Steve Medwin
The Raymond Corporation
Steve Medwin is the Director of Systems and Advanced Engineering at The Raymond Corporation. Since 2004, he has been leading the Advanced Research group, which is evaluating energy storage technology, in particular, the application of fuel cells to the material handling business. Prior to working at Raymond, he spent 20 years in Research and Development at DuPont. Steve is the inventor of nine U.S. patents, is a member of the UL 2267 Standards Technical Panel for Fuel Cell Power Systems for Industrial Electric Trucks and was the first chairman of the Industrial Truck Association Energy Storage Systems committee. Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and his Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He also received an MBA from Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, where he now serves on the Watson School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Committee.
Managing Energy Storage Options in Forklift Trucks
Forklift trucks are designed for specific functions in a warehouse. Similarly, the energy storage requirements need to reflect the specific usage of a truck. Is a truck used for moving goods horizontally like a car or does it put away pallets 40 feet up like an elevator? Does the truck regenerate energy during braking like a hybrid car yet need the deep energy capacity of grid storage? Is a truck driven at room temperature or in cold storage? Since the invention of the pallet 90 years ago, electric forklift trucks have been designed around a lead-acid battery because that was the only viable device for storing energy. Today there is a diversity of storage technologies available, from alternate batteries to fuel cells. The challenge facing customers and manufacturers is which technology is best for a given application and what are the implications for the truck design and utilization.