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The Presidents’ Visit

On May 9, Sigbritt and Mikael visited the School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM). The day began in Södertälje and ended in the M block.

In anticipation of the visit, the Dean of School had recorded video greeting welcoming Sigbritt and Mikael and outlining the strategic initiatives ITM aims to accomplish before 2019, as well as school-specific investment needs.

The Dean of School presented the necessary and quality-driven expansion of the school’s research. The intention is that this expansion will occur within three or four main categories:

  • Research and educational infrastructure
    • The innovation arena
  • Strategic research areas
    • Circular economy
    • Industrial digitization for sustainability and innovation
    • Energy-efficient industry
    • Advanced manufacturing
    • Carbon dioxide-free metal production
  • New research centers
    • MERIT – Critical edge computing for industrial application
    • Mechanics and materials design
    • Live-in-Lab
    • Basic support for potential KIC Manufacturing
  • Department-specific focus areas

The day began in Södertälje, at the Department of Sustainable Production Development. In preparation for a little surprise later in the day, Sigbritt received a full-body scan upon arrival.  One of the issues discussed in the course of the morning was “the challenge of making KTH Södertälje better known to the outside world.”

Thereafter, Sigbritt and Mikael continued to Campus Valhallavägen, where they were greeted by members of the school leadership. The school’s heads of department had recorded a video presenting each department’s vision and outlining challenges to achieving their objectives.

The heads of department and the departments’ video recordings were uploaded to Canvas as a course date, and Sigbritt was enrolled as a student. We watched the videos together, and discussed the departments’ various visions and challenges.

After this, service center staff arrived in electric cars and drove Sigbritt and Mikael up to the departments of Production Engineering, Machine Design, and Energy Technology. There they visited the Machine Design and Industrial Production prototype labs. Sigbritt also received her surprise: a “small mini-Sigbritt” made of various materials and based on the scan that had been made that morning. The visit ended with a visit to EGI and its Solar Lab facility.

After all this, the tired crowd of colleagues headed home to enjoy the long weekend.

The school leadership was very happy and proud to have had the opportunity to showcase ITM over the course of an entire day and to communicate the school’s vision and challenges.

Everyone at ITM hopes that Sigbritt and Mikael also enjoyed the day.

/Christina Carlsson, Head of Administration