Madelynn Northcutt-Wyly, Period 6

Modern Elevator

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/03/technology/maglev-elevator-smart-city/index.html?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool

A new technology has the possibility to allow elevators to not only go up and down, but they could also move horizontally, at an angle, and even out into the city.  Thyssenkrupp, a German company, has found a way to use magnetic levitation to propel elevator cabins.  These new elevators called Multi are no longer restricted to a cable or a single vertical path.  With this new invention, building no longer have to be centered around a core of elevators and the shape of buildings can start to vary.  A single elevator can go from the East side of the first floor all the way to the West side of the thirtieth floor.  The company's CEO, Patrick Bass, has been in the elevator business for 26 years now and thinks this new invention will create new transportation in cities in the future.
The invention of the Accel, the horizontal moving walkway at airports, also use the magnetic levitation like this new elevator.  The Accel was the first horizontal use of magnetic levitation technology outside of the train.  Patrick Bass hopes to complete the first full sized maglev elevator in his own building in Germany by the end of this year.  In 2015, they created a one third scale version of the elevator.  He states, "We are not an elevator company, we are a transportation company."  These elevators will initially cost more, but it will allow companies to build more green building designs.  Also they do move slower than the elevators we use today, but they are made with up to 45% more space.  The first ever elevator installed was in 1853; technology has come a long way since then, and it will only improve.