Autumn Tech Meetup - Building Machines to Run the Mill

[Scroll down to read about the Tech meetup's new dates]

Building Machines to Run the Mill: A Journey in Industrial Automation

In his talk, Koowar will be sharing a recent project that automated the entire process of starting up and shutting down a complex part of the production plant. The project also delivered real time decision support tools for helping operators through upset conditions as well as a training simulator to accelerate up-skilling operators.

Koowar Singh graduated from UBC in Chemical Engineering but quickly traded thermodynamics and heat balances for code. He now leads the Continuous Improvement program at Mercer’s Celgar Pulp Mill, where he helps bring a traditional industry into the digital age. From advanced automation and supervisory control systems to Python dashboards that make complex operations visible and actionable, Koowar’s work focuses on turning industrial data into smarter decisions and more efficient processes.

- Starting fall 2025 (now), the Nelson tech events will begin a new cadence: One tech/AI/social meetup every month, on a 3 month rotation. This event will be the only tech meetup this fall. November will be the only AI meetup this fall, and December will be a tech social! Most events will be on the last Wednesday of the month, except when clashing with holidays or similar.

Also check out other Meetups in Nelson, Workshops in Nelson.