Market & Opportunity
As the demand for space in densely populated urban areas increases, the need for taller buildings becomes paramount. HYPRLIFT is a next-generation elevator that represents a radical innovation in vertical transportation that will meet the demands of these taller buildings.
“The Hyprlift system is a logical solution and may very well be the next major advancement in elevator design and technology for supertall buildings.”
Joe Neto, V. P. – Key Accounts
VDA Elevator Consulting
“Hyprlift recalls the early years of our industry when change was rapid, visionaries imagined a future none had seen, and innovators fundamentally changed our cities. I applaud the effort and look forward to seeing the commercialization of Hyprlift’s technology.”
Randy Wilcox, Former President
Otis Elevator Company
“There is both a critical market need and global business opportunity for the Hyprlift system…this potentially game-changing technology.”
Peter Weismantle, Managing Director
Peter Weismantle LLC
Former Director of Supertall Building
Technology, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
A next-generation elevator
HYPRLIFT is a next-generation elevator for the next generation of tall buildings. Unlike traditional elevators that rely on cables to hoist the cab up and down in a dedicated shaft, HYPRLIFT cabs are self-propelled, high-performance electric vehicles that are not bound to a single shaft, but instead navigate autonomously throughout multiple shafts. In lieu of cables, HYPRLIFT cabs are equipped with an onboard dynamic-tractive drive system that engages with the shaft and propels cabs at high speed.
By omitting the cables, HYPRLIFT allows multiple cabs to travel within the same shaft, enabling greater transport capacity and shorter wait times to be achieved using fewer shafts. This is important because by reducing the number of shafts, HYPRLIFT frees-up valuable space in the building, space that can then be utilized for revenue-generating purposes. What’s more, omitting the cables allows HYPRLIFT cabs to travel non-stop to virtually any height, eliminating the need for skylobbies and freeing-up more valuable space.
Team
James Hutchinson
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
James Hutchinson founded Hyprlift Inc. in April 2019 in his pursuit to create a next-generation elevator that would revolutionize the industry he has been part of for three decades.
As a 30-year veteran of business development and enterprise sales in the vertical transportation technologies space, preceded by eight years as a mechanical design engineer, Jim sought to combine his passion and experience to become a driving force for radical innovation in an industry that’s not seen significant innovation in well over a hundred years.
Dr. Daniel Johnson, PhD
Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Daniel Johnson is Hyprlift’s Chief Technology Officer. In this leadership role, Dan is responsible for guiding the overall design and development of the Hyprlift system as well as developing the engineering teams necessary for the successful execution of our product development plan.
Dan was instrumental in providing the foundational engineering design and modeling work behind Hyprlift’s revolutionary dynamic-tractive drive system. He also led the effort to secure funding to construct a proof-of-concept prototype through an SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation.
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Osvaldo Enriquez
Control Systems Engineer
As Control Systems Engineer, Osvaldo “Ozzy” is responsible for the design and development of Hyprlift’s electrical control systems and controlling software. Ozzy brings a high-level of passion and competence to every endeavor he undertakes.
Prior to joining Hyprlift, Ozzy was a Senior Engineer in the robotics development division at Applied Medical, a global organization in the medical device industry. While at Applied, he led engineering teams on a wide range of mission-critical projects involving state-of-the-art robotics and advanced motion control systems. Ozzy is proficient with many programming languages and platforms including Verilog on FPGAs, CUDA on GPUs, C++ on processors, and Python + Javascript for websites.
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Erik Bleyle
Product Development Engineer
As Product Development Engineer, Erik is relied upon for his vast knowledge of elevator systems as well as his innate ability to make things work. With over 37 years of experience installing and servicing elevator systems, Erik possesses a hands-on-knowledge of standard industry procedures and best practices.
Prior to joining Hyprlift, Erik was founder and president at Bleyle Elevator, an independent elevator service company based in the San Francisco area. Under Erik’s leadership, Bleyle Elevator grew their service portfolio to over 1000 elevator units under contract.
Read MoreAdvisory Council
Randy Wilcox
Randy retired as President Americas for industry-leader Otis Elevator Company. During his 32 years with Otis he served as President Americas, President South Asia Pacific Area, as well as held numerous other positions. Today Randy assists those looking to invest in the elevator industry and serves on the board of directors of the largest independent elevator service company in North America. He also serves on several other for-profit and non-profit boards outside the elevator industry.
Peter Weismantle, FAIA RIBA
Prior to founding his own consultancy firm, Peter was the Director of Supertall Building Technology at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture for 12 years, preceded by 31 years as an Associate Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. During his distinguished career, Peter was the senior technical architect for several world-renowned supertall building projects including Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world’s tallest building, and the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, currently under construction but when completed will surpass the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building.
Joe Neto
Joe is the Vice President-Key Accounts for VDA Elevator Consulting, a leader in the elevator consultancy space. Over the course of his career, Joe has consulted on many iconic high-rise building projects including Hudson Yards, the largest commercial real estate development project in U.S. history. With over 35 years of elevator industry experience, Joe is regarded as an expert in his field evidenced by his many industry-related licenses and certifications.
James Fortune
Jim is the founder and principal partner at Fortune Shepler Saling (FS2), a leading consultancy firm in the vertical transportation industry. Jim’s reputation as the world’s foremost expert on supertall buildings was earned as a result of his consulting on the world’s tallest buildings including Taipei 101 in Taiwan, the IFC and ICC towers in China, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the Jeddah Tower (formerly known as the Kingdom Tower) currently under construction in Saudi Arabia. Drawing on over 40 years of elevator industry experience, Jim has authored many technical papers and spoken at industry events about advancements in elevator technology. Jim is also credited for having invented the “Lifeboat”, emergency elevator evacuation operations used in supertall buildings.
Professor Mark Cutkosky, PhD
Mark is head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford University. Mark applies analyses, simulations, and experiments to the design and control of robotic hands, tactile sensors, and devices for human/computer interaction. His research work at Stanford includes the development of patented technology for scaling smooth vertical surfaces using anisotropic frictional materials, a.k.a. gecko-inspired dry adhesives.