Four new Professors appointed in the School of Engineering
Professor of Practice, Katja Tähtinen, Sustainable Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering
'I have worked with buildings throughout my whole career. In 1998, I started working with building restoration, but quickly became interested in the operation of buildings as a whole, especially building physics, which led me to engineering studies.
I was particularly fascinated by how the building, its systems and users affect indoor environmental conditions, and how the conditions affect the well-being and health of the users of the premises. This topic eventually became the subject of my doctoral dissertation research after a career spanning 20 years.
The goals of climate change, carbon neutrality, sustainable construction and circular economy are also increasingly forcing the construction sector to develop its operations. Based on the latest economic outlook report on construction, housing construction is currently declining, but the outlook for renovation construction is, however, more positive. The goals of sustainability and circular economy also play an increasingly important role in the real estate and construction sector, which will inevitably have an impact on the strengthening and appreciation of renovation construction in the future. The current economic situation in construction also provides an excellent opportunity to focus on the development and innovations of the real estate and construction sector.
I am excited about this new opportunity and work, as the professorship offers a great opportunity to combine working life-oriented thinking with research and teaching. I hope to be useful and helpful in this work community, both for colleagues and students, and to effectively promote cooperation between the university and actors in the real estate and construction sectors.'
Tähtinen will continue in her position as Research Director at the Building Information Foundation RTS sr alongside her professorship of practice.
Assistant Professor, Jan Akmal, Product Development, Department of Mechanical Engineering
'Our industries are on the verge of human-AI collaboration. Combining human values, technology, and design science, I seek to understand the role of user-designer, user-machine, and designer-machine collaborations to foster innovations.
My background is in mechanical engineering and I have over seven years of experience in both academia and industry. In my current project with Electro Optical Systems Finland Oy, I am developing a novel process to evaluate in-situ defect detection and self-healing in metal additive manufacturing using x-ray computed tomography for spatial evolutions, infrared optical tomography for temporal heat signatures, and machine learning methods for pattern recognition
Developing systematic processes for next-generation product development is truly a grand challenge. According to Professor Clayton Christensen from Harvard Business School, nearly 30,000 new products are introduced yearly, and 95% of them fail in the market. Even if we can salvage a marginal percentage, let’s say 5%, for successfully satisfying critical customer needs, I believe the impact together with Aalto can be significant both for introducing new innovations, in the order of thousands of new products and services, and for reducing resource waste, in the order of several billion euros.'
Assistant Professor, Magda Posani, Building Physics, Department of Civil Engineering
'How can we strategically use low-carbon building materials to enhance our lives? This is a very relevant question that my research aims to address by providing the construction sector with low-carbon strategies to improve the comfort and well-being of building occupants.
My work sits at the intersection of building physics, hydrothermal behaviour of building materials, and environmental sustainability. My research involves combining advanced manufacturing techniques with super-hygroscopic materials to create building components optimised for passive humidity regulation. Ultimately this leads to highly comfortable and healthy indoor environments.
At Aalto University, I aim to develop adaptation strategies for the built environment in Nordic regions, identifying solutions to prepare buildings for the future challenges posed by climate change. I believe that through collaborative approaches and a strong commitment to low-carbon, healthy construction practices, we can shape a better future for all. I look forward to pursuing this path in my new role as Assistant Professor, through interdisciplinary collaborations within the Department of Civil Engineering and across Aalto University. I am excited to engage the next generation of engineers in the classroom, fostering meaningful discussions about sustainable and healthy futures in construction.'
Assistant Professor, Jenni Partanen, Spatial Planning, Department of Build Environment
'I study urban mobility, urban economy, social and other processes within the CAS framework. This theoretical background highlights how constantly changing cities operate and develop as complex and multiscale networks, where the cumulative combined effects of many individual decisions and actions often cause surprising phenomena at the level of the entire city. Examples include the emergence of new, vibrant islands of business or entertainment in the city or, on the other hand, segregation or unexpected congestion. Since some of these phenomena are socially, socially, or economically beneficial, but some are harmful, it is necessary to limit some of these, allowing the rest to be self-generated.
My research topic has been chosen because I am fascinated by the uniqueness and surprising nature of cities as environments. My goal is to examine how the development of the city can be steered without hindering the positive orders that emerge from people's actions.
In my work at Aalto, I look forward to continuing in interesting projects with my research group, establishing new multidisciplinary collaborations at Aalto and outside – and, of course, inspiring encounters and discussions with students on spatial urban science.'
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