This report briefly describes the "expert controller" as it is envisioned at this early stage in its development. The discussion concentrates on the predicted requirements of the total system along with a preliminary evaluation of the TI Scheme programming environment. An expert controller is a complex machine and many possible difficulties will be unforeseen. Hence, the design of the system is likely to evolve as development takes place. One crucial factor and likely limitation lies in the intention to embed the expert controller in a "personal computer" or microcomputer technology. While this places restraints on the power of the system the hope is to achieve a relatively inexpensive self-contained unit that is an "intelligent" supervisor for industrial process control.