EoW March 2010

corporate news

Uhing sponsors student project

Prysmian Cables & Systems has reached a major milestone with its optical ground wire (OPGW) business with the latest delivery of a system which takes its total installed worldwide cable volume past the 150,000km mark. OPGW cable forms an integral part of an overhead electricity network, performing both the primary function of a conventional earth conductor together with the provision of a state-of-the-art communications link thanks to the optical fibres contained within. The project is being carried out with one of the main power utilities in Eastern Europe, with the cable manufactured at Prysmian’s main facility at Vilanova, near Barcelona together with the production unit in Soracaba, Brazil. Prysmian also produced the optical fibres within the cable at the company’s facility in Battipaglia, Italy. Since supply of OPGW began in 1984, Prysmian’s aluminium tube technology design has been installed into a wide range of environments in all five continents. “This is an important achievement for us and confirms the commitment shown by our customers in our OPGW system over the last quarter of a century,” said Mr Raul Gil, head of Prysmian’s global OPGW business. “We have now installed our system in more than 80 countries around the world and we are delighted to reach this significant point in the product’s history.” Prysmian Cables & Systems – Italy Website : www.prysmian.com 150,000km installed base for OPGW Uhing is currently investigating whether the theoretical approach can measure up to the metrological precision of a light barrier. Joachim Uhing KG GmbH & Co – Germany Fax : +49 4347 90640 Email : info@uhing.com Website : www.uhing.com From November 2009, Joachim Uhing KG GmbH & Co will sponsor five teams of students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Kiel University of Applied Sciences to allow the future engineers to gather first-hand engineering experience. The project for freshmen students, called startIng! was launched several years ago and simulates an engineer’s profession. Sponsor companies, headquartered in and around Kiel, present a problem that the teams must solve within a week. At the same time, the teams are competing for the best solution. Employees of the project sponsors and upper division students act as coaches. Uhing’s problem was to optimise an existing non-contact spool flange detection system used to automatically reverse Uhing traversing gears. A particular requirement was to reduce the space requirements and to increase resistance against damage and soiling. The realistic experience of an engineer’s daily work gave the participants the opportunity to put their vocational choice to a test. All of the offered solutions being feasible, they were presented to a jury of academics and employees of sponsoring companies for judging. The winning team solved the problem of keeping the transmitter and receiver of a light barrier clean using rotating segmented discs. Uhing’s favoured suggestion was to exchange the delicate optical sensor with a robust ultrasonic sensor, a solution that not only reduces the mechanic complexity but also solves several aspects of the problem.

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EuroWire – March 2010