Thomas Lennon, Control Systems Manager at Cargotec, presented an overview of the history and operations of Moffett Engineering and gave students a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities at the site in Dundalk. During the tour, students were shown the forklift assembly line, the research and design facilities as well the testing centre for the forklifts.

Established in the 1940s, Moffett Engineering researches, designs and manufactures forklifts that can be ported conveniently on the back of goods transport vehicles. In recent times, Moffett has redesigned their forklifts to be all-electric overcoming many obstacles in terms of building expertise, choosing batteries and motors, developing the drive circuity, designing physical components, developing the user interfaces and connecting everything together with complicated customised harnessing. Though the upfront costs of the electric vehicle is greater than the original diesel one, the running costs are lower and overall the electric forklift is cheaper after 5 to 7 years. Furthermore, electric forklifts have proven very popular with operators since they are quiet and produce no emissions. So healthy for the workers and the planet.

DkIT would like to thank both Thomas Lennon and Kevin Turnbull, R&D Director, for this really interesting visit which proved enlightening for students of both courses. Cargotec hires across a wide range of Engineering disciplines including Electrical, Mechanical, Electronic and Embedded Software engineering.

• Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical & Electronic Systems
• Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering