Launch of industrial graduate school Smart Industry Sweden
Sixteen doctoral students will contribute to industrial technology development for twelve Swedish companies through the industrial graduate school Smart Industry Sweden.
On March 15, the industrial graduate school Smart Industry Sweden will be launched. Sixteen doctoral students will contribute to industrial technology development for twelve Swedish companies. Jönköping University (JU) is one of five universities participating in Smart Sweden Industry.
“The research within Smart Industry Sweden is really at the forefront of technology and will contribute to increased competitiveness for the participating companies,” says Jenny Bäckstrand, local project manager for Smart Industry Sweden at JU.
“The research within Smart Industry Sweden is really at the forefront of technology and will contribute to increased competitiveness for the participating companies,” says Jenny Bäckstrand, local project manager for Smart Industry Sweden at JU and Associate Professor Operations and Supply Chain Management at The School of Engineering (JTH), JU.
The plan was to start the industrial graduate school last fall, but due to Covid-19, the inauguration was postponed until March 15 this year. Some of the industrial doctoral students have therefore already started their doctoral studies. According to Jenny Bäckstrand, collaborating with an industrial doctoral student means not only an increase in competence for the doctoral student, but for the company as a whole. The companies in Smart Industry Sweden not only get access to the research results from one or more doctoral students linked to their company, but to all research that is done within the industrial graduate school.
“The companies thus gain comprehensive competence and I am completely convinced that important exchanges of knowledge will take place between them,” says Peter Thorvald, director of Smart Industry Sweden, and Associate Professor at the University of Skövde.
"At the forefront of technology"
The Jönköping company ITAB, which develops and produces cash register systems for the retail market, joined Smart Industry Sweden to expand their business.
“I am looking forward to being at the forefront of technology and having the opportunity to focus on an individual area for the forthcoming years,” says Tobias Pettersson, doctoral student at Smart Industry Sweden, who is linked to JU and JTH and working for ITAB.
Through Smart Industry Sweden, ITAB hopes to broaden its network of contacts in both business and academia. The companies Haglund Industry and Siemens Energy also have a doctoral student in the industrial graduate school affiliated with JU and JTH.
On March 15, everyone involved in Smart Industry Sweden will gather for a digital kick-off. There will be presentations from various people, one of whom is Djordje Popovic, PhD in Production Systems from JTH, who will talk about his time as a doctoral student at the business research school ProWOOD. The doctoral students in Smart Industry Sweden will present their research proposals in autumn 2021.
The industrial graduate school Smart Industry Sweden is supported by the Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen) and the participating companies and universities. The universities in Smart Industry Sweden are: Jönköping University, Halmstad University, Skövde University, University West and Mid Sweden University. The 16 doctoral students are affiliated with one of the universities and companies within Smart Industry Sweden.
