2013 IEE Tech Forum

This event brought together industry professionals, presentations and an exhibit in February.

The third edition of the International Elevator & Escalator Technical Forum (IEE Tech Forum) was held in the organizer’s hometown and India’s garden city of Bengaluru on February 22 and 23. Virgo Communications and Exhibitions P. Ltd. established this event to bring together members of the vertical-transportation industry to share knowledge about the latest in products, technology, expertise and policies in their field.

The two-day event was officially declared open by the lighting of the traditional lamp, or diya, by three guests of honor: Basavaraju, chief electrical inspector to the Government of Karnataka; Debdas Goswami, director, Bureau of Indian Standards; and S.M. Bhasme, chief lift inspector (Maharashtra). They were joined on stage by T.Bruce MacKinnon, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Elevator World, Inc., and Fabio Liberali, Editorial Manager, Elevatori.

The inauguration ceremony continued with Basavaraju and Goswami’s insights regarding the vertical-transportation industry in India and the way forward for both Indian and international players in this field. Goswami urged industry members to actively work with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to formulate new and correct extant codes and standards, and to bring to their attention any policies due revision or requiring further elaboration. He acknowledged the important role of such events as the Tech Forum and the IEE Expo in bringing together national and international players in one location and encouraging dialogue regarding standards and policies that help lay the foundation for new technologies and innovations in design.

TAK Mathews of TAK Consulting, a vertical-transportation consultancy based in Mumbai, was awarded by MacKinnon and G. Raghu, director of Virgo Communications, for his successful work as initial editor of ELEVATOR WORLD India, from 2008 to 2012. Serving as technical moderator for the seminar sessions at Tech Forum 2013, Mathews went on to welcome the audience and introduce the first speaker for the day.

The first two speakers, Ronnie Dante and Abhijit Dandekar, represented the BIS P4 panel and discussed the latest updates of Indian Standards and the EN 81 and EN 115 family of standards in detail. EN 81 and EN 115 are globally recognized European Standards for the elevator and escalator industry. This technical session was followed by Neeta Deole’s presentation on the Elevator & Escalator Safety Trust. This initiative is increasingly necessary to address the number of reported incidents on vertical-transportation equipment each year. Deole presented its success in having reached more than 35,000 children across major cities and towns in India. She iterated that the support of the industry is crucial in helping this program realize its full potential and reaching out to more children and other demographics.

The second half of the first day was kicked off with Parag Mehta’s presentation “VVVF Solution for Energy Efficient Green Hydraulic Lifts” that discussed the parameters that render an elevator energy efficient, the hydraulic market trend in Europe and India, and the potential for this type of elevator to become more popular. Mathews then presented “Pre-requisites to Fire Fighting & Evacuation Using Lifts,” wherein he suggested that in an age of high-rise buildings, elevators are the only feasible means of escape, making it imperative to evaluate the equipment and design of the building, and to understand human behavior in emergency situations.

The final two presentations of day one included a paper by Andrea Azzoni called “Fire-rated Doors for the Indian Market” that also delved into the use of elevators in case of evacuation and advocated the installation of fire-rated doors to prevent fire propagation to the elevator shaft and building. Arut Chelvan ended the day’s seminar session with his presentation “Merging Technologies of Elevator Controller and AC Inverter,” wherein he outlined the characteristics of the elevator controller and AC inverter and the functional and economical benefits in combining the two technologies.

After a few hectic days of preparation leading up to the Tech Forum and a busy first day, a private dinner hosted by Virgo at the end of day one served as a welcome break for exhibitors and organizers. Seminar sessions on day two resumed with John Löwbäck’s presentation “Design, Comfort, Safety and Simplicity in Home Lift Driven by Screw System” and Vivek Puranik’s presentation “Prevention of Unintended Car Movement.” Löwbäck’s paper focused on a screw system used in home lifts that enhances functionality without interfering with aesthetics, while Puranik delved into the different braking methods used to prevent or correct unintended elevator car movement. Roberto Nardi then presented “Doors for Lifts & Home Lifts,” highlighting the importance of designing and installing safe doors that can adapt to emergency conditions. He also discussed the evolution of home lifts.

Swapnil Astunkar started the afternoon sessions of day two with his talk on recent upgrades, functions and structures of elevator control systems in his presentation “Trends in Elevator Control Systems.” Kumarswamy’s paper “Guiderails for High Speed Applications — Specifications, Selection, Transportation, Storage and Handling Process” detailed considerations to ensure comfort while riding high-speed elevators, as well as guide-rail specifications and technicalities.

Anandi Khandekar presented “Traffic Analysis Fundamentals & Elevatoring for High Rise Buildings,” wherein she stressed the significance of smart and well-thought-out designs, giving special consideration to traffic analysis to make elevators more viable in high-rise buildings. The final presentation on day two was Marcello Personeni’s paper titled “Vertical Transportation in High Rise Buildings (Design, Performance, Energy Saving, Safety and Aesthetics).” He outlined the characteristics of high-rise buildings that greatly influence the vertical-transportation system installed and advocated that manufacturers and engineers focus on quality, performance, aesthetics, sustainability and safety.

An exposition was held concurrently with the seminars. Forty-four exhibitors from across the globe were present, and more than 2,000 attendees visited over two days. They included manufacturers, suppliers, buyers, end users, engineers and students. Most exhibitors and visitors commended Virgo on a diverse representation of the industry and the technical knowhow and insight acquired at the seminars.