Pilot courses in industrial cooperation in full swing
Together with about 20 industrial companies, Luleå University of Technology, Örebro University and Mälardalen University are investing in free online courses that match the need for skills development in the climate transition. Recently, three appreciated free pilot courses were completed with participants from, among others, the industrial companies ABB, Epiroc, Scania and SSAB.
– Jag tyckte att kursen gav många insikter och var relevant, särskilt med tanke på att hållbarhet och principer för cirkulär ekonomi blir allt viktigare i den gröna klimatomställningen. Sammantaget var kursen en väldigt givande erfarenhet som inte bara fördjupade min teoretiska förståelse i ämnet, utan också visade på praktiska tillämpningar av cirkulära flöden, säger Joshi Subramanya, Software Solution Architect på Scania.
He was one of the participants who attended one of the courses; Product, Production and Business Development for Circular Flows, held by Luleå University of Technology. From January 2025, the course will be part of Luleå University of Technology’s regular offer, and is given free of charge. The aim of the course is to increase the participants’ ability to understand and apply development processes and insight into how processes relate to organizations’ innovation and business strategies, to achieve circular flows, resilience and sustainability in the manufacturing industry. Joshi Subramanya took the pilot course and was involved in its development. Combining the course with his job as a Software Solution Architect at Scania was a challenge but worked well thanks to the flexibility of the course. “The content was highly relevant to my role at Scania and I was able to directly link what I learned on the course to ongoing projects at Scania, where sustainability and innovation are becoming increasingly important,” he says. – “This course has given me a much greater understanding of how companies can move from traditional linear models to more sustainable circular flows. It has also provided me with practical tools and frameworks to assess and implement circular economy principles in product development and production processes. The pilot course is one of the courses developed within the five-year Reedeam project, which aims to strengthen skills development across the industrial green transition value chain. It requires extensive knowledge of new, sustainable technologies and business models. The entire project is being funded by the Knowledge Foundation with a total of SEK 30 million over five years. The courses that are being developed are based on close cooperation between industry and academia in order to increase the supply of good needs-based training. “In the project, the industrial companies and our three universities together create unique opportunities for companies to train employees according to their specific challenges in the green transition. We do this by ensuring that the companies are constantly involved when we create the new courses and provide feedback on what works best. The universities contribute with researchers and teachers who have developed methods and theory that now benefit the companies directly, says Bjarne Bergquist, project manager for Reedeam, and professor of quality technology and logistics at Luleå University of Technology. This autumn, six new free pilot courses will be given in collaboration with industry, where employees in different companies get the chance for needs-adapted training. In the spring, more new courses will be given. – We are proud to develop these courses together with industry. We offer new courses in several areas and welcome all professionals to sign up,” says Bjarne Bergquist. To create a further long-term approach, and to deepen the collaboration between the parties, future business research schools are planned to give companies access to research-trained staff with key skills for the climate transition.
“The Reedeam course gave me many ideas – now I see opportunities everywhere”
An eye-opener that provided many concrete ideas. Thiago Sasso attended a pilot course on product development for circular flows within Reedeam and is very satisfied. – The course is fantastic, he says.
Mattis Wintélius, software developer and tester at Epiroc, and Thiago Sasso, research and development team leader at Scania, are two of the participants in the Reedeam courses.
In his role as group leader in research and development at Scania, Thiago Sasso chose to take the course Product, Production and Business Development for Circular Flowswhich was recommended to him internally at the company.
– The course was designed in a way that allowed me to complete it while working, which was great. We had super competent lecturers with solid educational backgrounds and experience in working with circular flows,” he says.
Thiago Sassi also appreciated the practical approach.
– The platform and the way the material was shared was a big plus, the best method I have ever seen. After each session, a summary material was made available, along with more references that we could read if we wanted to go deeper into a specific topic.
Thiago Sassi already gained many new ideas during the course. Today, he has a new job in the automotive sector, where he benefits from the knowledge gained during the course. Above all, he appreciates the new way of thinking, where he dares to question the old methods of product development.
– What I will carry with me forever is a mindset that influences how I do things – in a positive way.
What advice do you have for others who are thinking about taking a Reedeam course?
– These are courses that can be easily combined with your work routine. Set aside time to really focus on the lectures. Come open-minded to be surprised and ready to make a difference. After the course, you will see opportunities everywhere,” says Thiago Sassi.
Another issue that is becoming increasingly important in society is cybersecurity, especially given that more and more devices are becoming connected – and thus vulnerable. To address this issue, Reedeam provides the course Cybersecurity for the Internet of Things. Mattis Wintélius, mjukvaruutvecklare och -testare på Epiroc, fick reda på kursen via Örebro universitets Smarter-program och valde att söka.
– I find security interesting, and it’s something society as a whole needs to know more about. The course went through how connected devices can have inadequate security, which affects other parts of the network. We also learned how to improve the security of IoT devices and networks,” says Mattias Wintélius.
Text : Anna Lorentzon and Jesper Eriksson: Anna Lorentzon and Jesper Eriksson
FACTS
Reedeam – kompetensutveckling för industrins klimatomställning.
Reedeam is a collaboration between Luleå University of Technology, Mälardalen University, Örebro University and 20 industrial companies. The aim is to co-produce courses to support industry’s climate transition. It is a five-year project funded by the Knowledge Foundation. Read about Reedeam here.
