzin of Fives.

• “Strip Cleanliness,” by Will Hartley of Quaker Houghton.

The EATC met 7 May 2019, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

Chair: Donald Hughes, Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC

Vice chair: Ramesh Khajjayam, Primetals Technologies USA LLC

Papers co-chairs: Tim Burttram, Big River Steel, and Poojit Lingam, Primetals Technologies USA LLC

The EATC and Sensors Subcommittee met 25 March 2019, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA. The joint committee meeting began with a review of the AIST Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion. 
Papers chair Ramesh Khajjayam reviewed the committees’ sessions for AISTech 2019. The roles of session chair and papers chair were reviewed.
Nominations for 2019–2020 committee officers were solicited.
The winners of the 2019 James Farrington Award were announced. The award was presented at AISTech 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA.
The EATC reviewed the 2018 Systems Automation Fundamentals course, which took place in September 2018 in conjunction with Cold Rolling Fundamentals. Chris Burnett and Donald Hughes then discussed the committee’s new training course, debuting in 2020, Introduction to Electrical Engineering. The new course will alternate years with Systems Automation Fundamentals. In the spring of 2020, Systems Automation Fundamentals will be co-located with the Cold Rolling Fundamentals course. 
Liwei Zhang, Donald Hughes and Chris Burnett then reviewed the strategic initiatives presented during the 2018 AIST Leadership Conference. They also reported on the activities of the Digital Transformation Task Force, including the inaugural Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry, which took place in March  2019.
Donald Hughes presented ideas for an increased university-level presence for electrical engineering students, including a university version of the AIST Road Show. He presented information showing that the existing student chapters, the Steel to Students program and the AIST Foundation Pizza Grants are all tied to the Material Advantage program, which mainly targets students in materials science and metallurgy and not necessarily the other engineering disciplines such as electrical, computer and mechanical.
Finally, the EATC’s fall 2019 meeting was discussed, with Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. suggested as a possible location. The main focus topics will be women in steel, university relations and young professionals. The results of this meeting will be used to create a presentation for the 2019 AIST Leadership Conference. 

The EATC and CATC met 11–12 October 2018, Warrendale, PA,  USA.
The two meetings were held concurrently at AIST headquarters.
Each committee reviewed the Steel Industry Fatalities statistics, followed by a discussion.
The CATC’s and EATC’s papers chairs each sorted the AISTech 2019 abstracts for those that could be presented jointly in a separate Digital Transformation session.
David Kober, IBA America LLC, and Madison Mabry, Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC, each volunteered to chair the Young Professionals activities for the CATC and EATC, respectively.
For the CATC, Mike Dudzic gave an update on the Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry, which will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, on 26–28 March 2019. The forum will include two keynote speakers, presentations that give practical applications and a roundtable discussion.
Ramesh Khajjayam, EATC papers chair, discussed the Farrington Award selection process. He talked about the purpose of the subcommittee and how this year’s selection team will be recruited.
Christopher Burnett reviewed the Systems Automation Technology Training conference for the EATC and gave an update on the Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry. The EATC then explored ideas on how to engage the newest professionals in the electrical engineering population with a fundamentals course, using past motors and drives conferences as a guide for content.
The following day, presentations were given at the Eaton Power Systems Experience Center:

• “Experiences of an Existing Industrial Facility: The Journey to Become Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Ready,” by Lyle Sprinkle of Eaton.

• “Protection and Control for the Power Systems in the Digital Age,” Ramesh Khajjayam, Primetals Technologies.

• “Steel Dynamics’ Bold Upgrade of Galvanizing Line No. 1,” by Tom Richards of TMEIC (see this technical paper on pages 72–79 of this issue of Iron & Steel Technology).

• “Using AI Modeling for Predictive Quality and Routing,” by Scott Wilson of PSI Metals GmbH.

That afternoon, both committees toured the Eaton Power Systems Experience Center, a hands-on demonstration center for many of the products and applications servicing the users community of power distribution and control.

The EATC met 8 May 2018, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Liwei Zhang, ArcelorMittal USA Research Laboratories

• Vice chair: Donald Hughes, Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC

• Papers chair: Ramesh Khajjayam, Primetals Technologies USA LLC

The EATC met 7 November 2017, Northbrook, Ill., USA. The SSSC discussed the AISTech 2018 technical session development. Papers chair Chris Burnett reported that he and the Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) papers chair reviewed nearly 30 abstracts and have developed five sessions.
The SSSC reviewed the Call for Papers topics for AISTech 2019. The EATC had reviewed the text and made no changes were made; the SSSC did not have any changes either.
Discussion followed on Technology Committee Award planning, specifically the criteria for the Farrington Award, and the need for transparency with respect to any paper chair or session chair voting for their own paper or a paper from their company.  The appearance of unbiased evaluation needs to be maintained. The scoring parameters and weighting also need to be reviewed. The SSSC will prepare a new proposed evaluation criteria.
The SSSC discussed the Systems Automation Fundamentals training course, which will be held the week of 9 September 2018. The location is still being discussed, but Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC has agreed to provide a tour. Presenters have been contacted and most have replied positively. The training agenda may be adjusted to accommodate more discussions on Industry 4.0.
Three presentations were given on digitalization trends in the steel mill:

• Chris Burnett presented an overview of the digital transformation paper written by Dan Milklovic from LNS Research, distributed by SAP. He also incorporated Primetals’ “metals orchestra,” and slides from BFI on Industry 4.0. The takeaway was that other industries are realizing efficiencies and savings with digitalization. In order to stay competitive, the steel industry needs to consider how Industry 4.0 can help.

• Pat Gallagher presented a summary of security concerns with the Industrial Internet of Things and connecting sensors and instruments to the internet without planning the hardware architecture. Inadequate firewalls can lead to vulnerabilities that can impact product quality, mill profitability and worker safety.

• Ken Modeste from UL LLC provided an informative presentation on the new UL Cybersecurity Assurance Program 2900 Standard and how it applies to all networked devices, from consumer goods to industrial instruments.

UL was encouraged to submit an abstract so that this presentation could be included at AISTech 2018 in the EATC’s Industry 4.0 session. While many presentations on this subject are high-level overviews, the UL presentation offered some detailed actions that automation suppliers can take to protect the connectivity, mobility and data their systems collect and use.
Next SSSC Meeting: Joint meeting with the EATC and CATC, 20–21 March 2018, Memphis, Tenn., USA, with a tour of Big River Steel. The technical topic will be Digitization/Industrial Internet of Things.

The EATC met 5 October 2017, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The EATC meeting was co-located with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Industrial Applications Society (IAS) annual meeting.
Papers chair Ramesh Khajjayam discussed the EATC’s AISTech 2018 technical program development, which consists of five sessions. Session chairs were also identified.
The AISTech 2019 Call for Papers topics for next year were reviewed and a few additional topics were suggested.
Candidates for the Farrington Award were identified, with the final selection process to be completed by the end of October 2017.
The EATC reviewed the System Automation Fundamentals training course held in March 2017 and began planning for the next iteration of the course, which is scheduled for fall of 2018.
Also discussed were the AIST Foundation Electrical Engineering Grant and potential relationships/collaborations between AIST and IEEE IAS. Various locations and topics for future meetings were also proposed.

The EATC met 9 May 2017, Nashville, Tenn., USA.

The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Liwei Zhang, ArcelorMittal USA Research Laboratories

• Vice chair: Donald Hughes, Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC

• Papers chair: Ramesh Khajjayam, Primetals Technologies USA LLC

The EATC, CATC and SSSC met 27–28 October 2016, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, USA. The first day of the meeting consisted of a tour of Rockwell Automation and the following technical presentations:

• “Industrial Network Architecture Overview and Best Practice Network Design,” by Pat Gallagher, Management Science Associates Inc.

• “Security Infrastructure: Physical, IT and Data Security,” by Dave Mazur, Rockwell Automation.

• “Lab Overview Connected Enterprise Demo,” by Mike Miller, Rockwell Automation.

• “Reporting, Archiving, Analytics, Cloud Overview and Best Practices,” by Francois Pelletier-Bouchard,

• OSIsoft.

• “The ‘Things’ of the Industrial Internet of Things,” by Len Kosatka, Rockwell Automation.

The committees reconvened the following day and held the first portion of the meeting together to discuss AIST business and topics of general interest before breaking out into their respective groups.
There was discussion on the next System Automation Fundamentals Technology Training Conference, which will be held 6–9 March 2017 in Indianapolis, Ind., USA.
AISTech 2017 abstract selections and technical session layouts were addressed.
The 2017 AIST Computer Applications Best Paper Award winners were selected. This award will be presented at the CATC meeting at AISTech 2017.

The EATC met 17 May 2016, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee (SSSC) met 17 May 2016, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.