EU transport attachés met research and innovation at KTH
On 29 June, 60 EU transport attachés and Swedish government representatives learned about KTH's research and innovation. The visit was organised by KTH's research platform for transport and took place in connection with the final part of the Swedish EU presidency.
The guests were welcomed at KTH Innovation's premises, where Deputy President Mikael Lindström gave a background to the university's almost 200-year history and its educational programmes, research, and innovation. He pointed out that the Stockholm region is the most innovative region in the EU, and sustainable transport is a significant area.
"By bringing you together, we can authorise good conversations and opportunities for cooperation and networking. Thank you for being here today!" said Mikael Lindström.
Dan Andrée, Senior Advisor for Stockholm Trio, talked about the Stockholm Trio collaboration and how KTH, KI, and Stockholm University are number one regarding funds granted from the Horizon Europe framework. Viktor Olsson, Programme Manager for internationalisation at KTH Innovation, explained why innovation is central at KTH. He discussed why Sweden had produced many successful startups, known as unicorns, and included the education system and opportunities to take leave to test an idea as key factors.
"Around 400 ideas come to annually, and about 400 companies have been created from KTH Innovation. An essential part of this is our KTH Readiness level , a free framework everyone can use for idea development and assessment of idea status," said Viktor Olsson.
The company Oceanbird, started through a research project with KTH, participated in the visit. Today, the company focuses on creating and selling 40-meter-high, rigid sail structures that automatically optimise the ship's wind intake.
"We can reduce emissions a lot, but only if the ships sailing the world's oceans are reached by our product. Then we can reduce seven to ten percent of their emissions with our sails", said Niclas Dahl, CEO at Oceanbird .
Magnus Burman, director of KTH's Transport Platform and event host, spoke about the importance of KTH's transport research for society's sustainability goals.
"Around 23 percent of emissions in the EU come from the transport sector. Transport also produces noise and emissions into water. These are complex challenges that require multidisciplinary cooperation to solve. We want to contribute to a holistic view and an integrated approach where authorities, companies, and researchers in the transport field work together" said Magnus Burman.
After the introduction at KTH Innovation, numerous presentations of selected transport-related projects were made. During these, the transport attachés had the opportunity to see and test solutions themselves, and many took the opportunity to ask the researchers questions. The visit ended with a joint lunch, where in-depth discussions on research and innovation continued.
