Carlo Gorla, Politecnico di Milano, www.polimi.it –
MECSPE, the traditional exhibition event held in Parma (Italy) at the beginning of spring, has been representing for years now the reference trade fair for the entire manufacturing industry. Organized in thematic halls, it covers in fact the most varied engineering ambits, like for instance machine tools, assembly, automation, logistics, quality and material control, subcontracting, rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing and so on. It had also the great merit of being the cradle of an initiative, the Gear Forum, which in just two editions has gained the role of most important technical- -scientific event dedicated to gears and power transmission in Italy.
On the other hand, starting from the analysis of the exhibition offer of the past editions, we might assess that the products of great interest for our readers, that is to say the specific gears and components for the power transmission, were not sufficiently represented at the Parma trade fair, even undoubtedly accounting for a very significant share of the Italian mechanical manufacturing industry
The mechanisms that determine the identification of a product sector with an exhibition event are presumably complex but, in the case at stake, the absence of a hall specifically dedicated to the power transmission might have played a not negligible role.
Therefore Power Drive was born, the new specialized hall that will debut in the 2016 edition of MECSPE, dedicated to systems and components for the power transmission: not only mechanics, but also fluid power and mechatronics, with the aim of providing visitors with a complete survey of the solutions used in machinery, plants and vehicles.
A hall for mechanical transmission gears, evoked in the title of this editorial, chosen in homage to the review, but not only, because there will be also hydraulics, pneumatics, mechatronics and control, sensors, diagnostics and maintenance, ingredients for the implementation of integrated and complex transmission and drive systems, according to the current trends and evolutions in course.
Research and innovation, present not only thanks to companies but also witnessed by academy and authoritative centres, will be widely represented and expressed in the sectors of industry, of earth handling, agriculture and conventional and electrical mobility.
Well, waiting for the Gear Forum 2017, we will not get bored!
