From the editor: The continuous student

Feb. 23, 2015 – Happy New Year! It’s a real pleasure to introduce myself to you as the new editor of Manufacturing AUTOMATION. I come to the publication from the Electrical Business Magazine Group, a sister magazine group at Annex Business Media where I spent four years as the associate editor covering Canada’s electrical and energy markets.

As a magazine editor, I see my role as two-fold: part student, part storyteller. I, along with the rest of the Manufacturing AUTOMATION team, want to share with you the news and trends we believe will make your job easier and your plant run more efficiently. It is my belief that through learning of each other’s triumphs and failures, an industry can strengthen and thrive.

Though I graduated school many years ago, I learned quickly in my career that I will never escape being a student. Everyday I am reminded of how much there is to learn about a given industry, by way of emerging technology, the launch of a breakthrough product, or just from stumbling across a company I’ve never heard of.

Regardless of how many years I’ve spent covering an industry, I can never reach a point where I “know enough” of a topic, or believe I have learnt everything. After all, an industry will never be stagnant (I hope!), so how could I be?

These words have never been truer as I journey into the evolving world of industrial automation.

This is where I need you, dear reader, to help. You are the expert, entrenched in the everyday happenings of this dynamic industry. Reach out and tell me what I should know about. Do you have a suggestion on what the magazine should cover? Perhaps you are looking to learn more about a particular trend or technology. Better yet, invite me to your workplace and share your latest successes with me, so I can see your company in action.

Let me help tell your story.

I encourage you to get in touch with me. After all, this is your magazine too, and you should have a hand in helping to shape its content.

I hope to meet you in the coming year, but in the meantime, keep in touch.

This column originally appeared in the January/February 2015 issue of Manufacturing AUTOMATION.