ISA President Carlos Mandolesi said that automation professionals make up many diverse sectors, and having a day dedicated to those in the field can offer a learning opportunity for those unfamiliar with automation. “It is very common that our friends, relatives, and population in general do not understand what we do when we say that we work with automation,” he said. “It is important to have our own date to celebrate and promote the automation profession. ISA, as the home of automation, is the perfect organization to create it.”

The focal point of the day was a call to action in which automation industry professionals and automation students were encouraged to submit photos of themselves working in the field, or testimonials about how they hope to have an impact in the world through automation.

Mandolesi said that he was thrilled to see the positive feedback from all around the world. “The response was so amazing. I wanted to reply to all the social media posts to demonstrate how happy I was,” he said. “It was a huge success.”

Several sections also had their own celebrations to correspond with the day, including the ISA Pune Section in India. Vishal Pansare, vice president of the digital manufacturing division at Logicon Technosolutions, said that his section held an event to recognize those in the field.

“The ISA Pune Section celebrated this day by organizing a grand event where all members, automation professionals, and key leaders from large manufacturing companies located in Pune, like Tata Motors, Cipla, Thermax, and Coca-Cola, were invited,” he said. “The theme was how automation and digitization has been helping manufacturers in India, the latest trending technologies in manufacturing fields, and how they can be implemented by the factories.”

Pansare also added that days like this are important for those in automation. “Days like International Automation Professionals Day are necessary to create awareness around the world about the field and how it contributes to our day to day lives.”

Mandolesi is already looking forward to next year’s celebration and appreciates those who participated. “Thank you to all professionals, members, staff, and sections that invested time to create a post on social media or who organized large events to celebrate the day,” he said. “You are responsible for the success of our first International Automation Professionals Day. Thank you!”

To view some of the submissions and highlights from ISA’s International Automation Professionals Day, visit https://programs.isa.org/automationprodaytestimonials