Newsmakers at KTH

Sörlin receives a Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences gold medal

Professor of Environment History Sverker Sörlin  has been awarded a Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences gold medal. In the words of the adjudicating panel, the award is for his pioneering deeds as an innovative researcher, head of research and active contributor to social debates, and for his significant efforts and dedicated engagement in research and higher education. For example, Sörlin has managed research projects on hiking as part of our cultural heritage, resource exploitation, society and sustainability in the Arctic, on the social roles of universities, and on the ongoing transformation of humanistic knowledge.The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences gold medal is awarded annually to the individual who has made an especially outstanding contribution within the field of higher education.

Recycling plastic into new clothing

KTH students Cristina Orlando and Kartikeya Sharma, have won first prize in Green Challenge 2021 at DTU, the Technical University of Denmark. The prize was awarded for their masters academic paper on environmental pollutants in the fashion industry. They investigated how plastic fibres could be recycled to produce cotton-based composite materials for sportswear.

Blood test for home use praised

Niclas Roxhed , Associate Professor and a team leader in Medical Microsystems at KTH, has won “Guldpillret” (the Golden Pill Award) together with Karolinska Institute Professor Olof Beck. They have been awarded the prize for developing a blood sample taking card that can be used to take quality assured dried blood tests at home for the purpose of diagnosis and pharmaceuticals treatment. The new method developed by the researchers means you can extract exactly the right amount of blood needed for accurate test results. The blood sample taking card has been used in Sweden to test for Covid-19 during the pandemic. The prize was inaugurated by Swedish Pharmaceutical Insurance and is awarded in partnership with healthcare media, Dagens Medicin and Apoteksmarknaden.

Sustainability researchers audit climate work

Karin Bradley , Associate Professor and Researcher at the Department of Urban Planning and Environment at KTH, is one of six researchers joining a research council that is going to audit climate work in the Västra Götaland region. They have been commissioned by the regional Environment Committee to take a closer look at climate work being done in the county and to present recommendations on what needs to be done to reduce climate emissions at the rate required. The assignment is based on a carbon dioxide budget resolved for the whole of Västra Götaland. Annual reports should illustrate what progress is being made towards a climate reset.

Professor receives Life Science award

Johan Rockberg , Professor in Antibody Technology and Directed Evolution, has won a Life Science Star Award for his work related to collaboration between higher education and enterprise, and the creation of inclusive ecosystems for Life Science. The prize is awarded by SwedenBio, the National Organisation for the Life Science Industry in Sweden.

Text: Christer Gummeson