Fountainhead Control Rooms Launches Mission-Critical Performance Group

Fountainhead Control Rooms, a firm specializing in custom control room consoles and integrated technology solutions, has launched a new group dedicated to mission-critical performance. Led by Principal Consultant David Lee, the Mission-Critical Performance Group (MCPG) aims to address critical issues in industrial and mission-critical organizations before construction begins.

MCPG's services are grounded in recognized industry standards and guidance, including ISO 11064 for control centre ergonomics, ANSI/ISA-18.2 and IEC 62682 for alarm management, ANSI/ISA-101.01 for human machine interface design, and ANSI/API RP 755 for fatigue risk management. The group's work encompasses a range of services, from operator performance and operator workload studies to high-performance HMI philosophy, style guides, and screen design.

Lee, a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), brings extensive experience to the role. He spent 22 years in the specialty chemicals industry, primarily as an automation engineer and manager, with additional roles in project management, IT, and operations. For the past 20 years, he has worked as a consultant focused on operator performance and automation, delivering projects in about 40 countries across chemicals, oil and gas, mining, pulp and paper, power generation and transmission, pipelines, and other sectors.

Lee serves on the Executive Board of the International Society of Automation (ISA) as Standards and Practices chair and is slated to become ISA President-Elect/Secretary in 2027 and ISA President in 2028. He is a member of several ISA standards committees, including ISA-18.2, ISA-101, and ISA-106, and serves as a U.S. Technical Advisory Group expert to IEC SC65, focused on IEC 63303.

Organizations planning a new control room, upgrading an existing one, or working through alarm, HMI, or staffing challenges can engage MCPG at any point in a project. Services include educational workshops, gap analysis of existing facilities, standards development, and detailed design for new or upgraded rooms. Because the group operates within Fountainhead, its recommendations can carry through to turnkey delivery, including consoles and technical furniture, full AV integration, and raised access flooring.

Fountainhead Control Rooms designs and delivers custom control room consoles, ergonomic operator workstations, and integrated AV and technology solutions for mission-critical environments, including 911 and emergency communications centers, real-time crime centers, emergency operations centers, utilities, and power generation facilities.