Science- the future of Europe

19 December 2011

Greater collaboration in science is the way forward for economic wellbeing in Europe and Finland, believes Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering's Tuija Pulkkinen

The European economic outlook is complicated, as we are facing grand challenges related to climate change, an ageing population and need for new energy sources. Moreover, as the world population approaches seven billion, new solutions that use natural resources sparingly are also required. In addition to multidisciplinary research and education, an important task for universities is to provide support for entrepreneurship, both in terms of assisting emerging start-up companies and by developing close partnerships with the local industries.

Both European and Finnish economic wellbeing require significant investments in research for science and technology. In the medium and long term, the money spent on such endeavours will be recouped through improved competitiveness; better import-to-export ratios; and through technological solutions to environmental problems and the challenges facing healthcare – such as applications that help the elderly to lead independent lives for longer.

Electrical engineering – solutions for everyone
The Finnish industrial base has been built largely on the forestry, paper and metal industries; electronics; and ICT. These fields have all changed dramatically over previous years: instead of manual work or men operating forestry equipment, robotic machines are now at work in the woods; new processing and control systems are in place in big plants and factories; and ICT solutions have not only revolutionised homes, but also peoples' behaviour in everyday life.

In the field of electrical engineering, a focus on automation technologies, power systems, power electronics and high-voltage engineering enables universities to connect closely with the major industries operating in Finland. This knowledge base – augmented by signal processing, radio science, and micro and nanotechnology – prepares the way for new, integrated solutions and innovations in this sector. The Finnish research base in the ICT sector also provides electrical engineers for companies such as Nokia.

Electrical engineering is based on theories that were developed over 100 years ago, but much has changed since then. Previous decades have been dominated by electronics development, as mobile phones, digital cameras, wireless networks and personal computers have become available for a large portion of the population. The development of applications for these gadgets is still in progress, and is beginning to take over the market, above and beyond hardware development.

Engineering therefore is currently much more than hardware development, as the human interface intersects with research in all fields: acoustics requires knowledge of the human hearing experience; telecommunications only work if the information transfer in the machine-human interface operates smoothly; and medical applications that offer both diagnostics and cure are increasing in numbers.

Engineering and natural sciences require research infrastructures that are often large and expensive, and in most cases they are realised in international collaboration. Therefore, it is vitally important that the European nations ensure the maintenance and renewal of high-quality research infrastructures in order to attract top-level scientists and researchers. In addition to large facilities, increasingly networks of smaller observatories and laboratories can form larger entities, which together can be much more scientifically significant than if they operated independently. Such facilities can, and often are, nationally funded; but operations as a Europe-wide network and widening the group of potential users may require European-level facilitation.

An international approach
Universities are increasingly competing over international visibility by attracting professors and staff members from other countries.

Becoming more international helps universities in multiple ways: a larger body of candidates enables universities to concentrate on the most promising talent, while the multicultural environment can lead to ideas and innovations that might otherwise not emerge.

Increasing numbers of international staff and students is not the only change taking place in universities; research is also regularly conducted in international teams, often funded by multiple countries or the various bodies of the EU. The EU Framework Programme, the European Research Area and European Research Council are all increasingly important sources of research funding.

Complementing national funding, the EU programmes offer good opportunities to network among European colleagues, tackle issues that are recognised as being critical for success in a Europe-wide context, and develop large programmes that, especially in a small country such as Finland, would not be feasible in a national context.

While finance is critical for the success of research programmes, funding obtained through international competition also serves as a benchmark for the quality of the research. For example, the prestigious European Research Council Starting Independent Researcher Grants are awarded to only 5% of applicants, which is among the highest competition in all forms of research funding. Gaining such an award is an indication of the excellence of both the individual young scientist and their research environment.

Focus on the young
A tenure track professor career system enables the hiring of professor-level staff among those who are still in the early stages of their professions. To increase the quality of research and to enhance Finnish universities' connections to both local and international industries, renewing and strengthening professor-level staff is necessary.

The combination of technology, economics, art and design offers young, talented scientists unique opportunities to develop scientific ideas to innovations and products. For example, the Aalto Design Factory aims to facilitate state-of-the-art conceptual thinking and cross-disciplinary, hands-on doing. It serves as both an experimental platform and a showroom. In essence, the Design Factory is a place where students, teachers, researchers and industry partners can interact under the same roof. The factory has distinct enabling and supporting technologies, but perhaps even more important are the soft issues – philosophy, attitudes and the ways of working.

The need to educate the next generation of engineers to be capable of working across disciplinary boundaries and operating in rapidly changing environments must be recognised within university curriculums. This requires both multidisciplinary study programmes and concentration on methodologies and learning abilities, rather than facts as we know them today. For example, a degree programme on bioinformation technology should comprise studies from three schools of technology. Students should learn the basics of electrical engineering, chemistry and physics, whilst also focusing on the scientific and technological issues related to bioengineering, biological chemistry, biomaterials, computational and cognitive biosciences, or biotronics.

Multidisciplinary approaches can also be implemented within disciplinary degree programmes: under the space technology major, the Aalto-1 CubeSat project is developing a small satellite from technical and systems design to instrument building, launch and operations. The project was started in spring 2010 and aims to launch in 2013, thus providing one student generation with an opportunity to follow a complete satellite project from start to finish. The MSc level students running the project each concentrate on different parts of the design: structures, thermal design, power systems, computer hardware and software, antenna design and ground station. The excitement of the students as they advance the project through professionals reviewing the design is a strong signal that working together on difficult challenges is one of the best ways to learn a lot about many things in a rather limited time.