Speaker Lineup: Exploring Key Topics in Joint Programmes

Lorenzo Galante

My name is Lorenzo Galante, I am a physicist and I work at Politecnico di Torino as an Academic Developer. I have a PhD in Physics and a specializing master's in science communication. Recently I taught and organised a Blended Intensive Program on Sustainable Energy with colleagues from Umea University (Sweden) and from UPC in Barcelona. My research interests are in the field of STEM in Higher Education and particle physics (PAINUC Experiment on Nuclear Matter). I’m passionate about teaching and bringing research and enterprises into engineering education. I like swimming, cycling and running. Some time ago I used to do them all together one after the other. Recently I have become interested in Joint Programmes as an opportunity to upgrade and improve the learning process of our students.

Margaret Pate

My name’s Margaret Pate and I am an English Language Expert at the Politecnico of Turin. I have a Master’s in English Language Teaching and for the last ten years I have been training the insitution’s professors to teach in the international classroom. My interest in this area began when I took part in an Erasmus+ project called EQuiP, which focused specifically on the quality of teaching and training for international programmes. I love this work as it has given me many different ways of thinking about teaching and learning and offered me the possibility to work with people who are very different from myself, quite a challenge but very rewarding when it works!

I moved to Italy 25 years ago and have enjoyed living in a sunnier climate than the UK, where I was born and educated. I speak French, Italian, English and a little Spanish, as I lived in Madrid for 2 years before moving to Italy. Although my adopted country can sometimes seem a little chaotic, I like the peaceful mountain areas which are just a short drive from my town, Turin as well as the excellent cuisine, of course.

I look forward to meeting you all and finding ways to collaborate and put together a successful Joint Programme without stress.

Arnold Pears

I am Arnold Pears, Professor and Head of the Department of Learning in Engineering Sciences at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. My research focuses on various aspects of learning in computer science and engineering education, including models of future learning, computational thinking as a fundamental skill for the future, and effective learning strategies. Within Unite!, I have been working with capacity building initiatives in the context of the Teaching and Learning Academy activity and also within the virtual campus, to create collaborative courses and share innovative pedagogies. On a personal level, I am a keen fencer and have trained as a fencing master for Foil and Epee in modern Olympic Fencing.

Tomi Kauppinen

I am Tomi Kauppinen , the head of Aalto Online Learning—Online Hybrid Lab  at Aalto University, Finland. My journey in academia spans across cognitive systems, artificial intelligence (AI), visual communication, geoinformatics, and online learning, with a global footprint that includes engagements in over 30 countries. My passion lies in the nexus of exploration, research, design, and education, all aimed at enhancing our comprehension of the world and cultivating essential skills and mindsets. I firmly believe in leveraging storytelling, immersive augmented reality, information visualizations, and human-to-human interactions to achieve this vision, all while maintaining a critical eye on the role of AI in our lives. Beyond academia, I host the Cloud Reachers podcast , exploring cutting-edge topics, and have authored both fiction and academic works, including my debut novel "Human"  and the co-edited Palgrave Macmillan-published volume "Design Education Across Disciplines."  My hobbies are essentially cyber-physical. I love to do sports, so you will find me doing own-weight exercises, running, swimming, or playing racket games (like padel, squash, or tennis). I am an avid reader, photographer, and love to watch incredible films or be socializing with my friends and colleagues. In my workshops, teaching, projects, books, podcast episodes, and keynotes I aspire to open doors for experiencing engaging adventures, fostering invaluable learning experiences, facing philosophical questions, and contributing to designing a world that is both exhilarating and human.

Karin Knutsson

I am the group manager for the Project Support team at the International Relations Office, KTH Education Office. My expertise lies in developing and implementing administrative procedures for joint education programmes with or without external funding. In 2010, I was given the task to be the administrative project coordinator for four Erasmus Mundus programmes, and since then, I have been working with joint programmes at all levels. Lately, the challenge of joint PhD education has been the focus.

At KTH, I lead the quality assurance group for joint education (BUS). The group collects expertise from colleagues at the KTH Management office and the KTH Education office. The distinguishing feature of the group is that we handle questions for joint programs for which there are no previous routines or guidelines at KTH. After preparation, a solution is proposed for the KTH management, resulting in innovative development at KTH.

I am active in the Unite! Community Innovative teaching and learning together with Eija Kujanpää at Aalto. The two of us are leading an eminent expert team for Joint Programmes at the Master’s level.

The expert team has written a handbook for joint Master’s level and developed a filtering tool for administrative concerns. You will be acquainted with these on-line tools during the course Competencies for Collaborative Teaching in Joint Programmes in August.

On the personal side – my husband and I love travelling and are known to be foodies. So don’t hesitate to ask me about restaurants in Stockholm.

Ernest Ampadu

I am currently working at the Department of Learning, KTH- Royal Institute of Technology as an associate professor of mathematics education. I have over 20 years of experience as a teacher at the University, Secondary, and primary levels in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Ghana. I have a strong research background and interest in students’ learning experiences, curriculum development, and teacher professional development.

I have had the opportunity to be part of an Erasmus + project, Innovative Doctoral Courses for Sustainability (IDOCOS) project, and Unite 2.0 project where I was part of the mathematics education group, which was aimed at supporting teaching at large-scale teachers across Unite! In Unite 2.1, I am leading the group working on large-scale pedagogy across the nine Unite! alliance focusing on improving teaching and learning in large courses across different subjects.

I moved to Sweden three years ago with my wife and two daughters, and we have enjoyed the beautiful city of Stockholm, which has a natural setting and hundreds of islands, and some nice Swedish food and fika. We, however, sometimes miss the nice African weather, especially in winter.

Marcela Acosta

My name is Marcela Acosta, I am currently Programme Manager at Aalto University Lifewide Learning, where I focus on curriculum design of international and multidisciplinary course offerings. In addition, I have been the coordinator of the Innovative Teaching and Learning Community in the Unite! European University alliance since Dec 2023. I am listed as a co-author in the book Digital Transformation for the University of the Future (World Scientific, 2022) and have worked in EU-funded projects related to development of digital platforms for online teaching and collaborative education, including in the facilitation of the training workshops and sustainability bootcamps. I am also experienced in creating educational offerings integrating design thinking and project-based learning, especially in design/technology courses, using the Blended Intensive Programme format.

Before joining the Lifewide Learning team and the Unite! project, I used to work at Aalto Design Factory, an experimental co-creation platform bringing together research, start-ups, and project-based courses. This is where I first started to enjoy working with students, especially in courses where they are allowed to learn in non-traditional settings and are encouraged to take ownership of their own learning spaces.

I hold a master's degree in information and service management from Aalto School of Economics, where I minored in Information Technology, focusing on usability of digital platforms.

Outside of work I enjoy couples dancing, playing dominoes, and reading novels and fantasy books.