Points in the History of the Brazilian Society of Automatics ("Sociedade Brasileira de Automática" - SBA)

Abstract

The Brazilian Society of Automatics (SBA- Sociedade Brasileira de Automatica) was established in 1975 as a scientific organization to promote the Science and Engineering of Automation and Control in Brazil and to be a leading forum for researchers, students and professionals working in the various fields of Control and Automation. Currently SBA has over 700 members in Brazil (professionals, students, and organizations) and is responsible for organizing the major South-American academic event in the field of automatic control - the Brazilian Automation Conference ("Congresso Brasileiro de Automática" - CBA), a biannual event that attracts around 1,000 participants, as well as the Brazilian Symposium on Intelligent Automation (SBAI - "Simpósio Brasileiro de Automação Inteligente"). Furthermore, SBA co-sponsors events in the fields of robotics, neural networks, etc. always aiming to promote Automation and Control activities in Brazil. SBA is coordinated by a Board of Directors and a Council. It includes seven Technical Committees (Industrial Automation, Intelligent Systems, Robotics, Instrumentation, Power Electronics, Power Systems and Control Theory and Applications). SBA has one affiliated journal- "Revista Controle e Automação (Control and Automation Journal), the most important scientific journal in the control and automation area in Brazil. This paper addresses some points in the History of SBA, especially its beginnings. It is described in an oral history style, given that one of the co-authors - Celso Bottura - is one of the SBA founders