Allan Kern, PE, has 35 years of process control experience. He has authored numerous papers on topics ranging from field instrumentation, safety systems, and loop tuning to multivariable control, inferential control, and expert systems. From 2001 to 2008, Allan served as automation leader at a major Middle Eastern refinery, where his responsibilities included deployment and performance of multivariable control systems. Since 2005, Kern has published more than a dozen papers on multivariable control performance. In 2012, he became an independent process control consultant serving clients worldwide.