Lift Engineering at The University of Northampton

We take a look at the the University of Northampton’s academic Lift Engineering program.

by Dr. Stefan Kaczmarczyk 

The School of Science and Technology at The University of Nort­hamp­ton offers an academic program in Lift Engineering aimed at research and a broad-based engineering education closely linked to the needs of the lift industry and allied sectors. 

The program addresses the current worldwide interest in the development of a safe, fast and cost-effective means of vertical transportation providing a sequence of educational courses for lifelong learning during a career in lift technology. It receives strong support from the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) and pre­sently includes the LEIA distance-learning course leading to the award of the BTEC Professional Development Certificate and three distance-learning courses leading to the award of a Foundation Degree in Lift Engineering, a Higher National Certificate in Lift Engineering and the MSc in Lift Engineering, respectively.

The Lift Technology Section in Northampton has well-established collaboration links with leading academic institutions within the U.K. and overseas, and receives strong support from leading local and international lift-manufacturing companies for its academic programs. It regularly organizes international meetings, sem­inars and conferences. This includes the Annual Lift Engineering Schools held in September and the international symposium series on the Mechanics of Slender Structures (MoSS).

MoSS2010

The Third International Symposium on MoSS (MoSS2010) was hosted by the University of Mondragon and held in San Sebastian, Spain, on July 21-23, 2010. The conference was organized in collaboration with the Applied Mechanics Group of the Institute of Physics and the Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound of the American Society of Mechanical ­Engineers. It was co-sponsored by Orona, Thyssen­Krupp Research Innovation and Design Product Planning Group, LEIA and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The meeting was attended by over 40 delegates representing academic institutions, the U.S. government, and elevator and other industries from Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and The Netherlands, U.K., and U.S. 

The event brought together experts from various fields: vertical transportation, civil engineering, structural ­mechanics, thermo-mechanics, dynamics, electrodynamics, vibration and control, kinematics and mechanisms, structural health monitoring, artificial intelligence, materials science, and applied mathematics to discuss the ­current state of research, as well as rising trends and ­direction for future research in the area of mechanics of slender structures.

A diverse range of topics featured in the conference presentations, covering the theory and applications of slender structures in terrestrial, marine and space systems, with elevator systems being a leading theme. Six keynote lectures were presented by international experts. They included:

• “Tensorial Deformation Measures for Flexible Joints” by Olivier Bauchau, Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.
• “Mechanical Modelling of Lift Slender Structures” by Ignacio Herrera, University of Extremadura, Spain
• “Advances in Understanding Stay Cable Vibration” by Nicholas P. Jones, Johns Hopkins University, U.S.
• “The Space Elevator and Our Future” by Bryan Laubscher, Odysseus Technologies, LLC, U.S.
• “The Lift and the Environment” by Rafael Macía; Otis Spain
• “The Dynamic Stability of a Moving Oscillator on a Long Flexible Structure” by Andrei Metrikine, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

The papers and/or abstracts of the presentations have been published on CD-ROM. The event had an excellent social program, including a harbor cruise and conference dinner at the La Perla restaurant on the San Sebastian beachfront. These social events provided unique opportunities for discussions and interaction among the delegates.

The Annual Lift Engineering School 2010

On September 28-October 1, 2010, the Lift Technology section at the University of Northampton (U.K.) staged its Inaugural Lift Engineering School. The school was attended by over 30 delegates, including returning and new students, as well as lift-industry practitioners. It involved a broad range of activities, from module enrollments and an induction program, to seminar presentations and workshops.

Dr. Richard Peters of Peters Research Ltd. explained the main concepts and traffic simulation techniques and demonstrated using ELEVATE™ software during a two-day workshop. The course/workshop “Lift Testing Workshop; Ride Quality and Safety Techniques” gave the delegates an opportunity to become familiar with the theory and practice concerning ride-quality measurement techniques and safety-verification procedures. Gregory Lorsbach of U.S.-based Physical Measurement Technologies, Inc. presented on “ISO 18738 Measurement of Lift Ride Quality” techniques, and Michael Brüggemann of Germany-based Henning GmbH presented an elevator inspection system for safety testing using accelerometers and rope load sensors. The presentations were followed by practical demonstrations using the National Lift Tower’s facilities. 

The Lift Engineering program at the University of Northampton provides a complete suite of educational courses to support employees throughout their engineering career, from apprentice entry through to senior engineering design and management responsibility. It had ­another successful year in 2009/2010 and entered into the new academic year with a full quota of new students. Currently, over 450 students represent the lift industry through the program worldwide. 

In the MSc program alone, there are currently over 30 candidates studying toward the award, with over 50 successful completions since the inception of the course in 1998. For more information or to apply for a place in the University of Northampton program, contact your author at phone: (44) 0-1604-893158, fax: (44) 0-1604-717813, e-mail: Stefan.Kaczmarczyk@northampton.ac.uk or visit the Lift Engineering website: www.lifteducation.org or the University of Northampton’s MSc in Lift Engineering website: www .northampton.ac.uk/courses/170/lift-engineering-msc/.