University of Saskatchewan Fluid Power Lab manager wins Moog oldest operating servovalve contest

U of Saskatchewan_Moog 21 Series Servovalve_made in 1963

The University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering Fluid Power Lab won the contest by sending in a video showing lab equipment running with a 53-year-old Moog 21 Series Servovalve.

The Industrial Group of Moog Inc. declared Doug Bitner, manager for the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering Fluid Power Lab, the winner of its contest to find the oldest operating Moog servovalve after he sent in a video showing lab equipment running with a Moog 21 Series servovalve manufactured in 1963. Moog launched the contest last September as part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Moog’s operations in Europe.

“I knew we had a lot of Moog valves in the lab, so I thought I had a chance,” said Bitner about entering the contest. “But it really surprised me to learn we had won.”

According to Bitner, the University of Saskatchewan is noteworthy for having one of the few undergraduate fluid power labs in North America. The winning servovalve is part of a single closed-loop test system Bitner’s students and instructors use for aerospace and industrial experiments.

“We’ve done endurance testing in the lab on agricultural equipment frames, up to 1 million cycles for high pressure,” added Bitner, “and the Moog valve still exhibits good characteristics.”

IABG_second place valve winner_Moog 22 Series Servovalve_made in 1966

Germany-based IABG’s second-place entry is a Moog 22 Series Servovalve manufactured in 1966 and running a test application.

“Congratulations to Mr. Bitner for finding the oldest operating Moog servo valve; we’ve always spoken about our valves’ reliability, and Mr. Bitner proved it,” said Ari Almqvist, Group Vice President and General Manager – Industrial Services at Moog Inc. “Our valves also have a long history running in tough environments like steel production, gas turbines and industrial machinery.”

Almqvist announced that the second place winner was Walter Andreas from IABG, an analysis and testing company, who produced evidence of a 22 Series Moog valve manufactured in 1966 running on a test application in Germany. The third place award is shared by John Shannon of TATA Steel’s CPP Trostre Works in the U.K. and Tom Gecse of U.S. Steel in Canada. The TATA Steel entry is a Moog 60 Series servo valve made in 1969 and operating a steering rod in the mill. The U.S. Steel entry, also a 60 Series servo valve made in 1969, operates a tension leveller in the Canadian mill. See images below for 3rd place.

The winning prize is an Amazon Voucher for US$500, although some of the award-winners have indicated donating their prize to charity.

In 1951 William C. Moog, Jr., developed the first commercially viable servovalve. Servovalves transform a digital or analog signal into a hydraulic output such as flow or pressure.

Moog Inc.
www.moogglobalsupport.com

The third place award is shared by TATA Steel’s CPP Trostre Works in the U.K. and U.S. Steel in Canada. The TATA Steel entry (pictured left) is a Moog 60 Series Servovalve made in 1969 and operating a steering rod in the mill. The U.S. Steel entry (pictured right), also a 60 Series Servovalve made in 1969, operates a tension level in the Canadian mill.

The third place award is shared by TATA Steel’s CPP Trostre Works in the U.K. and U.S. Steel in Canada. The TATA Steel entry (above) is a Moog 60 Series Servovalve made in 1969 and operating a steering rod in the mill. The U.S. Steel entry (pictured right), also a 60 Series Servovalve made in 1969, operates a tension level in the Canadian mill.