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MAY 2019 csengineermag.com 39 days, we are starting to find HMI screens located throughout the plant, and operators using tablet and mobile devices to monitor and control the process control system. Where in the past HMIs usually had only single monitors, we are now also starting to see workstations with 2, 4, 6 or more LCD monitors that make it easier for operators to maintain situational awareness and monitor process trends before systems stray into abnormal and/or trip conditions. On the software side we are also starting to see better graphics and the use of better, more sophisticated, automatic control algorithms. Interestingly, a few years ago there was a movement to move to more photo-realistic and 3-D depictions of process data on screens, but industry research over the past 10 years has found that using more simplistic icons, built-in graphs, and reserv- ing bright colors for alarms, actually makes systems easier to use and reduces operator fatigue. Further reading can be found in resources like the ISA-101 standard, the HMI Handbook, and publications by the ASM. C+S: You have done just about everything someone can do within the water/wastewater industry. Tell us about your schedule. How many hours a week do you work, and how many miles do you travel in a year? GN: I'll be honest: I don't watch much TV these days. I'm fortunate to have a very loving wife and a great team to work with at my day job. I am also fortunate to have a large network of contacts from around the world, which I keep in touch with through my work with non-profit technical associations and various international standards committees. Though I do try to attend a few conferences each year, a lot of my correspondence is done digitally these days. It's incredible the sheer number of folks that one can keep in touch with using conference calls, Skype and email. I do travel to a few face-to-face meetings for ISA and IEC standards committees, but all of this has to be fit around the work I do at the water utility. Speaking of keeping the water on, I usually get up at 7am most mornings (I am not a morning person), walk to work, and then begin the adventure that comes every day with operations at a public drinking water utility. As I said, I have a great team to work with and that is what gets me up every morning. C+S: Industry articles, technical articles, conference papers, newslet- ters, blogs, and standards reports. You are a prolific writer. When did you develop your love and talent for the written word? How has writ- ing enhanced your career? GN: Writing was not something that naturally came to me. It is some- thing that I have had to work at over the years, but amusingly I have found that the more I write the easier it gets. I see my writing as a way I can give something back to the profession that I work in. From the many textbooks I own, magazines I read, and conference papers I've reviewed, I have been able to assemble a great deal of knowledge and experience that I bring to the water utility and can share with the people I work with. I see writing new material as a way to give something back in return for all the great resources that have helped me develop my career. C+S: Presentations, webinars, seminars, panelist, and moderator. You obviously have no fear of crowds. How did you develop your ability to stand and deliver in front of your peers? Was this natural, or did you put a bit of work into it? GN: Other than school presentations, the very first time I gave a tech- nical talk was at an international water conference back in 2011. At the time I was working for a consulting engineering firm, and I had just finished my first control system upgrade project for a municipal client. I had never presented at a conference before but I had a feel- ing that my client at the time wouldn't mind a trip to St. Louis, so he and I convinced our bosses to let us travel to the 2011 ISA Water/ Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium. I can't begin to tell you how many hours we spent practicing our talk and editing the paper. We must have done something right, for we actually won the prize for best paper. Since then I've never looked back. Ironically, it was that same co-presenter who hired me to come join him at the water utility four years later. C+S: You serve as the Water SCADA & Security Specialist for the City of Guelph, and you also have your engineering and computer science degree from the University of Guelph. Located about 62 miles down the road from Toronto, Guelph is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in Canada. Tell us something interesting about Guelph that only a local would know. GN: Because I'm an engineer, I – of course – like trains. So, it's only fit- ting that I live in a city that owns its own railway. Not only does Guelph own the Guelph Junction Railway, the railway is self-sustaining and turns a profit for the city every year. C+S: You did a lot of the "dirty work" in the central IT department while a student at UofG. What did you take away from that experience? GN: Yes, when I was doing my part-time engineering degree at the University of Guelph, I did a lot of work for the school's central IT department. With over 37,000 user accounts and 100-plus supported software applications, the university's central IT department was a big machine that required an army of professional staff, and several part- time employees like me, to keep it running. My main takeaway from IT was that keeping any type of large system up and running takes a lot of work, investment, and careful planning. I enjoyed my time working in IT, but as I got further into my engineering studies, it soon became apparent that the engineering and construction profession was a better fit for me. I do appreciate the work that the folks in IT do, I'm just happier when I can leave it them. C+S: In addition to your work with water/wastewater, you also play the clarinet for several bands and orchestras. How long have you played the instrument, what's the role of music in your life, and what style do you most like to play? GN: I started playing clarinet back in Grade 7, as part of the local school board's standard music program that required every student to give playing an instrument a try. Because my last name started with a letter later in the alphabet ("N"), this meant that most of the "cool" instruments (trumpet, saxophone, trombone, etc.) where already taken by the time I got to choose. I got what was left: the clarinet. However,

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