Issue 4/2010
07/02/10
ELEVCON 2010 Luzern
The IAEE Elevcon 2010 was convened in Luzern, Switzerland between the 2–4 June. The venue for this 18th Elevcon was again by water only this time it was Lake Luzern and the dramatic KKL convention complex. Here the IAEE elevator specialists were able to hold their congress with over 150 delegates and presenters who all gathered to exchange research results and reports regarding elevator technology and other related people moving topics. The KKL complex and surrounding facilities fittingly boast a number of Schindler lift and escalator installations which were appropriately used by delegates as they moved between their hotels and congress hall. I can report that the people moving equipment was all working fine which was not the case at Zurich airport where the escalator serving the railway lobby was moving so slowly it could hardly be said to be moving and people were stuck on it. The Arups team of elevator consultants took the stairs and I followed. Thank goodness I did, for the queue for rail tickets grew by over 80 people in the time it took for a passenger who elected to take the escalator when I took the stairs. This equated to a 15 minute delay in buying a train ticket and as we all know Swiss trains don’t wait!
Category: Issue 4/2010
Posted by: Editor
Elevcon 2010 Underway
Day one was started by Ami Lustig chairman of Elevcon 2010, editor of Elevator Technology 18 and a well known international elevator consultant, welcoming all to this the 18th International IAEE Elevcon gathering. As is customary he asked the speakers and the delegates to keep to the schedule, listen out for his warning bell and be aware of the sessions starting times. He reminded delegates to attach their business card to their conference bag so that he could return misplaced bags to the rightful owner.
Also in the opening session John Inglis the long standing President of IAEE gave a short welcoming address to the members. This was supplemented by a further welcome given by Jurgen Tinggren, the president of the management committee of Schindler Elevators & Escalators, Switzerland and Urs W. Studer the Mayor of Lucerne.
Following these introductions and welcoming addresses the congress started in earnest with 3 papers on Energy efficiency and consumption. These were presented by 3 experienced lift professionals, two from major lift companies and one from a notified body. These presentations set the standards for the rest of the congress and certainly met the expectations of the delegates. Following this good start we can report that over the three days of the congress a further 10 sessions featuring 37 papers and a workshop were all again well attended with a good deal of useful interaction after and between the presentations. Importantly during the first day, a full session was allocated for the authors of selected papers to stand by their posters and be available to explain and discuss their topic of study. This early scheduling allowed for further discussions to occur over the whole period of the congress which proved very successful. In fact during the three days delegates could always be found reading and studying the 14 displays and interrogating the authors for that little bit of extra information.
The interaction between audience and the individual experts has become an integral part of these Elevcon events. This opportunity to debate, discuss and air general or specific topics is an important feature and crucial in justifying the time away from the office desk. To help make the best use of this time a small foyer exhibition was provided where a number of component manufacturers were able to showcase a selection of key products. The foyer soon became the heart of the congress where delegates, presenters, press and organizers mingled during the coffee, lunch and tea breaks.
Regarding the subject matter covered at Elevcon 2010, this can be well described by the session titles which were: Energy efficiency; Traffic analyses and demands; Posters; Safety; Testing, Service and Maintenance; Mechanical developments; Escalators; Hydraulic; Evacuation; Energy consumption. These session titles usually contained four individual papers which often provided a surprise or two for delegates. Under the Safety title for example, were papers on:
1. ‘Optical elevator door sensor system with planar detection area’ which effectively produces a solid detection screen between the lift car doors.
2. ‘Lift performance and the stack effect’ what a surprise, this described how air pressure and temperature can influence the elevator performance in highrise towers then surprisingly we were contemplating the water tightness of a future under-the-sea development or indeed the reverse stack effect in hot climates.
Then it was back to the more familiar with;
3. ‘Fault tolerant encoder and its application for elevators’.
4. ‘Safe operation of an elevator drive without motor contactors’.
The individual papers are published in full as Elevator Technology 18 and are available from Ami Lustig. Back copies of the Elevator Technology series can be obtained directly from the IAEE. Importantly Elevator Technology 18 also contains the poster presentations which is a very useful inclusion.
During the Elevcon workshop session Traffic analysis and Destination control performance and assessing modeling programs for these systems was discussed. H. Jappsen and O. Rieke led the workshop but this was a difficult task not only because of the subject matter but also because of the large hall which made it impossible to achieve the intimacy required to get the best out of a workshop session. However, the delegates were introduced to the interpretation of the Jappsen consultants and how they understand traffic analysis but it was soon clear that the difficulties in comparing the efficiencies of destination control systems and indeed conventional systems was to great with everyone having different understandings and interpretations of the topic. No consensus was reached, but Jappsen and Rieke agreed to prepare a follow up document and try and move the base understanding started by Richard Peters of Peter’s Research forward.
Adrian Goodwin (Lerch Bates, UK) presented a paper titled ‘Circular transportation in the 21st century’ (without the ‘beautiful’ counterweight!). This paper was awarded the Elevatori prize for the best Technical Paper of Elevcon 2010.
Christian Studer (Schindler Elevators Ltd.) intrigued the delegates with a paper titled ‘Elevator System under use of Variable Speed transmission’.
The format of the congress worked well, however, the 8.30 start did put pressure on delegates attending the first sessions and many did say that a later start would have been appreciated. This was particularly noticeable at this Elevcon because delegates were in hotels away from the congress hall.
The presentations at this 2010 Elevcon benefitted from the good projection and sound system available. A number of presentations included video material which certainly did help describe the movement and dynamics of the research projects and the use of video as vital part of presentations seems well set for the future. However, if this is to be the case the quality of the video and fi lm material must be of the highest standard so that the audience can clearly see the movement and action. A badly lit, out of focus video is certainly not as good as a clear graphic or dramatic photographic still.
Outside the Congress hall
The main event held outside the congress was a dramatic and stimulating journey across the lake by steam paddleboat, up the steep hillside on a funicular train, along a cliff and forest foot path to the lookout point before a dramatic ride into the clouds in the Schindler panoramic Lift. After all this excitement and a well earned apple juice and sandwich, it was back down to the Hotel for a needed cocktail and dinner. The evening dinner was again sponsored by Schindler Elevator and Escalator, Switzerland and featured the IAEE Elevcon presentations with for the first time the ELEVATORI award for the best High Tech paper.
During the dinner Christoph Lindenmeyer CEO of Schindler Switzerland gave a short address stating that the Schindler team were pleased to help Elevcon 2010 and to sponsor the closing dinner at the Buergenstock Club. Lindenmeyer highlighted the International nature of development projects in the world today, stating that the very club we were all enjoying and that apparently typified Switzerland was in fact now owned by an overseas international investment group who were planning a major redevelopment of the complex. This observation was well appreciated by the delegates who could give many other examples of this international funding and development trend. J. Stier then thanked Lindenmeyer and the Schindler team again before moving onto the IAEE awards and presentations. Matteo Volpe and Fabio Liberali then announced the winner of the Best High Tech paper “and the award goes to ....pause.... Adrian Goodwin of Lerch Bates, UK”. Adrian accepted the trophy with thanks and stressed it was accepted also on behalf of his father who had put so much effort into the project.
Conclusion
The whole event proved as successful as all the previous Elevcons. It was noticeable that the delegate numbers were down but that was not a surprise as many companies from all parts of the world are reducing the number of people they can send to professional gatherings. The papers presented covered a variety of people moving topics and insured there was something to interest everyone who did come no matter what their speciality. Talking to a number of the members of the steering committee it is clear that much thought will be given by them to find the best way forward. With this in mind a number of senior lift professionals agreed at the end of the three days that this Elevcon 2010 was a worthwhile event backing up previous Elevcon initiatives, which were:
- the opportunity for face to face meetings of elevator engineers and technicians;
- the gratification of seeing your paper in-print and available to the outside lift community;
- the experience of communicating and presenting in front of an influential elevator engineering audience.
- the chance to see what Technology is being currently utilized and developed in other parts of the world.
- to gain an insight into what equipment might be required in the near future and see how its performance might be evaluated.
In some way this 2010 Elevcon gave ev eryone a glimpse into the future of these events. Will the Elevator industry reflect the celebrity culture we now all inhabit. Just as the Film Industry have the Oscars will we in future have the Elevcons and the congress provide the platform from which an international celebrity elevator engineer could emerge.
John Gale
4/2010
