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In the academic world all researchers work hard to discover new findings, which will lead to great improvements in the scientific world. The leadership at universities monitors the success of groups/department with respect to the research quality. At KTH, this has been done at research evaluations (RAE) in 2008 and 2012. It is not exactly clear when the next evaluation will be done, but a good guess is that it will take place in 2020.
Currently, I am in Helsinki to take part in a one week research evaluation of the materials science and metallurgy research at Aalto University, RAI2018. As a matter of fact I am also joined by our Head of School Jan Wikander, who has been invited to evaluate the mechanical engineering research at Aalto University. Overall, 45 scientist from all around the globe have been invited to this exercise. It is a very interesting experience that provides me and Jan with important input which we can share with the ITM researchers, so that they can be better prepared for a future evaluation at KTH.
One important thing with the evaluation is that each department should be compared to peers at other benchmark universities. Thus, there is not a focus on comparing department’s performances on a university level. This is very good since there exist different ways of publishing research results, having an impact on society, etc. So the focus should be on comparing how each department performs in comparison to similar departments elsewhere.
Aalto University is a fairly new university which in 2010 merged arts, business and engineering into one new school. What we have seen so far they have already been able to create new exciting collaborations. Maybe one interesting example is the production of textiles from forest-based raw material rest products that has been developed by engineers. Then, the art scientists have used these materials to produce fashion clothes that already have been shown on so called “cat walks”. Maybe later the business school will create business models on how these fashion clothes, produced based on recycled product, can be branded as a sustainable fashion!?
Overall, it seems like Aalto University has created an atmosphere which stimulates collaboration between different research groups and scientist. During the interviews it is clear that both PhD students and faculty thinks that laboratories have opened up so that basically everyone has access to all experimental equipment. Maybe something for us to think about…..
Pär Jönsson, Vice Head of School
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I hope that you all have had a relaxing summer vacation “despite” the nice weather.
It is clear that weather and climate are very different things but according to Professor Johan Rockström, SU and Stockholm Resilience Centre: “The warmest summer ever can only be explained by understanding that climate changes interact with weather” (my translation from svd.se/larmet-extremsommaren-konsekvens-av-uppvarmningen/om/johan-rockstrom). Further from the same article Professor Rockström responds to a question:
“Do we still have chance to alter the development?
- Yes, we have. We are probably already now foreseeing an unavoidable 1.5 degree increase. But if we bend the global emission curve by 2020 at the latest and reach ZERO emission by 2050 we have a chance keep us below 2 degrees. But the only chance to succeed is that the world becomes fossil free by 2050 and that we manage all our eco-systems on the globe such that the planet maintains its resilience” ……”We have more and more evidence that a fossil free development is not only possible but also economically competitive compared to oil, coal and natural gas, and that it would give large benefits for societies in terms of economy, health, justice, democracy and safety.”
To meet these very clear objectives on emission reduction and finally elimination will require a lot of new solutions, approaches, products, systems, industries and behavioural patterns where industrial engineering is both a necessity and an enabler. Therefore it is my hope that you will now take the opportunity to read, or at least have a glance at the ITM Development plan 2018-2023.
Looking forward to a fruitful fall semester!
Jan Wikander, Head of School
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Samtliga funktioner inom stödverksamheten är bemannade under hela sommaren. Expedition Sing Sing har dock stängt under veckorna 26-31. Expedition Nord har öppet under hela sommaren, under veckorna 27-31 är expeditionen bemannad mellan 08.30-13.00.
Personalen går att nå via service@itm.kth.se under hela sommaren mellan 08.30-16.30.
Vi inom stödverksamheten hoppas att vi alla får en riktigt skön och varm sommar!
/Christina Carlsson, administrativ chef
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Many of our faculty members, researchers and teachers are now in one way or the other involved in sketching the future of ITM via intensive work on the ITM development plan 2018-2023. Already now I choose to disclose a few quotes from the current development plan draft:
“The vision of our school is to be a preferred partner – nationally and internationally – for students, faculty, industry and society in the area of industrial engineering with particular focus on manufacturing, energy and transport. Our main mission is to be a leading contributor to the transition of this industry to a future sustainable state characterized by new product and service designs, new materials, new business models, renewable energy systems, recycling, reuse and remanufacture.“
“The School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM) graduates yearly 10% of all new MSc engineers in Sweden. These engineering graduates constitute our most direct and powerful impact force on society. No other educational establishment in Sweden has such a large opportunity to influence the society through industrial engineering. With this comes an enormous responsibility to make sure that our graduates possess the right knowledge, skills and capabilities. Our School is determined to take the opportunity and accept the responsibility to firmly develop our education programs in the direction of sustainability.”
The coming steps regarding our development plan is that a draft will be distributed to the School’s Strategic Council and to all faculty members, researchers and teachers by the end of this week. And in the following week, the draft will be discussed in the Strategic Council meeting on June 19 and at the Faculty Club meeting on June 20. A finalized version will be submitted to our president by June 30.
The ITM Strategic Council has from this spring new representatives from the School; from our faculty the new representatives are Viktoria Martin (EGI), Per Lundqvist (EGI), Martin Törngren (MMK) and Cali Nuur (INDEK). The technical/administrative side is represented by Caroline Ahlstedt (INDEK). As external members we have Rachel Pettersson, research manager at Jernkontoret, Jonas Mann, vice president R&D industrial technique at Atlas Copco, and Per Grünewald, founding partner, Pegroco Invest. KTH management is represented by Vice president for digitalisation, Jan Gulliksen, as an adjunct member.
Equality and equal treatment are core values of KTH. An equality office has been set up centrally at KTH led by Anna Wahl, Vice President for gender equality and values. As we all know, Anna is also professor in gender, organization and management at ITM. The current KTH focus on gender equality has also led to quite substantial new resources to increase and strengthen the research and education on gender equality, led by Anna Wahl and her team. To enforce equality and equal treatment under the slogan “One KTH” every school has appointed a responsible person (JMLA) to monitor and supervise our development towards a more equal working place and towards a more equal society. The ITM management team has appointed professor Sofia Ritzén as our JMLA.
Finally I wish you all and nice and equal summer vacation!
Jan Wikander, Head of School
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Finally we have reached the end of the spring semester, after a very intense period. The last couple of weeks my time has been filled with both examination, research conferences and the graduation ceremony for our master of science students in the City Hall. During the graduation ceremony the presentation of the diplomandi was mixed with musical entertainment by the KTH academic orchestra conducted by director musices Gunnar Julin and the student choir. It was a very impressive and beautiful arrangement, I really appreciated the opportunity to present and congratulate all of ITMs graduates 🙂
Coming closer to summer vacations it’s time to summarize all P4 courses, complete the work of writing and correcting all the examination and enjoy the knowledge gained by all our excellent students when conducting their master thesis projects. But this week has also offered other exciting and interesting education-focused events. For instance I got to see the impressive work done by the students in the Energy Management course (MJ2410), since they presented their project results in Sing-sing (where my office is located). The students have studied each Tokyo district, during the course, to propose solutions for a more energy efficient Tokyo in the year of 2040. The initiative is based on a collaboration between KTH and the Gadelius company (which operates in the interface between Sweden and Japan). The students proposed creative and innovative solutions based on a holistic approach in order to reduce the energy use in buildings, increasing the amount of renewable energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. On June 4th, five groups presented their solutions to Japanese ambassadors, KTH representatives, external companies and the Gadelius company. The two winning groups won a trip to Tokyo in September to present their solution proposals for various representatives from companies and representatives for Tokyo City.
/ Anna Jerbrant, GA
Here’s a picture from the event:
