3rd CIMAC CASCADES: Seminar for Younger Engineers

Towards the Elastic Engine – Developing Major Engine Systems in the Digital Electronic Age

The third staging of the CIMAC CASCADES seminar for younger engineers and students took place at the ETH Swiss Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland on June 8, 2012. Organized by the CIMAC National Member Association (NMA) in Switzerland, the Division Combustion Engines of the Swiss Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industries (Swissmem), the event was considered a considerable success by all attendees.  In what may become the standard framework for a CASCADES event, the seminar itself was preceded on 7th June 2012 by a visit to a member company’s facility. Wärtsilä invited CIMAC delegates to view its Diesel Technology Center in Winterthur, site of research and development on large 2-stroke diesels. The viewing of the facility was complemented by an exhibit from a further CIMAC and Swissmem Member Company, ABB Turbo Systems based in Baden, Switzerland. Rounding off the first day was a boat trip with dinner on Lake Zürich.
In total over 100 delegates and officials from 12 countries signed up to enjoy the program of interesting, lively and topical CASCADES presentations around the central theme of the efficiency, low emissions and flexible performance made possible by state-of-the art electronic management on modern large engines. Following welcome addresses from Yashiuro Itoh, CIMAC President and Oliver Riemenschneider, Chairman of the Swissmem Division Combustion Engines, Professor Konstantinos Boulouchos, head of the ETH’s Aerothermochemistry and Combustion Systems Laboratory, gave an excellent Keynote Speech. His theme was the differences, but principally the unexpectedly strong similarities between large and small engines, and the consequent potential for universally valid R&D work.  
As requested by the organizing committee, speakers in their first jobs after completing their studies expounded on the challenges, motivations and rewards of undertaking vital R&D projects early in their careers. In an especially interesting aspect, speakers stressed the differences between theoretical work in an academic environment and “real world” experience where the yardstick of economic viability has to be applied to every finding and proposed engine modification.
The decision regarding the Best Paper was certainly difficult in the view of the high standard of all the presentations. The decision finally fell in favour of the paper “Interfacing Thermodynamics and Controls – The Application of Combustion Pressure Sensors” from local presenter Alex Weber, Project Engineer Pressure Sensors Engines at Kistler Instruments. He was rewarded with a Certificate and free entry to the 2013 CIMAC World Congress to be held in Shanghai, China, from 13th to 16th May 2013.
CIMAC takes this opportunity to thank Swissmem for organising the 3rd CASCADES and all the presenters for their excellent contributions:
-    Melanie Hubacher, ABB Turbo Systems, Switzerland
-    Elias Bürli, Design Engineer Wärtsilä, Switzerland
-    Markus-Christian Meier, Engineer, Thermodynamics Department MAN Diesel & Turbo, Germany
-    Nora Viktoria Santa, Engineer, Thermodynamics and Fluid Systems Department MTU Friedrichshafen, Germany
-    Marcos Gutierrez, Project Manager DUAP, Switzerland
-    Kevin Whitley, Applications Engineer Woodward Governor, The Netherlands
-    Alex Weber, Project Engineer, Pressure Sensors Engines, Kistler Instruments, Switzerland
-    Koji Edo, Deputy Manager, Design Section, Marine Diesel Engine  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan