Tanuja Upadhyay

SCADA platforms have evolved from simple monitoring tools into the backbone of modern industrial operations. Ignition SCADA is one of the most powerful and flexible tools in this space. It enables engineers to connect, visualize, and control plant processes with ease while promoting smarter, data-driven operations.

Tanuja uses Ignition every day in real industrial projects, and she has seen firsthand how it simplifies engineering work and makes automation more approachable. This talk is designed to be completely beginner-friendly and easy to follow for both young engineers and experienced professionals who want to understand how modern SCADA systems work in practice.

The session will start with a simple overview of what SCADA is and how Ignition differs from traditional platforms in terms of openness, modularity, and ease of development. She will then walk through the architecture of Ignition and explain how it connects to Allen-Bradley PLCs, manages tags, and enables real-time control and visualization.

As an example, Tanuja will demonstrate a traffic light control system built in Ignition. This example will show how the interface is designed within Ignition, how components such as buttons, indicators, and timers are configured, and how each element is bound or tagged directly to the PLC logic. Through this simple visual model, attendees will learn how SCADA screens communicate with PLC data and how changes on the interface translate into control actions in real time.Topics that will be covered include:

● Understanding SCADA and why Ignition is changing how industries approach automation

● Overview of Ignition’s modular architecture and core components

● How to connect Ignition to Allen-Bradley PLCs and configure tags

● Differences between Vision and Perspective, and when to use each

● Designing HMI interfaces and binding them to live PLC data

● Example walkthrough: traffic light control system design and PLC integration

● How SCADA improves plant safety, reliability, and data transparency

Biography:

Tanuja Upadhyay is an Electrical and Automation Engineer at Blue Ridge Automation, Inc., in Clear Lake, Iowa. Her work combines electrical design and process automation. She designs, programs, and commissions PLC and HMI based control systems using Allen Bradley CompactLogix and Ignition SCADA platforms for food and beverage industries. Tanuja enjoys being hands-on, solving real-world problems, and seeing a system she designed come alive during commissioning. That is where engineering feels most rewarding to her.

Tanuja completed her Master’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from California State University, Long Beach (Dec 2024), and her Bachelor’s in Instrumentation Engineering from Mumbai University (May 2022). During graduate school, she worked as a Teaching Assistant for MATLAB and CAD, which helped her realize how much she enjoy mentoring and collaborating in technical spaces. Tanuja loves giving talks, sharing what she has learned, and inspiring others who are just starting their journey in engineering.

As an active IEEE member of PES, WIE, I&M, and Young Professionals (YP), Tanjua truly values how IEEE connects engineers across different backgrounds and generations. It is a community where learning and collaboration go hand in hand, and that is something she wants to be more involved in.

Email: