Speakers are now being sought for the Automate 2013 conference in Chicago, January 21-24, 2013, according to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the primary sponsor of the Automate 2013 event. "We're looking for experts in robotics, vision, motion control, assembly automation, sensors, test and measurement, systems integration and related areas  to help  educate our audience with practical information that addresses their specific challenges," said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. Burnstein said that as many as 30,000 automation users, suppliers and integrators are expected at Automate 2013, which is collocated with ProMat, North America's premier material handling, supply chain and logistics event.

"The people attending Automate 2013 want solutions on how to successfully automate their operations," said Burnstein. "Many of these people come from small and medium sized companies, some of whom have yet to start automating. They need to know why they should automate as well as how and they need to know who can help them get started or improve upon what they've already started doing," he explained.

"Automate 2013 will feature exhibits from more than 150 leading automation suppliers and system integrators, as well as an in-depth conference.  And, for the first time, we'll offer Expert Huddles on the show floor focused on topics attendees want to discuss.  The expert huddles will be just that, discussions, led by an expert, not presentations - no audio/visual of any kind will be used.  This will really be useful to attendees who know exactly what they are coming to learn," Burnstein said.

The conference goes more in-depth on key topics in order to expose attendees to a broad range of issues that are critical to developing a successful automation solution.  Among the expected topics are how to work with system integrators, the fundamentals of robotics and vision, selecting the correct end-of-arm tooling for your application, robot safety, 3-D vision solutions, non-visible imaging solutions, high speed motion systems, new developments in step motors, and case studies of successful automation solutions. Abstracts for non-commercial conference presentations can be submitted at the web address below: