European Newspaper Award für Zeitungsartikel

Der Artikel in der Aachener Zeitung über Roland Verreet wurde mit dem European Newspaper Award ausgezeichnet. Die zweiseitige Aufmachung war wirklich hervorragend. Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Frau Sabine Rother, die den Artikel geschrieben hat, und ihr Team!

Den Artikel finden Sie hier.

A Jimmy Hendrix Concert for Crane Engineers

Leading international rope experts drew a specialist crowd to a three-day seminar in Kristiansand.

“For rope enthusiasts like me, this is like being at a Jimi Hendrix concert for engineers. To dip into the knowledge of some of the most competent rope specialists in the world, is highly rewarding”, says Kai Ingvald Flateland, Senior Engineer at MacGregor Norway. The 50 seminar attendees included larger groups from MacGregor and National Oilwell Varco, in addition to representatives from MHWirth, Cameron, DNV GL, Siem Offshore and Red Rock – and also employees at Rolls Royce, Maersk and TTS Marine.

“We are thrilled to see that the industry recognizes the quality of this seminar. The speakers are truly the best people in the world to learn from”, says Thomas Meyer, Business Development Manager for the research institute Teknova, which was organizing the seminar. Speakers included German “Rope Pope” Roland Verreet and British experts Nick O’Hear and Steve Banfield. The former is considered a leading global capacity on steel ropes, whereas the two latter are specialized in the field of fiber ropes.

You can read more about the seminar in the article from teknova.no.

Wire Rope Expert Roland Verreet Speaks at Goddard Seminar

On Feb. 25, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) and Goddard Space Flight Center hosted a wire rope seminar led by expert Roland Verreet of Wire Rope Technology Aachen (Germany). Verreet is a frequent lecturer, author and consultant on wire ropes.

Verreet showed participants what to look for and where to look in order to avoid wire rope failures. For example, he described a difficult-to-detect failure mode that can occur on the underside of the rope’s strands where the strands contact with the steel core. He explained that these breaks can be revealed by bending the rope, which will cause the breaks to detach from the main bodies of the strands. Verreet also discussed potential failures due to reduction of diameter, corrosion and deformation.

Please read more about it in an article of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance.

CICA Crane Conference, Hobart, Tasmania

On September 12, 2013 Roland Verreet gave a presentation on the CICA Crane Conference in the Hotel Grand Cancelor, Habour 1 in Hobart, Tasmania.
The next day, Roland gave a breakfast seminar for approximately 80 attendees. The seminar was scheduled from 7 to 8.30h, but when the time was over, the participants refused to leave. They asked Roland to cover a few other subjects of interest, and the breakfast seminar finally lasted 5 and a half hours.

Please find a comment from Alan Marshall, Chief Executive Officer of CICA, here. Learn more about CICA here.

Kennedy Space Center

On Friday, 6 January 2012, Mr. Roland Verreet was presented with a token of appreciation from NASA Kennedy Space Center. The presentation was made by Mr. Robert D. Cabana, the Director of the Kennedy Space Center. The plaque was custom-made for Roland and reads:

“Presented to Roland Verreet with Grateful Thanks from Your Friends at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This 5/8” stainless steel wire rope from the West 30-Ton Bridge Crane in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center lifted major components of the International Space Station from 1995 through 2009.”

A stainless steel rope of the Space Station Assembly crane is attached to the plaque.

Special significance of the various photos and presentation by Mr. Cabana:

• The lower right photo is the European Space Agency’s research laboratory, Columbus Module, being processed while on the hook of the 30-ton bridge crane in the Space Station Processing Facility.
• The large photo of the Space Shuttle launch is of STS-122 carrying the Columbus Module in its payload bay.
• The composite photo of the International Space Station superimposed over the Florida peninsula shows Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, under the center of the station.

Mr. Cabana flew a Space Shuttle 4 times (STS-41 Discovery, STS-53 Discovery, STS-65 Columbia and STS-88). He was the Mission Commander of STS-88, the first International Space Station assembly mission. Roland considers this a great distinction. He loves to work with the NASA engineers who are a bit smarter than the rest of us.

Växjö Crane Days

On November 11, 2009, Roland gave a 3 hour presentation on the Växjö Crane Days seminar in Växjö, Sweden. The seminar was organized by Inspecta, the swedish crane and elevator inspection authorities. After the seminar, Thomas Kruger, Technical Area Manager of Inspecta sent Roland a very nice comment:

“Roland! I can’t help being impressed by the way you act. It’s not only for your brilliant performances on stage but also your determination to help and support the one who needs your knowledge.”

14th North Sea Offshore Cranes and Lifting Conference in Stavanger

On April 29, 2009, Roland Verreet gave a 2h presentation at the 14th North Sea Offshore Cranes and Lifting Conference in Stavanger, Norway. 60 of the 222 participants filled out an evaluation form. Roland got a fantastic evaluation, both for benefit and for professionalism. You can download it here.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida

On February 11, 2009, Roland gave a presentation to lifting engineers of NASA and the members of the American Nuclear Crane Committee in the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The seminar created a lot of interest in the subject of wire rope. Roland was invited again and gave a presentation to a much larger audience on November 4, 2009. After the seminar, Roland was awarded a certificate as a “Distinguished Speaker” of the Kennedy Space Center Engineering Akademy. Roland is very proud of this distinction.

One of the subjects which were discussed with the NASA engineers was the lightning protection rope of the Space Shuttle launch pads. After the seminar, Roland was given a wonderful poster signed by the engineers he had worked with. In the poster you can see the lightning protection rope illuminated by the starting Space Shuttle. Roland would like to thank all friends at NASA for the nice dedications on the poster.

2007 conference of OIPEEC

On the 2007 conference of OIPEEC, the world’s largest scientific organisation dealing with steel wire rope, Roland Verreet was elected President of the orgaisation.

AWRF 2006

AWRF is the largest organisation of wire rope manufacturers and distributors in the world. Roland gave a presentation to the AWRF conference in St. Petersburg, Florida in April 2006 and received a lot of positive feedback. Mike Wallace, the president of the organization, commented the event on the front page of the AWRF “Slingmakers” magazine:

“Our featured presentation was “Wire Rope Forensics” by Roland Verreet of Wire Rope Technology in Aachen, Germany. Roland’s last presentation to the AWRF was at our fall 2001 meeting in New Orleans. Roland is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on the subject of wire rope. Roland’s presentation spanned both days and kept us all fascinated and asking for more!”