Researchers speed-date companies

On 4 February 2025, researchers from Jönköping University's School of Engineering (JTH) pitched around ten research ideas to invited companies, including JTH's strategic partners.

“During the Pitch-day, we hoped to create opportunities for collaboration on future research issues through idea pitching. It is about how we can build bridges between industry and academia and jointly build knowledge going forward,” says Kerstin Johansen, Professor of Integrated Product and Production Development and Associate Dean of Research at JTH.

Companies met researchers from JTH who pitched their ideas related to applied AI, cybersecurity and circular industry, to contribute to JTH's focus on knowledge-intensive product development.

“It is thanks to the funding from the KK-foundation within the framework of the SPARK research and development environment that we organized this day for the second year in a row. We initiated the pitch day to develop opportunities to strengthen our joint ability to develop research ideas in collaboration between industry and academia. In the long term, we believe this can lead to stronger and more grounded research that ultimately contributes to the industry's competitiveness and scientific positioning,” says Kerstin Johansen.

Five minutes to capture companies’ interest

Each researcher was given five minutes to present their ideas to the companies. In preparation, the Innovation Center Science Park provided pitch training to package research questions in an interesting way, for further dialogue with industrial partners.

“My objective with the Pitch-day is to get more industrial partners to collaborate with us. In my research project, which is funded by the KK-foundation, we are working together to ensure that scientific knowledge is translated into practical solutions via the industrial partners. The project is expected to help companies meet future demands for traceability in a product's life cycle and that we can academically integrate new knowledge into our education programmes,” says Rahel Kebede, postdoctoral fellow at JTH who pitched on “Digital Product Passports and AI-Driven Decision Support System for Product End-of Life Management.”

Collaborating on groundbreaking research

One of the goals of the day was for JTH's young researchers to further develop their industrial networks.

“In academia, everyone needs to collaborate with industry in different ways. The younger researchers must grow into the role of managing JTH's industrial partners and building new networks for future research. So they need to meet actors within industry and find the right contacts there.” says Kerstin Johansen.

When interviewed at the Pitch-day event, Marek Gersbach, CEO of CombiQ, a company that specializes in digital measurement and monitoring, said: “It's been an exciting day so far. I'm new to the Jönköping ‘ecosystem’ and want to learn more about the developments going on at the university and how we can collaborate on groundbreaking research.”

Martin Bååth, Design Engineer Manager at Fagerhults Belysning also attended the pitch day last year. He thought the day was very good even then and looked forward to this year's continuation.

On the Pitch-day he said: “I'm curious to hear what pitches will be presented today. The goal is to pick up new ideas that we might be able to help develop. We are already involved in many of JTH's projects, but we are always looking for new ones.”

Current topics that challenge

The three areas of applied AI, cybersecurity and circular industry were the focus of the pitches because they are highly topical subjects that present many challenges for companies.

Hopefully, the Pitch-day can become a recurring event and Kerstin Johansen believes that it can help to increase the attractiveness of JTH as an educational institution. She also hopes that as many of the ideas as possible can be developed into collaborative research applications that contribute to knowledge-intensive product development.