Skip to main content

Mikael on a royal visit and a major investment in sustainable materials

Published Dec 02, 2021

Head of School Mikael Lindström writes about this week's launch of the KTH Baltic Tech Initiative, where Crown Princess Victoria was present, and about a major investment by KAW in research on sustainable materials.

On Wednesday, HRH Crown Princess Victoria took part in a seminar where we launched the KTH Baltic Tech Initiative. The world's oceans, and in our vicinity the Baltic Sea, are faced with problems caused by, among other things, overfishing, shipping and harmful emissions. As a prominent technical Baltic Sea University, KTH has important knowledge to contribute and it is time to do more for the well-being of the Baltic Sea. The initiative includes several projects that represent different research disciplines that are linked to each other in a way that can create relevant synergies.

Several researchers from the CBH School participated in the seminar; Associate Professor Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol spoke about resource recovery from seabed sediment, Assistant Professor Maria Cuartero presented new sensor technology for gathering better information on marine health and researcher Gunaratna Kuttuva Rajarao described the development of a system for electronic monitoring of landscaped wetlands. Many thanks to all three of you for nice and inspiring lectures. The purpose of the seminar is to begin working towards creating long time commitment with both private and public financiers.

Peter Wallenber Jr., chairman of the Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), was also present and talked about how the foundation works and presented a new investment in sustainable materials, Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability , "Wise". The investment is SEK 225 million per year for 12 years and is led by Linköping University. Furthermore, the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, which was started in 2009 and is led by KTH professor Eva Malmström, will receive SEK 380 million for a new phase, 3.0. Congratulations!

Mikael