Meet William, A Control Systems Developer
We had the chance to connect with William Sylvester, Senior Control Systems Developer I, to talk about his role at Interstates and what excites him about the evolving world of automation. William brings a blend of technical expertise and forward-thinking perspective that helps clients and teams succeed.
Can you tell us about your background? How did you get to Interstates?
I developed an early interest in technology, building my first computer in elementary school. By the time I reached eighth grade, I had begun teaching myself programming, primarily driven by a game I was passionate about. When the game’s official servers shut down, community-run servers emerged, and I took the initiative to host my own. During this time, I taught myself C# using basic tools like Notepad and a command-line debugger. While unconventional, this experience strengthened my problem-solving skills and gave me a strong foundation in debugging and logical thinking.
After high school, I pursued a career in the culinary field, attending culinary school and working as a professional cook for approximately ten years. During that time, I gained valuable experience in high-pressure environments, including eight years at Bev’s on the River, one year as a Head Sushi Chef in Greeley, Colorado, and additional time working in San Diego and as a traveling cook. Throughout my culinary career, I continued programming on the side, maintaining and growing my technical skills.
Eventually, I decided to transition back into technology. After discussing career options with my stepfather, I enrolled in the Industrial Instrumentation and Control program at Northeast Community College (NCC). I quickly gravitated toward the programming aspects of the program, and early on, my instructors recognized this as a strength and likely career path.
During my time at NCC, I completed an internship with Interstates, where I was exposed to a wide range of industrial automation technologies. Following my internship, I was offered a full-time position and joined the company. Since then, I have worked on a highly diverse project execution team, gaining hands-on experience across multiple platforms, including Wonderware (AVEVA), Rockwell, Schneider, Siemens, IDEC, Iconics, and Omron systems.
This diversity has been instrumental in accelerating my growth, allowing me to quickly adapt to new technologies and broaden my skill set. My journey—from early self-taught programming, through a decade in the culinary industry, and back into automation—has given me a unique perspective, strong problem-solving abilities, and the adaptability needed to succeed in a dynamic engineering environment.
What is your area of expertise?
My specialty is Schneider and AVEVA products.
What advice would you give to someone new to your field?
Chase after what you find fun. When you are doing something you enjoy, it doesn’t feel like working anymore. This field is broad, so there are lots of choices – HMI, PLC, AI, and new technologies.
What is some advice you usually provide to our clients?
I make sure to let them know what tools are out there to train their staff. I was previously at a key client startup, and the old generation is retiring, and the new generation is starting to take over. I was able to show them some resources to train their staff at their pace to make the new generation more successful. I also try to listen to their needs and let them know what technologies are out there to make their jobs easier.
What does a "typical" day look like for you?
A typical day in my role can vary significantly, which is one of the aspects I enjoy most. In general, I spend my time working with SCADA and PLC systems, making updates to control logic, developing or modifying graphical interfaces, and writing custom scripts to meet specific client needs.
Throughout the day, I also take time to mentor others, sharing knowledge and experience with different software platforms and best practices I’ve developed over the years. In addition, I periodically support existing clients by troubleshooting issues or implementing requested system enhancements.
Given the variety of responsibilities and the dynamic nature of the work, I’ve found that maintaining a well-organized and thoughtfully planned calendar is essential for staying productive and successful. My go to is Microsoft TODO list.
What's the most interesting challenge/project that you've solved?
The most interesting project I have worked on was troubleshooting a Siemens system. Periodically, if you didn’t execute the changes in a specific way, things would break, and they had to manage 2 projects. I was able to dig into things and figure out that the issue was that someone years ago had deployed the historian to a local HDD, so there was no storage on their secondary node. Once this was resolved, the client was able to manage a single application.
What technology or innovation are you excited about in your field?
AI. This is changing the landscape of how we will do projects in the future. I see, in the next 5 years, a huge shift into what a programmer does now vs what they did before. It will enable the less trained to be more successful, and it will also enable companies to execute projects at a much lower cost in the future by automating the boredom.
What gets you excited about your job?
Seeing the new generation grow with the new technologies, and the fire I see in the team about Ignition, AVEVA, and AI. I can really see them starting to shape the future of automation to come. They are questioning what device/software to use and where to use it. They are also bringing new tech in that we haven’t used before and making it valuable.
What has been your favorite part of working at Interstates?
My favorite part of working at Interstates comes down to two main things.
First, I am constantly exposed to new and evolving technologies. I enjoy the challenge of learning and figuring things out, and this role provides endless opportunities to do so. Even within the past month, I’ve had the chance to work with four controllers and two SCADA systems that were completely new to me. Being able to continuously expand my technical knowledge is something I find very rewarding.
Second, I value the flexibility that comes with being a remote employee based in Sioux City. Having a dedicated home office setup allows me to work efficiently (even if it means managing multiple displays), and the flexible scheduling helps me maintain a strong work-life balance.
Of all the software you have used over the years, what is your favorite and why?
Preferred PLC Software:
My preferred PLC software is EcoStruxure Automation Expert, primarily due to its modern architecture and flexibility compared to traditional PLC platforms.
First, it significantly reduces vendor lock-in, which has historically been a major limitation in control systems. By leveraging the Universal Automation (UAO) initiative, the platform allows multiple hardware vendors to support the same control application. This shifts the design focus back to selecting the best hardware for the application, rather than being constrained by a single vendor ecosystem.
Second, the platform includes built-in self-healing redundancy. Not only can the control system operate in a redundant configuration, but in the event of a node failure, the system can automatically reassign control to a backup node without requiring operator intervention. From a reliability and uptime perspective, this is a substantial advantage.
Third, EcoStruxure Automation Expert supports a wide range of industrial communication protocols natively at the controller level, including Profinet, EtherNet/IP, Modbus, OPC UA (server), and MQTT, with continued expansion. This eliminates the need for additional hardware or gateways in many applications.
Fourth, the platform demonstrates a strong commitment to cybersecurity, targeting compliance with IEC 62443-3 standards. It also provides the capability to encapsulate and secure legacy, unencrypted communications, which is critical for modernizing existing systems.
Finally, the programming model integrates PLC and HMI development into a unified, object-oriented structure. This eliminates ambiguity between control logic and visualization by tightly coupling them within the same object. The result is improved modularity, consistency, and reduced engineering effort.
Preferred HMI Platform:
My preferred HMI platform is AVEVA InTouch and System Platform. While these are technically separate products, they are closely integrated, and there is a relatively smooth migration path between them since many InTouch components are foundational to System Platform.
One key advantage is their broad connectivity. The platform includes over 20 native PLC drivers, supports OPC UA (including acting as a server), MQTT, and even allows for the development of custom communication drivers when needed.
From a cybersecurity standpoint, AVEVA has made significant investments. Communications between OI Servers and clients are encrypted, and when supported by the source device, secure connections can be enforced end-to-end. Additionally, certificate management is centralized, and integration with enterprise solutions such as Azure MFA is supported.
The graphics system has also evolved significantly. Originally based on proprietary vector graphics, it transitioned to SVG-based graphics in 2017, enabling resolution-independent design. This allows developers to create a single display that scales effectively across multiple screen sizes and devices.
The platform also offers several advanced features that enhance operational visibility and usability. For example:
- OMI applications can be deployed to mobile devices, expanding the reach of the HMI and what can access the control system (security is still enforced and not lost doing this).
- Historical playback functionality allows operators to review past process conditions in a DVR-like manner.
- Native integration with AVEVA PI System supports efficient data replication and historian connectivity.
A major strength of System Platform is its object-based architecture, as opposed to traditional flat tag databases. Objects can define attributes with multiple levels of hierarchy, include embedded scripts that enforce standardized logic, and contain associated graphics such as popups, faceplates, and overview displays. This enforces both engineering and visualization standards across the system.
As a result, design becomes more efficient and consistent. Instead of searching through template screens or graphic libraries, engineers can simply instantiate an object (e.g., a valve or motor), and all associated logic, attributes, and graphics are automatically available through structured configuration.
Overall, both platforms emphasize modularity, scalability, and standardization, which are critical for modern industrial automation systems.
William’s path reflects the value of curiosity, adaptability, and lifelong learning in automation. From self-taught programming to culinary leadership and now industrial control systems, he brings a unique perspective that continues to shape his work at Interstates and his excitement for the future of AI, AVEVA, Schneider, and other emerging technologies.