“It’s about how you use data to control your processes, what you’re doing wrong and why you’re not making as much money as you should be making. Advanced process control means a competitive advantage, improved plant operations and increased profitability,” he says.

Over the years, he’s worked with a number of companies (steel, pulp and paper, oil, chemicals, mining) to fine-tune their control processes. Lately, he’s been busy with chips – not just the computer kind, but the tasty snack food.

He gathers his data from temperature sensors, pressure-flow monitors, chemical-concentration indexes and digital cameras. And it’s the camera that will ensure we all have the tastiest chips. A camera – tied to a computer system with its own analysis and control software – above the production line snaps pictures of the chips and controls the seasoning content and distribution.

MacGregor belongs to the McMaster Automation Control Consortium (MACC), which promotes and advances process control by bringing together researchers and practitioners to study and apply leading-edge control technology.

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