Hiab boosts load-handling equipment research

   Hiab, part of Cargotec corporation, has received 1.4 million euros ($1.8 million) in funding from the European Union for a three-year research project with three universities in Poland and Sweden to develop sustainable load-handling equipment.
   Specifically, the project will focus on a new approach to control systems to improve operational safety and the efficiency of load-handling equipment. The project will also involve new design strategies for advanced light materials applied to load-handling structures to reduce their weight and fuel consumption.
   The three universities involved in the project are West Pomeranian University of Technology and Silesian University of Technology in Poland and the Swedish Lulea University of Technology.
   “The project will involve taking a multidisciplinary approach to crane construction and we will promote the mutual transfer of knowledge between academic and industrial partners, as well as between academic partners from different countries,” said Rafal Sornek, Hiab’s vice president of research and development, in a statement.