BTH and Henrik Ny in the SustainTrans team has been appointed to organize “Maglev 2024”, the 26th edition of the international conference on magnetic transport systems. It will be the first time this conference has been held in Scandinavia since its inception in 1977.

This international conference is the world’s most prestigious academic conference for so-called magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) technology, where trains are one of the best-known applications. It was recently decided where the next conference would be held. In tough competition with several large European cities, BTH’s bid won, with sustainability transport and energy expert Henrik Ny at the helm. The conference will therefore be held in Malmö and Copenhagen September 18-22 2024, with BTH as the organizer.

– Above all, it was BTH’s strong focus on resource efficiency, sustainability and development scenarios that convinced, says Professor Johannes Klühspies, chairman of The International Maglev Board (https://www.maglevboard.net/en/), which brings together the industry. Klühspies was one of those who strongly supported the proposal that the conference should be located in Scandinavia.

BTH’s VC, Mats Viberg, is enthusiastic about the upcoming event:

– For Blekinge University of Technology and our partners and sponsors, it is an honor to organize an international conference like this and a huge opportunity to showcase the university and the region to the world.

There is a lot of research and development going on in this area today in China, Japan, South Korea and Germany. Several MAGLEV tracks are also in operation. Preliminary studies carried out by Henrik Ny indicate that MAGLEV trains could contribute strongly to the ongoing streamlining and electrification of the transport sector and compete with both traditional high-speed trains and domestic flights:

– Magnetic trains could become the next generation transport system. MAGLEV trains are quieter, faster, more efficient and they have much lower maintenance costs when compared to traditional trains. In addition, the bridge track can be built with half as much concrete and fewer tunnels are needed than for traditional high-speed trains, so the construction cost can also be lower for MAGLEV trains.

Martin Prieto Beaulieu, project manager for BTH’s initiative summarizes the goal of the conference:

– We want to engage a new generation of engineers, provide a platform for all magnetic levitation technologies and offer sustainability evaluations and simulations to have them future-proof. This is based on BTH’s 30 years of experience in research about strategic sustainable development.

You can read more about the conference at MKON’s webpage https://mkon.nu/maglev_2024