LIGHTer News International #4 2019

Lightweight solutions strengthen Swedish competitiveness and growth

News International #4 2019

Closing with international conference & evaluation

2019 is coming to an end. It has been an exciting and eventful year. The final event - LIGHTer International Conference - was fantastic! Thanks to everyone in LIGHTer's network for great collaboration, innovative ideas and inspiring networking!

Today, Vinnova announces the result of the major evaluationof the strategic innovation programme (SIP) Lightweight. The overall recommendation from the external evaluators is summarized as follows: “SIP Lightweight is a well-managed and well-functioning programme that has succeeded in creating an intersectoral lightweight arena for Sweden. The evaluation shows that the programme has laid the foundation for fulfilling all its objectives. The programme should therefore receive a higher level of funding during the next phase to be able to continue its long-term development of the lightweight.”
Congratulations to everyone involved for this proof that we are on the right track!

With joy in our hearts, we can now enjoy some well-deserved Christmas holidays. After New Year, we focus on what will be included in phase 3 (June 2020 - December 2022) of SIP Lightweight. We welcome your ideas and input!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a fruitful and happy 2020!

Best regards,
The LIGHTer Management Team - Cecilia Ramberg, Fredrik Stig and Lotta Weiblad

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The Lightweight Agenda 2019

LIGHTer Annual General Meeting, in conjunction with LIGHTer International Conference, adopted the updated third version of the Lightweight Agenda. The strategic research and innovation agenda Point out the direction of research for the next lightweight initiatives the coming three years. LIGHTer uses the Lightweight Agenda as a red thread for all activities.

In large parts, the content of the Agenda is the same as when it was first written in 2013. The strategy has proven to work well in reality. In the new version, the strategy has been clarified and simplified.

Clearly, LIGHTer is a role model for many other European countries.
- "Especially when it comes to combining research and supporting small and medium-sized companies in their lightweight development. Many other countries can learn from this," notes Sofia Teixeria de Freitas. She has been based at Delft's Technical University in the Netherlands for twelve years, where she is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. Sofia was one of the keynote speakers at LIGHTer International Conference.

In this film, you can listen to LIGHTer's former Chairman of the Board Kaj Fredin from Volvo Cars, LIGHTer´s present chairman Bengt Nilsson from Lamera and LIGHTer’s Manager Cecilia Ramberg talking about the Lightweight Agenda.

LIGHTer International Conference 2019

LIGHTer International Conference in Gothenburg on November 20-21 offered a mixture of future opportunities and concrete results from recent years' development within the lightweight area. It was the third time we organized this conference. Previous years have been 2015 and 2017.

We had two intense and rewarding days at the Chalmers Conference Center, where nearly a hundred participants from ten European countries gathered to exchange experiences and strengthen their international networks, both within industry and academia.

In addition to five keynote speakers, a total of 18 lectures were arranged in four parallel sessions, where participants could choose based on their own interests. On the second day there was also the opportunity to book matchmaking to make new contacts and gain new knowledge for the continued work at home.

The conference ended with an informal and festive After Conference with mingle, bubble, competition and networking.

This year's international conference received a very positive evaluation by the participants. Hear some voices from the participants. On the rating scale 1-6, the average was 5.4. It is important for Swedish competitiveness that Sweden succeeds in gathering international lightweight competence at home.

The participants left Gothenburg with new inspiration and new insights for the continued work on research and industrialization of lightweight solutions.

We are already looking forward to the next LIGHTer International Conference 2021.

Winner

At LIGHTer After Conference, we invited everyone who wanted to participate in a playful competition.

The lucky winner was Fredik Grevfors, Envirotainer AB who won a conference ticket for LIGHTer International Conference 2021! Congratulations!

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Diploma ceremony LIGHTer PhD Network

LIGHTer PhD Network has over 80 participants. In 2019, 12 of them have made their dissertations. 4 of the 12 were able to participate at LIGHTer International Conference. They were personally awarded diplomas. From the left we see

Hoda Dini, Jönköping University of Technology
Matilda Karlsson Hagnell, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Maheswaran Vattur Sundaram, Chalmers University of Technology
Sergio Costa, Chalmers University of Technology

At the far right we see Pär Jonsén from Luleå University of Technology (LTU), responsible for PhD Network and Fang Liu from Chalmers University of Technology who both is a member of LIGHTer Academy and has a very active role in LIGHTer PhD Network.

This coming spring, we will present the 12 newly disputed more in detail in LIGHTer News.

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LIGHTer's new Board of Directors

At the Annual General Meeting, a new Board of Directors was elected for both SIP Lightweight and LIGHTer Membership Programme.

Bengt Nilsson, CEO at Lamera, was elected new Chairman of the Board. Congratulations and welcome to your new role! Kaj Fredin, Volvo Cars resigned as chairman at his own request. Thanks for a very good job!

Two new board members were elected on a two-year mandate: Magdalena Sandström, CTO at Diab and Pernilla Walkenström, Division Manager at RISE. Welcome Magdalena and Pernilla!

We would like to thank the outgoing board members Lisa Kjellén, Höganäs and Patrik Fernberg, Luleå University of Technology for very good work. Good luck with your new tasks!

You will get to know the new board members a little closer in upcoming newsletters this spring. LIGHTer Management Group will also be presented in the spring.

The Board is an important asset for all of us. They do an excellent job! Welcome to contact LIGHTer's new Board of Directors with both comments and questions.

European lightweight cooperation

LIGHTer is an active member of the European Lightweight Cluster Alliance (ELCA). It is a network of lightweight clusters from 15 different European countries working together to write joint applications and coordinate European test and demo resources in the future. The photo above is taken when the network met in Berlin for two days in November to discuss the future. Fredrik Stig represented LIGHTer. He is immediately at the left of the rollup in the back row on the photo.

Welcome to contact Fredrik Stig if you are interested in getting European contacts within different areas of lightweight technology or seeking EU funding for a lightweight technology idea.

The perfect bike gasket

The winner of the innovation competition "The perfect bike gasket" was presented at Elmia Subcontractor. Simon Dybeck, a student at Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Technical Design, was awarded the first prize. With The BackBag he has combined innovative mounting on a bike without a package holder with stylish design and environmental thinking in the materials. In addition to a Skeppshult bicycle, he has won support with his patent application of the mounting solution. Congratulations!

Sweden's capability to develop world leading competence within lightweight technology will be decisive for the Swedish industries' competitiveness, growth and possibilities to reach global environmental goals. LIGHTer is creating the essential collaborations within lightweight: cross-disciplinary, cross industrial sectors, focused, innovative and efficient.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or opinions concerning the newsletter and its content.

Funding for the programme is being provided by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas.