Aalto University gets a donation of over a million euros for the development of education and research into smart building technology and smart buildings
The Promotion Centre for Electrical Engineering and Energy Efficiency (STEK), the Electrical Contractors´ Association of Finland (STUL), the Finnish Electrotechnical Trade Association (STK) ,and K.V. Lindholm Foundation are making their donation to ensure that understanding of the whole of smart construction will grow stronger in the future as new qualified masters of science in technology emerge.
‘The role of smart construction will grow further with the changes brought on by renewable energy and digitalisation. Aalto University has a Professor of Practice position in the field. An additional goal is to set up a school for researchers for smart buildings. Together these will support basic education in the field and the training of experts familiar with the broader sector of smart buildings’, says Jyri Hämäläinen, Dean of the School of Electrical Engineering.
Extensive skills and knowledge and the newest research data
‘In the future the labour market will need people with extensive skills and knowledge, with an education that is based on the latest research data. The impact of new technologies in various tasks is great and with our donation we want to support the development work of higher education’, says Timo Kekkonen, CEO of STEK.
‘We want to be closely involved in establishing a cooperative network in the construction of smart buildings. For our member companies it is important for the education of the experts of the future to be linked with challenges that the electricity sector wants to resolve, and on the other hand, for the latest researched data and its applications to be available to the entire network’, says STK CEO Sallamaari Muhonen.
‘Research and education in Modern building services definitely need more resources. Information is needed for the development of future solutions. It is important for the role of smart building services engineering to have more prominence at all levels, from master’s theses to doctoral dissertations. The growing importance of building services engineering has not previously been sufficiently recognized and we wish to affect this with our input’, says Kai Puustinen, CEO of STUL.
‘The purpose of the K.V. Lindholm Foundation is to support and promote research work in the HPAC field. For this reason, we are pleased to support Aalto University in the development of teaching and research into smart buildings. Controls in smart buildings largely involve HPAC technology’, notes Tryggve Leander, Chairman of the Board of the foundation.
Teaching and research at Aalto University into smart buildings focus on the users, as well as autonomous self-learning systems, new methods of action brought on by digitalisation, as well as integration of building services engineering, ICT systems, energy networks, and transport. In the planning of electrical systems in the field of education, the impact of new technologies on the work of designers is also considered.