Events

When: April 14, 2016 7:00 AM, Pacific Standard Time (UTC -08:00)

Who: Keith Forman, Conductix

The International Monorail Association held an international webinar with Keith Forman of Conductix, a company that designs, manufactures, and installs/services a wide range of conductor bar systems, transit conductor rails, slip ring assemblies, and inductive power transfer (IPT®) systems, as well as cable festoons, spring driven cable reels, and motor driven cable reels. The presentation was taped for those that sought access to the information at a later date. Subject Matter: Power rails have been an integral part of Monorail and APM systems since the earliest days of the technology. Though the power rail typically represent less than 5% of the total system cost, its implications on system performance, reliability and life cycle costs are considerable. Using historical examples spanning over 30 years, this presentation examines numerous design considerations and lessons learned for integrating power rail into a monorail system. The relationships between the power rail and guideway, vehicle, and traction power supply system will be covered as well as environmental, operational, maintenance and economic considerations. Most importantly, proper integration of the power rail system is best initiated in the early stages of the transit system design process. About the Speaker: Keith Forman is the Global Director of Transit Systems for Conductix-Wampfler, Inc. The company is a global supplier of electrification systems to transit, material handling, ports, automation, amusement, and numerous other industries. Keith is a mechanical engineer and technical manager with 20+ years' experience in the specification, design, development and production of power rail systems. Prior to joining Conductix in 1992, he served for 8 years in the US Air Force in aerial reconnaissance operations. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. 

At the International Monorail Association, we believe that at the heart of every big city there is an opportunity for people to get to work, school, shop, visit friends, etc. conveniently, reliably, and efficiently. That goal requires assessment of what the conditions are on the ground, what the patterns of user preferences are, what the services presently available are in the form of buses, taxis, underground, what the gaps in service are, as well as the volume of passengers involved. Once the existing physical infrastructure is assessed, the planning on how to satisfy the gaps comes next. All the undertakings mentioned above constitute the steps to assess physical infrastructure. What is missing in many communities is the social infrastructure that allows the projects to be explored. In other words, what is missing is the knowledge base in a given field that could be used, transferred to other environments. That is one of the goals of the International Monorail Association meetings: to create an opportunity for the social infrastructure to be set in place, to learn about what portions of a project were successful, which decisions should be avoided, what technologies are being studied and explored in research institutions. Monorailex 2015 occurred this past November 2015. During the sessions there was a lot of learning in the various fields. Our field trips were also instructional. We experienced the hospitality of the members of the Las Vegas Monorail Company, showcasing their Innovia 200 trains, and Doppelmayr Cable Car Company, showcasing the systems at Aria and Excalibur. Both companies opened their maintenance facilities and vehicles to our delegates. Those who attended Monorailex 2015 can attest about the technical value, camaraderie, and friendships that develop during these meetings. The general membership present at the event decided a number of things:

• To create a new category of membership, the Association Member. This category will allow IMA to extend membership status to associations dealing with transportation related issues and to solicit membership on their associations
• To remove the joining fee as a way to streamline the membership experience.
• To hold our next 2016 meeting in Cologne, Germany, or its vicinity.
• To issue comments to the ASCE 21 document to have it reflect mass transit monorail needs.
• To distribute some of the papers presented in the sessions to people interested in the field of monorails and Automated People Movers.

There are relevant tasks ahead of us in 2016; working on our comments to the ASCE 21 documents, multiple new projects are coming on line, and ensure the learnings of previous projects get incorporated into the new ones. This is also the time to innovate and be open to the opportunity monorail transportation systems provides the owners and users in terms of efficient design and operation. Let’s recommit to the tasks ahead of us. See more photos here!

An international webinar was held by our member Roger Dirksmeier with FOGTEC, a company dedicated to the covering an important topic in mass transit: Increasing Fire Safety- A Holistic Approach. The talk expanded on how to make use of innovative technologies and processes to increase fire safety and efficiency in modern mass transportation systems. About Roger Dirksmeier: Mr. Roger – A. Dirksmeier General Manager – Rail Systems FOGTEC Fire Protection, Cologne, Germany. During his study at the “Cologne University of Applied Sciences” for vehicle engineering, Roger had first time deep contact with the railway industry and had to work out fire protection concepts for fire protection solutions in metro vehicles (1998). To finalize the Technical Engineering degree (specialized in “track-guided vehicles” and “traction technologies”) Roger did his master thesis at Deutsche Bahn, the best-known German railway operator, with the focus on fire risk analysis and fire protection concepts for railway vehicles. Afterwards he joined FOGTEC Fire Protection in Cologne to develop the market for rolling stock applications with innovative and customized solutions for active fire protection. The Rail Systems team of FOGTEC is today the world market leader for active fire protection solutions in railway vehicles and has references all over the world with more than installed 12.000 systems. Roger, now in his 15th year at FOGTEC, heads all railway activities and is joining several normative and research groups throughout the world touching fire protection in railway systems.

• February 6-8, 2015 - Executive Council Workshop, Orlando, Florida
  To meet with ASCE APM Group and to set the association in Switzerland.
• ASCE APM Standards Ongoing conference calls to provide feedback to ASCE APM group.
• June 16, 2015 - Webinar: Increasing Fire Safety- A Holistic Approach
• November 12-15, 2015 - Monorailex 2015, Think Elevated - Move with Monorail, Las Vegas, Nevada

September 19-22, 2014 - Wuppertal, Germany

SEMINAR MONORAIL PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS (Brochure download 1 Mb)

A seminar for Monorail specialists from around the world who wished to be involved in the process of drafting a set of Performance Specifications for Elevated and Automated Public Transports Systems.

TUTORIAL MONORAIL FOR CURIOUS PEOPLE (Brochure download 1 Mb)

This tutorial was specifically aimed at persons who wished to learn the basics of monorail technology and applications. Participation in the Tutorial was free for Seminar Delegates

The following categories of interested parties benefited from the presentations:

• Public Transportation
• Professionals
• Governmental Agencies
• Policy Delegates
• Consultants
• Contractors-Suppliers

Members of the Executive Committee met in Orlando with members of the ASCE Automated People Mover group on February 6-8th to identify areas of interest where IMA could contribute to ASCE 21 elements of the Performance Specifications currently under development to capture Mass Transit Monorail characteristics.

After the meeting with ASCE APM, the executive committee members attending the session, Peter Keller, Peter Timan, Peter Wittwer, Jaap Ketel and Carlos Banchik. The workshop counted with the attendance of Mr. Patrick Sweet, Monorail Product Manager of Bombardier Transportation as a guest. The group worked on many tasks:

1. Taking the steps required to move the association from Nederland where it was founded five years ago by our General Secretary Jaap Ketel to Switzerland, where the financial and some administrative tasks will be taken care by Mr. Peter Wittwer and Peter Keller and staff at Derap AG. The balance of administrative tasks and marketing will be taken care of by Carlos Banchik and staff at Innova Technologies.
2. Working on the Articles and Charter for the new Association. These documents will be presented to the attendees in our next event later this year.
3. Review of our Mission statement, also to be presented in our next event.
4. Development of the value proposition to our members,
5. Identification of potential members to our association
6. Development of guidelines for our website
7. Review of the status of the Performance Specifications

During the event and recognizing the notable contributions in the area of internet marketing and sales of Mr. Sweet, the Executive Council offered him the position of Director of Marketing and Social Outreach, a position he gladly accepted. This is another example of how the association works towards the distribution of monorail related knowledge.