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Sun’s Coming Up! With solar system prices coming down and electricity rates going up, most folks are seeing solar photo-voltaic systems popping up around Iowa and Illinois.  And IAS/Shaw Electric are there to provide quality installations for our solar customers. Here are two solar warriors, Mark Johnson on the left, Josh Thola on the right, braving the wet and cold December, at an array they just installed.  Not shown is Cecil Becerril, as he only showed his backside to the camera.  Mission accomplished, Cecil. How big of system would you need to supply your electrical needs?  Call IAS.  We can assess your current and future needs, and size a system to fit your needs.  We can also show you what your financial returns will be, so you plan your investment accordingly. If you, or you know someone or some business or organization considering a solar electric system, let us know.  We’ll be happy to discuss options and possibilities.  IAS/Shaw Electric can bring quality solutions for solar energy systems.  Let the sun start working for you! Ken Deering...

The Next Generation With a new year upon us, it’s a good time to celebrate things new. New challenges, new technologies, and new customers. It’s especially gratifying to see new people interested in the engineering and design professions. Our business and our country need the next generation of engineers and technicians to bring the next generation of ideas to life. Those ideas are critically important to keeping our industries productive and competitive and healthy. Pictured above left is Edgar, an engineering student intern who is back to work on a project over his Christmas break. Edgar is helping us complete an engineering study for a customer that has an end-of-year deadline. To the right is Tyler, Al Glover’s son, who is a high school junior. He’s interested in a technical career, and wanted to spend a day with us seeing what a day in the life of an engineer is like. Tyler got a chance to talk with Edgar about school, internships, and what made him decide on an engineering career path. Tyler also got a chance to talk with our Jimmy Skadal about what its like for an engineer new to the field, and what engineering means to him. It wasn’t all talk for Tyler, however. I put...

Control A Shredder When businesses want to destroy sensitive documents, they shred them.  In this case, the industrial shredder that is getting new controls actually shreds raw material so it can be made into new product. Here, Jimmy is programming the industrial control computer, on the right.  The industrial computer is called a PLC, or programmable logic controller.  He’s also programming the operator interface, called an HMI, which you can see on the computer screens. Industrial computers like this scan their sensors hundreds of times a second, and depending on what it sees, it performs the logic that Jimmy has programmed and controls the machine accordingly. Our readers have experience with PLC’s in their daily lives.  There is a small version of this type of computer in your car.  It controls the car depending on its inputs, sensing your gas pedal position, for example.  These computers are robust, fast, and dependable.  No wonder auto manufacturers and industrial customers rely on them.   In this case, Jimmy is going to replace an existing PLC and operator screens that have been in service for many years.  The new PLC and HMI’s will serve our customer for many years to come. Please tell your customers that IAS can bring total design, programming,...