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Research interests

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My research has always been driven by my own curiosity combined with industrial and societal needs. My research can be divided in four areas: 

  • Automation-Control, 
  • Technology Management-Engineering Leadership,
  • Innovation-Entrepreneurship,
  • Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

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Automation-Control

  • Interests: Interoperability, Manufacturing Operations Management, Graphical Control Languages,   Plant-wide Disturbance Management, Process control, Key Performance Metrics, Smart Manufacturing
  • Projects: LCCC, PIC, LISA2, PiiA-Metric
  • Background: I started my research career as a PhD-student in 1993, with a focus on Automation-Control (focus on Graphical Programming Languages for Discrete Event systems and Batch Control Applications). After dissertation (1999) I left university for about 5 years working in industry as system architect and product manager for Orsi Automazione SpA, later Siemens MES, in Italy. Back at Lund University in 2004 I extended my research in the domain of Automation-Control to also include: MOS (Manufacturing Operations Systems), interoperability, plant-wide perspectives, and operational excellence. I am involved in the development of several international standards and in various industrial networks and interest groups. 

Technology Management - Engineering Leadership

  • Interests: The societal need of cross-disciplinarity, the longitudinal journey of becoming a leader, executive education, lifelong-learning
  • Projects: ELPP-Sweden, technical MBA programs
  • Background: My research interest in the domain of Technology Management-Engineering Leadership domain started with my role as Program Director for the Technology Management Master program, a program that contained strong elements of leadership and innovation. I am curious about the transformational journey from student to a developed leader and/or entrepreneur.  

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  • Interestes: the longitudinal journey of becoming an entrepreneur
  • Projects: Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship
  • Background: I am curious about the transformational journey from student to a developed leader and/or entrepreneur. As a visiting scholar at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at UC Berkeley, I actively participated in the research and development of Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship (BMoE). 

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

  • Interests: including Mindset elements in teaching and learning
  • Projects: MIND-methodology
  • Background: I am curious about the transformational journey from student to a developed leader and/or entrepreneur. This curiosity is closely linked to pedagogical issues, i.e. the research domain Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. I have worked on developing the Mind-methodology which is a teaching methodology that includes personal development and mindset aspects. 

 

 

1. Automation and Control 

1.1. Project LCCC - Lund Center for Control of Complex Engineering Systems

LCCC: LCCC is a Linnaeus Center at Lund University funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR). LCCC started in 2008 and focuses on Control of Complex Engineering Systems. The center has ten principal investigators, and I am one of them. In addition, I was serving as the vice coordinator of LCCC (2010-2013), and as a board member (2010-2018). My research within LCCC is focused around "Modelling support for Design and Verification" and "Process Control". More information is found on the homepage of LCCC.

1.2. Project PIC - Process Industrial Centre

PIC-LU: PIC-LU is a research project at Lund University funded by the Foundation of Strategic Research (SSF). PIC-LU started in 2008 and is a process industrial centre focusing on process optimization and control. PIC-LU has three thematic terms of importance; Availability, Flexibility and Controllability. I am serving as a member of the centre management team and as one of five sub-project leaders. My research within PIC-LU is focused around "Availability",   More information is found on the homepage of PIC-LU.

PIC-opic: PIC-opic is a research project funded by the Foundation of Strategic Research (SSF). PIC-opic is short for Process Industrial Centre - Optimization, Performance, Integration and Control. PIC-opic, is a two year project, that started Q3-2012. It's aim is to integrate research activities of PICLU (Lund) and PICLI (Linköping) as well as to integrate the different level in the control hierarchy. PIC-opic refers to the four central terms; Optimization, Performance, Integration and Control. I am serving as the project leader of PIC-opic. More information is found on thehomepage of PIC.

1.3. Project LISA2 - Line Information System Architecture 2

LISA2 is a research project funded by VINNOVA's FFI program for sustainable production engineering. LISA2 is succeedding the LISA project.  LISA2 involves researchers and industrial representatives from; Lund University, Chalmers, KTH, Scania and Volvo Cars. LISA2, is a three year research project that started in Q3-2015. LISA2 includes several workpackages. More information on homepage of LISA2 and homepage of LISA

1.4. Project PiiA-Metrics

Piia-Metrics is a research project funded by VINNOVA's strategic innovation program PiiA. PiiA-Metrics involves people from both academia (Lund University, and Linköping University) and industry. More information on homepage of PiiA-Metrics

1.5. Manufacturing Operations

Operations management is focused on overseeing and controlling the complete process of production. The process of production could be either discrete, batch or continuous/process oriented. 

1.6. Batch Control

In pharmaceutical production the production process is often batch oriented and the production is controlled though the execution of batch recipes. My research interest is related to the design and execution of batch recipes. 

1.7. Interoperability

I am interested in questions related to Interoperability between various systems  needed in production, including both control systems (e.g. PLCs and DCSs), Manufacturing Operation systems (e.g. MOS and MES) and Business systems (e.g. ERPs and PLMs). How can these systems interoperate as somoothly as possible, not introducing unnecessary time-delays or errors. 

1.8. Graphical Control Languages 

Many production processes are carried out in a sequantial way and can hence be controlled by sequantial graphical control languages. One such language is Grafchart.  More information is found on the homepage of Grafchart

1.9. Smart Manufacturing and Industrie 4.0

Collaborations with SmartFactory at DFKI and TU Kaiserslautern, Germany, concerning process control/management (using Grafchart) and OPC-UA.

Activities;

  • Sept 22-23, 2016: Host of IEC TC65E AhG1 meetings on "Smart Manufacturing Information Model", in Lund, Sweden
  • Sept 7th, 2016 Organiser of "Industrie 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing" seminar by Prof. Detlef Zuhlke, Germany, in Lund Sweden. More info here.
  • June 16-17, 2016: Participation at IEC AhG3 meetings on "Smart Manufacturing Framework and System Architecture", Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • April 2016: Participation in NIST Smart Manufacturing meeting, Washington DC, USA.
  • March 2016: Participation at IEC TC65E AhG1 meetings on "Smart Manufacturing Information Model", Rome, Italy.
  • ... and lots more.

1.10. International Standards

I am the chair of ISO TC184/SC5 committee. The subcommittee has 10+ working groups and involves national experts from 10+ countries. I actively participate, as the Swedish national Expert, in several standardization groups;

  • ISA95 (Enterprise-Control System Integration)
  • ISA88 (Batch Control), 
  • ISO 22400 (Key Performance Indicators for Manufacturing Operations Management), 
  • ISO 15746 (Advanced process Control and Optimization), 
  • ISO 22549 (Convergence of informatization and industrialization),
  • ISO TC184 / IEC TC65 JWG21 initiative on Reference Architectures for Smart Manufacturing" 

 


 

 

2. Technology Management and Engineering Leadership 

2.1. Technology Management

Technology Management is the management of the use of technology for human advantage. It is a multi-disciplinary domain in which Engineering and Management/Economics play important roles. The master program named Technology Management started at Lund University in 1997 and was a pioneer in this domain. Keywords are Leadership, personal development, Mindset, and practicing worklife. Lund University cancelled the master program, for unclear reasons, in 2015. More information on www.tmonline.se.

2.2. Engineering Leadership

The mission of Engineering Leadership is to grow  top-performing engineers to a higher level of impact and influence.  I participated in the Eningeering Leadership Professional Program (ELPP) at UC Berkeley, and am currently developing a similar program at Lund University. 


 

 

3. Innovation and Entrepreneurship

3.1. Entrepreneurship in Education

Entrepreneurship matters. Entrepreneurship is often thought of as the act of commercializing an innovation. In modern open economies, entrepreneurship is one of the key aspects for economic growth. Entrepreneurship is also about the capability of translating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) understanding into useful innovations. An understanding of fundamental ideas and mindsets from Entrepreneurship can be useful for STEM learning in general. Entrepreneurs are more willing to be outside their comfort zones, and real learning occurs when a person is challenged and outside this zone. The relationship between STEM learning and Entrepreneurship is therefore bi-directional. STEM is a pre-requisite for Innovations and Entrepreneurship, and understanding and applying the Entrepreneurship mindset is advancing the STEM learning. To teach and educate future entrepreneurs is orthogonal to traditional teaching in respect to how teaching is conducted. A leader/instructor that wants to educate innovators should e.g. lead from the side as opposed to lead from the top, should inspire as opposed to direct, should trust and delegate instead of check and control, should treat the group members as colleagues and not as a subordinate, etc. This is unconventional in teaching and learning situations and calls for a different mindset of the leader/instructor. It is essential that the students are exposed to this mindset if they themselves want to become leaders of future entrepreneurs, inter/intra-preneurs or innovators. See also MIND-methodology (section 3.1).

3.2. Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship

I spend the academic year 2013/2014 as a visiting scholar at SCET, UC Berkeley, CA, USA (SCET = Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology), during which I participated in the developement of the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship (BMoE). More info on SCET's homepage and in the BMoE-paper. In fall 2014 I received the "Familjen Knut och Ragnvi Jacobssons stiftelse", for continued collaboration with UC Berkeley in the area of Entrepreneurship and BMoE . 

If you are interested in Innovation and Entrepreneurship,

  • - the 4-day BMoE-workshop taking place at UC Berkeley in mid-January and Mid-August every year, might be of interest to you. I usually participate as a mentor. If you are interested, please contact CET directly or contact me (and I will help you).
  • - the 3 week summer school European Innovation Academy, might be of interest to you. If you are interested, please contact EIA directly or contact me (and I will help you). 

3.3. SME creation facilitation process

I have co-designed the innovation course, iMDE (international Market-Drive Engineering). A course in which 40 Swedish students closely collaborate with 40 Chinese Students in 8 teams. Each team develops progress from "Zero" to Prototye" in 6 weeks. The course takes place at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. The course aims at facilitating the SME creation process for students. The number of students selecting an entrepreneurial career has increased since the introduction of the course (Before: 1.25%, After 5.83%  =>  500% increase ). 

 


 

4. Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

4.1. MIND-methodology

MIND-methodology is a pedagogical methodology that includes four building blocks; Theory, Practice, Mindset and Engagement. The first building block, Theory, stresses the learning of theory and thereby acquiring knowledge, the second building block, Practice, highlights the importance of practicing and thereby getting skills, and the third building block, Mindset, underlines the importance of changing or confirming an individual’s mindset and thereby experiencing personal growth. The fourth building block, Engagement, is supporting the other three and is a mean for improving the students’ self-efficacy, and enabling scale-ability of the curricula/program. 

4.2. Longitudinal study of becoming and belonging in entrepreneurship/leadership

The Learning Journal is a tool that was used and refined at some educational programs at Lund University. It helps the student to reflect upon his/her own development in areas such as entrepreneurship and/or leadership. 

4.3. Extended Flipped Classroom

The extended flipped classroom was used already in year 2014 at Lund University, in the course Technology Strategies and Structures. The result, from an assessment and experience (students' and teachers') point of view was evaluated with good results.