Australia Towers In Third Stage

Australia

Construction began on the third stage of the Australia Towers development in January. This phase involves construction on One Australia Avenue in Sydney Olympic Park, to stand 120 m above sea level, making it what The Daily Telegraph calls “the tallest building in western Sydney.” The 30-story tower is to contain 300 apartments and a glass-clad roof garden/restaurant. According to Philip Vivian, director of the project’s architectural firm Bates Smart, “The final two towers on Australia Avenue are linked by a low-rise podium with retail tenancies and a gymnasium to create a lively street frontage.”

The project is the third installment in a joint venture between Ecove and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority. The first tower was completed in early 2012 and houses around 600 residents in 216 apartments. The second tower, ATII, is to house 267 apartments and be completed in late 2014. Completion of One Australia Avenue is set for mid 2015.

Canada

Marine Gateway Door, Entrance Contract

Peelle received orders from Minnesota Elevator, Inc. to supply 20 landing doors, 11 car gates and 20 channel-iron entrance frames for seven KONE elevators in Marine Gateway, Vancouver’s mixed-use, transit-oriented development (ELEVATOR WORLD, December 2012). Located adjacent to both the Marine Drive Canada Line station and South Vancouver bus loops, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold-certified complex combines 820,000 sq. ft. of residential condominiums, rental housing, office buildings, and retail and public spaces.

Germany

Gustav Wolf Announces Personnel Changes

Gustav Wolf Rope and Wire Works GmbH & Co. KG has announced personnel changes. Antonio J. Pagán was promoted to Export Sales manager of wire ropes. Located in Madrid, he will manage products outside of Germany with a focus on southern and Eastern Europe and South and Central America. He joined the company in 2009 as a sales manager and was responsible for elevator wire rope in southern Europe. Pagán has more than 10 years of experience in the elevator industry and a degree in Physics from the Autonoma University of Madrid.

Jim Hopkins has joined Gustav Wolf Wire Rope (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. as Operations manager in Suzhou, China. He will lead the company in production, maintenance and process engineering. Hopkins has more than 40 years of mechanical engineering experience and a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. In addition, he is a certified inspector for Xerox and a member of the Institute of Quality Assurance and American Society of Quality Control.

Amy Zhou Min has returned to her former position as deputy general manager at Gustav Wolf Wire Rope (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. in Suzhou. As a member of the original management team in 2007, Min supported the startup of the business. In 2010, Min temporarily left the company. Prior to joining Gustav Wolf, Min worked with BP (China) Holdings Ltd. and Mead Johnson. Min has a degree in English and an MBA.

Japan

Toshiba Holds Environmental Exhibition

Toshiba Corp. held its 22nd Environmental Exhibition at its headquarters in Tokyo on February 7-8. The exhibition showcased approximately 90 of the company’s latest environmentally conscious products and initiatives. Toshiba is promoting its “Toshiba Group Environmental Vision 2050,” which demonstrates what future environmental lifestyles could entail. The exhibition is open to the public and organized in four sections, each reflecting an aspect of Toshiba’s approach to ecologically friendly practices, which include “Greening of Products,” “Greening by Technology,” “Greening of Process” and “Green Management.”

Malaysia

Expo To Include Iem Participation

The International Mechanical, Electrical & Engineering Exhibition, set for June 10-14, 2014, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, has garnered support from the Institute of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM). The professional body of approximately 23,000 engineers will organize technical seminars on “Vertical Transportation and Power Generation,” in addition to other environmentally friendly topics. There is also an opportunity for attendees to earn Continual Progress Development Points at the event.

For more information, contact UBM MALAYSIA at A-8-1, Level 8, Hampshire Place Office, 157 Hampshire, 1 Jalan Mayang Sari 50450, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; phone: (603) 2176-8788; fax: (603) 2164-8786; or e-mail: aseanmne-my@ubm.com.

Middle East

Two Towers Launched By Damac

Damac Properties is building a 150-m-high tower opposite Kingdom Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a 355-m-tall tower in Dubai Marina, Dubai. The former is branded “Damac Esclusiva Luxury Serviced Apartments,” and the latter has been dubbed “Damac Residenze.” The Riyadh project will contain approximately 100 luxury serviced apartments designed by Fendi, while the Dubai project will contain approximately 200 Fendi-branded properties, with regular Damac properties below. Arabtec has been appointed as main contractor for the 82-story Damac Residenze, and Al Hashim is carrying out the substructure work on the Riyadh project. Their values are estimated at US$327 million and US$213 million, respectively. Both developments are to be completed in 2016.

North America

New Schindler Fleet Vehicles

Schindler announced in February that it began the process of replacing more than 500 sedans in its North American vehicle fleet with the Toyota Prius Two, a gasoline/electric hybrid sedan. The process is expected to reduce the company’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 42% versus those of the company’s current sedan fleet. Schindler claims a 34% reduction (2,358 gal. of gasoline per year) in fleet greenhouse emissions following a 2010 replacement of its 2,000-plus non-sedan fleet with the Chevrolet HHR. The sedan fleet replacement will take place over the next three to four years.

Spain

MP Gets Contract For Airbus Station

MP Lifts has signed a contract with construction company Sacyr for the manufacture, supply and installation of the vertical-transport extension at the San Pablo industrial estate Airbus Military station in Seville. The project will take place in the factory’s delivery center, near the San Pablo airport, and include a panoramic lift with an MP optimized gearless machine (MPGO) with a 1000-kg capacity, reduced pit and counterweight safety gear. MP has already supplied and installed four platforms, 11 electric lifts with machine rooms and one without at the Airbus Military factory. The station holds the final assembly line of the new transport airplane from Airbus Military, the A400M, as well as the line of medium and light products from Airbus Military.

U.K.

Partnership Designed For Research, Innovation

The University of Northampton’s School of Science and Technology and ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG have established a partnership for research and innovation. The university’s Lift Engineering program includes postgraduate courses at MSc, MPhil and PhD levels that involve the study of advanced principles and philosophy underlying lift and escalator technologies. This agreement will underpin the program and extend the existing relationship between both institutions, forming a platform for developing long-term R&D plans. The partnership will involve efforts to bridge the gap between innovation and research.

Professor Kamal Bechkoum, executive dean of the university’s School of Science and Technology, commented:

“We are delighted that this prestigious partnership has been forged. In view of the present worldwide interest in the development of safe and cost-effective means of vertical transportation in the modern built environment, this is an internationally important cooperation program in the area of lift engineering. The partnership demonstrates ThyssenKrupp’s recognition of the high standards of our research program in this area. It will be mutually beneficial and will lead to increasing research and innovations on both sides, creating safer and more-efficient lift transportation in world-class high-rise buildings.”

Patrick Bass, senior vice president of Product, Research and Development at ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG, commented:

“The Partnership will strengthen the innovation capacity of ThyssenKrupp Elevator and will help to develop new technology-based products. This additional cooperation allows us to continue to leverage the university resources to develop our teams and provides a platform for open innovation. We are excited and proud to have an opportunity to work with such a prestigious university within our industry.”

Worldwide

TE Hires VP Of Global Sales

 TE Connectivity’s Industrial Business named Chuck Adams its vice president (VP) of Global Sales in January. Based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Adams joins TE with 30 years of experience in capital, transportation, rail and energy. Most recently, he served as general manager of Global Sales at GE Intelligent Platforms, where he led sales for automation and embedded products and solutions. During his 14-year career at GE, Adams held various senior sales leadership positions, including Global Sales leader at GE Energy and general manager Parts for GE Transportation. Adams graduated with a BS in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and earned an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Part of its Industrial Business, TE’s elevator and escalator segment is divided into six groups: “Connectors & Connector Components,” “Filters & Accessories,” “Relays/Switches/Sensors,” “Heat Shrink Tubing,” “Identification Products” and “Passive Components.” The segment is heavily involved in the company’s push to be known as a leader in “Smart Buildings” development.