More than 50 representatives of its regional stakeholders attended Emerson Automation Solutions’ recent workshop for applied research in the processed industries, at the Collaboration Center in its new headquarters in Dhahran Techno Valley, Saudi Arabia.

Emerson’s stakeholders included partner educational institutions, key customers, and government representatives, said a statement.

Organisations represented at the workshop included King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM); Saudi Aramco Process & Control Systems Department; Saudi Aramco Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center - Advanced Research Center (Expec Arc); Dhahran Techno Valley Company; and the Ministry of Education and Small & Medium Enterprise Support Group for Eastern Province, it said.

The workshop discussed the roadmap for the development of the Collaboration Center, in addition to strategies to ensure that all stakeholders obtain maximum benefit from the centre’s facilities.

The forum began with a tour of the Collaboration Center, which is part of Emerson’s new headquarters worth $25 million, opened earlier this year in Dhahran .

Emerson’s Collaboration Center is equipped with five research pods fully equipped with a distributed control system and simulation panels, a brainstorming space for idea sharing, a solutions theatre for exploring a range of solutions in the process automation field with full 3D capabilities, and an advanced teleconferencing room.

Liam Hurley, vice president and general manager of Emerson Automation Solutions in Saudi Arabia, said: “This workshop was successful in engaging all stakeholders in exploring the roadmap for further development of the centre.”