We investigate how data and technology are shaping the present and future of the connected industrial economy. We talk with experts in the industrial sector--from water and power to manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, and beyond--about the cutting-edge technologies that are changing how engineers from these critical industries keep the everyday parts of life running. Join us to learn about the incredible things being done with industrial data to create a more connected economy and sustainable future.
“The Victorian Internet”—The world’s first global communication network
The telegraph system went from speculative theory to a global telecommunications network connecting continents via undersea cables in just 35 years.
Dark matter and ghost particles—industrial data helps uncover the secrets of the universe
SNOLAB is the deepest clean lab in the world. It searches for the most elusive building blocks of our universe: neutrinos and dark matter. The Nobel Prize website describes its experiments as like searching for a particular grain of sand in the Sahara—and it relies on industrial data to do it.
AI: A sustainability friend or an environmental foe?
AI has been helping industries decarbonize for years by making their operations more energy efficient. But, manufacturing, training and running the computers that power AI also produces a lot of carbon emissions. So, which is it? Is AI increasing or decreasing our industrial carbon footprint?
Green ammonia is decarbonizing food production
Half the world relies on synthetic ammonia fertilizer to grow its food. But traditional ways of making ammonia produce about 2% of global CO2 emissions. On this episode, we speak to Dr. Zhenyu Zhang about how he’s decarbonizing the processes and making green ammonia.
Bridging the skills gap with connected workers
A whole generation of industrial workers is about to retire, taking extensive knowledge and skills with them. How can companies attract new high-quality workers and quickly give them the skills previous generations took years to develop?
Industrial data will matter more than ever in the wake of COP28
Industrial companies will need to change how they think about and interact with data if we’re going to meet the ambitious COP28 targets. We discuss cloud, AI, and the importance of data-sharing in facilitating collaboration.
How to turn connected workers into proactive workers
In this episode, we explore what connected solutions are and what HENN connector group is using to connect its workers to real-time industrial data, digital systems, and each other, helping them work faster, safer, and more proactively.
The future of the power grid: The challenge of DERs
In the final episode of our series, “The Future of the Power Grid,” we talk to three industry experts about how grid operators are incorporating distributed energy resources (DERs)—like rooftop solar—in ways that maintain the integrity of the grid and don’t undermine their potential for sustainable power generation.
The future of the power grid: Aging infrastructure
How do you put more power on an already strained and aging power grid? Our guests today say industrial software—and the data analysis it makes possible—is helping the grid increase capacity and accommodate sustainable power sources as we decarbonize.
The second episode of our three-part series, “The Future of the Power Grid.”
The future of the power grid: Re-engineering for renewables
In this episode, three experts discuss how technologies like smart grids, DERs and advanced industrial software can help us get renewable power where and when it’s most needed.
Listen to the first episode in our series, “The Future of the Power Grid.”
How digitization is decarbonizing industry
In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Lisa Wee, the Vice President of Sustainability at AVEVA about how AVEVA is helping its customers meet their sustainability goals while reducing its own carbon footprint in the process.
Why should businesses care about COP26?
In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Lisa Wee, the Vice President of Sustainability at AVEVA and Ruchi Shah, a Sustainability Manager at AVEVA, about the significance of COP26, the importance of combining diplomacy with commitments from the business community, and strategies businesses can adopt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
What can real-time data do in an emergency?
In this episode, AVEVA Pre-Sales Engineer Dan Lopez tells the story of his family’s harrowing experiences during the Polar Vortex that hit Texas in February of 2021. Dan shares how his at-home PI System gave his family insight into the storm’s impact and in doing so, helped them help others. Whether on a small scale or scaled for industrial use, Dan explains, real-time data is the backbone of resilient communities.
Smart water for a changing environment
In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Gary Wong, the Global Water Industry Lead and Expert for AVEVA, about some of the most pressing challenges facing the water industry. They discuss how data and technology can help utilities survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Biography
Rebecca Ahrens is the host of Our Industrial Life and the Senior Manager of the Editorial team at AVEVA. She holds a degree in philosophy and the history of math and science from St. John's College in Santa Fe, NM and attended ArtCenter College of Design's graduate program in Pasadena, CA where she taught and studied writing. She's written stories about how people have used data to save oysters in Tasmania, create sustainably powered microgrids in California, build digital twins of hydrogen and nitrogen gas pipeline networks in Singapore and Malaysia, and train ship crews using 3D simulations all around the world.
