Text

Datum 2020-02-10
Artikeltyp News

75 million SEK to be invested in ARRAY – an industrial research school at MDH

This article was written before our official name change on January 1, 2022 from Mälardalen University (MDH) to Mälardalen University (MDU).

The Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen) is supporting the venture Automation Region Research Academy (ARRAY), an industrial research school and unique cooperation platform for engineering research at Mälardalen University (MDH).

This is an investment of 75 million SEK altogether, whereby the Knowledge Foundation is granting MDH 32 million SEK for the industrial research school ARRAY, which is being established together with ABB, Volvo CE, Skanska, Sandvik and First Control Systems.

MDH and the companies are investing 14 and 29 million SEK respectively.

- This is the start of a unique cooperation project, and it’s thanks to great commitment from a number of key people among our industrial partners that this can be realised. ABB, Volvo and Skanska have been the driving forces and are investing large resources – it wouldn’t have been possible without them, says Thomas Nolte, professor and initiator of the research school.

The ARRAY industrial research school will, in cooperation with several of the world’s foremost companies in automation, contribute with increased competence and development in scientific areas which are of strategic relevance to Swedish industry. The research school, with its start in 2018, will generate strategically very important recruitments for academia as well as industrial partners.

- In close cooperation with some of the foremost companies in automation we are paving the way for an industrial research school. This venture will give significant competence to the University and to industry, and it’s extremely exciting that we will be developing the future technologies in automation and robotics here, says Paul Pettersson, Vice-Chancellor of MDH.

ARRAY will initially be recruiting 15 doctoral students and thereafter an additional 5 in about two years. The venture also comprises a fairly large range of research education courses, with supervision from both academia and industry.

The five research tracks, embedded systems design, control and optimization, safety and security, testing and verification, and applications of automation, have been carefully chosen to match needs, strategic prioritizations and challenges of the participating companies. ABB is one of the driving partners behind ARRAY and will provide the largest number of doctoral students in the research school.

- With ARRAY, Mälardalen University will be cementing its position as the country’s leading HEI in the field of automation and robotization. A high rate of innovation and continued strong skills development will enable Swedish industry to take advantage of the great opportunities that digitalization entails. We are looking forward to exciting cooperation! says Johan Söderström, CEO of ABB Sweden.

Skanska is investing in research and education in building automation at MDH.

- With the ARRAY research school there will now be an opportunity to radically change the construction sector, from a craft to an efficient industry. We can’t do this alone, but together with Sweden’s foremost industries and researchers we now have an opportunity to create something unique and competitive, says Ulf Håkansson, Head of Research and Development at Skanska AB.

The project time is 2018-2024, with a budget of 75 million SEK. ARRAY comprises 15 doctoral students. Included in ARRAY are MDH, ABB, Volvo CE, Skanska, Sandvik, First Control, Automation Region, Robotdalen, and RISE SICS Västerås. More companies may join the venture. The binding agreement will be signed in January 2018.

Contact Information