January 2020
118 delegates came to the 10th "Symposium on Lift & Escalator Technologies" in September 2019 in Northampton. They represented a wide cross-section of lift professionals.
During the two days of the Lift Symposium 22 papers were presented on various lift related topics. The delegates included - national lift association officers, academics from a number of international universities, lift consultants, company R&D researchers, developers, representatives from component suppliers and the trade press.
Professor Stefan Kaczmarczyk of the University of Northampton opened proceedings. Nick Mellor, chairing the first session, underlined the value for the symposium community to gather and exchange ideas both through the formal proceedings and in informal discussions.
The presentations and papers given during the two-day event covered many current and practical issues. At the tenth symposium there was greater focus on planning and the application of lift systems in real buildings. Four presentations were given showing how considered lift planning can benefit the building and indeed make it a viable development.
A paper evaluating the use of wood as a frame for the machine certainly caused comments and highlighted the use of sustainable materials. At the intangible end of the content presented was how to collect and use digital data generated by lift systems and their components.
A number of key issues were raised during the presentations and these included:
• The lack of safety equipment and maintenance procedures on goods only lifts (AGOLs), LEIA have issued a Technical Warning Notice which can be viewed at www.leia.co.uk.
• The difficulties in specifying and describing a lift when considering the different local expectations,
• Building sway in high-rise structures and how that resonance impacts on lift components,
• A paper raised the question – can results from lift traffic simulators be verifiable, transparent, repeatable and reproducible? It was suggested that this presented many challenges at the moment.
• Experts were still not in agreement regarding ISO 8100-32 and the incorporation of simulation methods into the ISO standard even though the publication is expected soon.
The delegates were encouraged to make comments after all the presentations, which is not always the case at these types of events. This certainly added to the value of the event.
A presentation showing how technical training is undertaken in Poland was informative. This along with all the other presentations can be downloaded from the Lift Symposium website.
There was a small exhibition accompanying the symposium which added to the event by showcasing a few components and research projects. The exhibition also gave an opportunity to component suppliers to add their expertise into the design mix and also listen to what consultants and clients need from them.
The Symposium provides a venue for the Department of Science at the University of Northampton to displays some projects and talk to delegates about future research projects and investigations.
11th "Symposium on Lift & Escalator Technologies" will be held in Shanghai, China on 4-5 May 2020, the 12th Symposium on the 23rd-24th September 2020 in Northampton.
John D Gale
liftsymposium.org
You can get more impressions of the symposium at our photo gallery
Digitalpaper
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