Sonja Berlijn on her school tour
"We conduct research that saves lives."
Before the summer, EECS' Head of School Sonja Berlijn ended a tour where she visited the school's divisions and the Professional support's units. She was left both impressed and grateful over the school's performance.
The purpose of the tour was to get to know EECS and get input for the school's Operational Plan 2022. Among other things, the researchers had to do three-minute pitches about their research and all divisions and units did a creative "legacy" exercise to flesh out their vision and mission.
Elina Bjurbäck , management coordinator, and Maria Malmqvist , communication officer, also participated in the meetings.
Sonja, please tell us a little about your division tour.
"They have been part of my introduction as new to EECS. As Head of School, it is essential to learn about our divisions and units."
What has been most surprising?
"How can I choose? Everything has been so exciting! I was surprised that the Center for High Performance Computing (PDC) contributes to reducing KTH's carbon dioxide emissions by 500 tonnes per year, and that the Department of Computer Science, in all probability, saved two women's lives with its AI application for screening breast cancer data, and will be able to contribute to the discovery of Alzheimer's at an early stage."
"We also got to go an exciting journey to the end of the universe, with visits to some of the planets in our solar system, the Milky Way and some other galaxies, all in 4K stereo at the VIC studio."
"I can not stress enough how impressed and proud I am with the research conducted at our school!"
What have you learnt that you did not know before?
"A lot of things! That we conduct research that actually has an impact on some of our biggest societal problems. Our research actually saves lives and contributes to significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. And we help train cyber soldiers who will help fight enemies on the biggest battlefield of the future - cyberspace."
You have also visited the Professional support's (VS) units. Please tell us about it.
"VS has such a vital role for the school's work, for us to conduct research and education at all – they are the spider in the web with so many different assignments. I was also reminded of how much work is required being a public authority. We have high demands on ourselves and must follow the law."
"Finally, thank you to everyone who took the time to talk to me. It has been invaluable for my introduction to the school."
The goal is to do the school tour annually.
Read more about the tour on EECS's Facebook page
