Granlund has financed and supervised theses and engineers’ projects for decades. Awards were granted for the three best thesis projects of 2016. The authors will present their theses during webinars in May.
”Supporting thesis projects is one of the ways we can attract expert workforce for our Group,” says Tuomas Laine, Director of Granlund Oy’s Innovation and Development department. ”We have been awarding prizes for five years, and the number of candidates has increased as Granlund has grown. Last year, we set a new record of 22 theses. All of the business areas were well represented, as were the various offices.”
Prizes motivate students to graduate
Granlund maintains a bank of thesis topics based on the needs of different business units or the company’s development and innovation operations.
”Rewarding the best work motivates students and encourages them to graduate quickly. Granlund is also well known among educational institutes teaching in its field, and a significant proportion of the HVAC technology theses written for Aalto University come from Granlund.”
Results are utilised throughout the sector
The best projects are selected on the basis of three criteria.
”We rely on the expertise of educational institutes to judge the scientific merits of theses, but we evaluate how the results of the thesis projects can be utilised in our own business or in development work, as well as whether the project involved customers or other partners.”
In 2016, several projects received good grades for all of the criteria.
”Three theses stood out from the crowd, and the top prize of EUR 1,500 was awarded to Davor Stjelja, who wrote his thesis for the University of Zagreb. It included work that could be put to use in Granlund’s tasks on the NewTREND-EU project. When Stjelja graduated, he was recruited as a consultant by Granlund’s Innovation and Development department.”
Second place was shared by HVAC designers Kalle Nurmi (EUR 750) and Aleksi Kivisaari (EUR 750).
”Nurmi wrote his thesis for Aalto University, and the results were utilised in our design projects for metro tunnels. Aleksi Kivisaari’s engineering project for Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences was put to use in improving the energy economy of Vaasa Central Hospital.”
See all of the thesis webinars in May
The best theses of the year will be presented by their authors in webinars in the week beginning 8 May. Sign up to find out about the research that has been conducted. All of the webinars will also be available on our Youtube channel.
Tuesday 9 May, 10:00am–10:20am
Davor Stjelja: Advanced energy analysis method for optimal building retrofit design
Wednesday 10 May, 10:00am–10:20am
Aleksi Kivisaari: Utilising exhaust heat from the area cooling system at Vaasa Central Hospital (in Finnish)
Thursday 11 May, 10:00am–10:20am
Kalle Nurmi: Managing the temperature conditions of a metro tunnel network in Finland’s climate (in Finnish)
