50 million SEK for green transition in industry

The School of Engineering (JTH) at Jönköping University (JU) has been awarded SEK 49,200,000 from the Knowledge Foundation for the GRACE research profile, which supports the green transition in the manufacturing industry, and will run from 2024-2032. Eleven companies are participating. JTH now has three research profiles funded by the Knowledge Foundation.

“It is incredibly gratifying that we have been granted support from the Knowledge Foundation for GRACE. It means a lot to us. For many years, we have strategically built competence in this particular profile area, and with GRACE we are given the opportunity to work long-term on developing new knowledge together with some of our most important industrial partners. We need to solve the challenges related to the green transition that the industry is facing together and that is where GRACE will make a difference,” says Ingrid Wadskog, Managing Director and Dean at JTH.

Contributes with new and better processes

The overall goal of GRACE is to support the manufacturing industry's long-term ability to succeed in the green transition through integrated and platform-enabled product realisation. Mattias Jarl, program manager at the Knowledge Foundation, looks forward to following the research profile.

“GRACE will be an important strategic building block in the development of the Knowledge Foundation environment SPARK at Jönköping University. The profile can contribute with new and better processes, knowledge and support for product realization, which integrates sustainability and circularity right from the start. The investment takes place together with a strong group of business partners and is well suited to contribute to Swedish competitiveness in the green transition,” says Mattias Jarl.

"New Emerging Technology"

GRACE is a research profile within the Knowledge Foundation). It is one of the foundation's program formats and a strategic investment, which gives JTH the opportunity to profile and position research in a selected field in the long term.

“Future competitiveness and sustainability in the manufacturing industry is closely linked to the ability to integrate product and production development, and it is important to manage the integration effectively. In addition, extended product life cycles, new user scenarios and circular manufacturing in combination with new emerging technology will increase the complexity of products, production and product realisation processes,” says Kristina Säfsten, Professor Production Systems at JTH and Project Manager for GRACE.

Close collaboration with eleven companies

The content of GRACE has been developed in close collaboration with the eleven companies included in the research profile in order to ensure a high degree of industrial relevance. The work builds on the recently completed synergy project IDEAL, which dealt with integrated product and production platforms as support for demand-driven and customer-adapted product realisation.

GRACE is scheduled to start on 1 April 2024 and will last for eight years. Within the profile, several different research projects will be implemented, and to begin with, three projects are being launched.

“We will also develop a collaboration arena, a meeting place for both knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing. In addition to the eleven companies, four network partners will participate in the profile. Among other things, it will be important for us to reach out to more companies than those included in the profile,” says Kristina Säfsten.

"Real approaches to future challenges"

Sordin, Husqvarna and FläktGroup are three of the companies within GRACE.

“We are part of GRACE to gain access to a broader knowledge base and develop skills and abilities faster. The research profile interests us because it focuses on sustainability, innovation and collaboration. It helps us navigate forward and manage the many different scenarios that must be considered to make the green transition at Husqvarna,” says Per Orestig, Director of Shared R&D at Husqvarna Group.

“It is a way for us as a product company to get support in the green transition. Together with the highly competent participating companies and JTH, we can arrive at real approaches to the future challenges in circularity and sustainability that we face,” says Therese Wilson, CEO of Sordin.

"Did not hesitate for a second"

“We did not hesitate for a second to jump on GRACE because it is a structured and concrete project that will accelerate our sustainability work, which is already high on the agenda today. We also think that the cooperation between the various project partners is appealing, and we are sure that we’ll have a lot to learn from each other,” says Mattias Gruber, Global Technology Director at FläktGroup.

Facts

Research profiles make up a strategic program at the Knowledge Foundation that will support profiling of universities and research environments. It is aimed at research and educational environments that have advanced in their development and have clear ambitions for the future.

JTH has three research profiles together with the Knowledge Foundation:

GRACE (Green transition through integrated and platform-enabled product realisation), 2024-2032.

AFAIRExternal link, opens in new window. (Ambdexterity, Flows and AI for competitive Responsiveness), 2021-2028.

IFT:JKPGExternal link, opens in new window. (Innovative Foundry Technology), 2022-2028.

The research and education environment SPARK at JTH has three ‘areas of strength’ and JTH now has a research profile for each of these.

GRACE aims to position and reinforce the area of strength called in:sure (Integrated Product and Production Development for Sustainability and Resilience) within JTH's research and education environment SPARK.

IFT:JKPG belongs to the area of strength Sustainable Materials, Manufacturing, and Cast Components.

AFAIR is under the area of strength Human-Centered Industrial AI.

Click here to read more about SPARK and its three areas of strength