“I feel deeply inspired and humbled by the trust placed in me to lead CSIA, a respectable association in the automation world,” says Rivera. “I'm impressed by all the great things CSIA has been able to accomplish from its founding in 1994 until today, and extremely excited about the opportunity that lies ahead.”

During Rivera’s tenure as senior vice president of strategy and communications, industry business at Schneider Electric in France, he realigned the automation business along the company’s energy efficiency direction. He developed and executed the strategy to penetrate the process automation market.

Prior to Schneider Electric, Rivera had an 11-year career at Emerson Electric in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Puerto Rico, involving product line, general and regional sales management for the process automation market. He started his career as a sales engineer with Siemens in Costa Rica with later assignments in Germany.

“CSIA has had tremendous growth and impact on the automation industry, and our future holds even more potential. I’m confident that with José’s experience, leadership, and passion, CSIA will seize that opportunity and further increase our impact on the marketplace,” says chairman of the CSIA Board of Directors, PC Romano, president of Avid Solutions.

Rivera holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and Lic (MS) and BS degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Costa Rica. He currently resides in Chicago, and will be supported by CSIA headquarters in Madison, WI.