Industry Day on the need and utilization of research

The industry is increasingly strengthened by digital services and solutions, if not as fast as in other parts of society. One of the challenges is to find technical solutions that work together with existing processes and with the already existing range of machines and other equipment. It is a complex act of balance that requires many different skills

One of the academy's most important tasks is precisely to provide the industry with the right skills – to educate for today's and tomorrow's needs. An example that I am proud of is that Mälardalen University is the first university in Sweden to offer a bachelor's degree in applied AI. We also work to integrate digitization and AI in all our technical educations.

For research to be useful, academia and industry must meet. On September 7-10, Mälardalen University will host the International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). It is an international conference focusing on industrial technology development in the automation area. This year, the first day of the conference is an Industry Day organized by the Automation Region on the theme “From innovation to transformation”. During this day, representatives from industry and academia gather to explore transformative trends that affect the industry.

Our vision regarding Industry Day is that industrial companies should be given the opportunity to present their needs and challenges, while researchers show what solutions are available and what is underway – an informal discussion that can give rise to new contacts and future research issues. The continued conference focus on areas such as data communication, embedded systems, control technology, AI, smart sensors and complex systems.

Automation is a priority area at Mälardalen University and we have several research groups and different types of environments (such as the Automation Region) that support the ongoing development of knowledge. My assessment is that Swedish industrial research is strong in an international comparison. If we look, for example, at the number of research articles that have been received by ETFA, a large part comes from Sweden. We also see that the Swedish grants come from researchers and research groups at universities, colleges, and institutes all over the country.

I hope to see you at Industry Day and the ETFA conference. Take the opportunity to discuss development and new opportunities together with experienced researchers who have a good understanding of industrial challenges. More information about the program will be coming soon.

Feel free to contact us if you have questions or ideas!

Moris Behnam
Professor of Computer Science and Head of Research at Mälardalen University