TAKING OUT the friction

BUILDING AN INTERCONTINENTAL COMMUNICATION BRIDGE CAN BRING INVALUABLE BENEFITS, SAYS KNORR-BREMSE ASIA PACIFIC’S DR JONATHAN PADDISON.

- STEPHEN CROWE

Friction is the enemy of all movement, they say, but it comes into play whenever two surfaces meet. Friction and its obverse – movement – is a specialised area of engineering that has delivered a varied and culturally rich career for Dr. Jonathan Paddison, Member of the Board of Knorr-Bremse Asia Pacific.

Engineering studies led Jonathan to a Ph.D. in control systems and, in particular, magnetic levitation, sparking a search for avenues in which to use his specialised expertise and leading him around the world to the highest echelons of corporate life.

“I studied mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, and then a Ph.D. in control systems – magnetic levitation, principally for maglev [magnetic levitation] trains,” recalls Jonathan. “This enabled me to work first in Germany and deepen my knowledge in the technology, which was being developed in Germany at the time for the Transrapid maglev system.

“Then I saw an opportunity to go to Japan with the European Union in a science- and technology-based program,” he says. “At the time, Japan was seen as the upcoming market to which Europe needed to get closer, but the European Commission soon realised that it didn’t have enough people knowledgeable about Japan. So, I went to Japan and worked closely with industry on maglev technology.

“Maglev was always considered an engineer’s dream – to have transportation without using wheels and without friction – and it’s been pursued for the past 40 years, but it has the big disadvantage that the system does not integrate with other transport systems very well,” Jonathan explains.