SSAB Europe Oy and Lapland University of Applied Sciences have signed a partnership agreement.

SSAB Europe Oy, a company that produces standard and special steels and further heat-rolled steel plates and coils at its Raahe mill, has partnered with Lapland University of Applied Sciences. The partnership agreement will help the mill’s gradual transition towards completely fossil-free steel production. This move will significantly reduce the mill’s carbon dioxide emissions and contribute to the achievement of climate goals.

Lapland UAS New Industry expertise group, on the other hand, has long experience in testing materials and developing solutions and procedures related to durability, responsibility and new energy solutions.

The parties have renewed their contractual cooperation, and the signing ceremony for the partnership agreement was held online on 31 October 2023.

The partnership agreement covers, among others, the following areas of cooperation: material testing, sustainability and responsibility expertise, and research and innovation activities. The cooperation extends even more closely to engineering education in the form of theses and guest lectures, for example.

The contact person for the agreement, Vili Kesti, thanks Lapland University of Applied Sciences for its long-term strategic partnership, which has been successful for fifteen years.

– Research cooperation and infrastructure have a long tradition; Together we have studied various concepts in the product development phase and their features. In this way, steelmaking always gets a little better.

Material testing develops, for example, the formability, weldability and quality of steels. Research and innovation activities utilise new project openings and development environments and carry out other research and surveys.

Educational cooperation means both the exchange of expert knowledge and cooperation between engineering students and working life. The agreement frames the whole and brings systematics to the cooperation.

– SSAB’s agreement is a driving force contract in the field of technology, especially since the emphasis is strongly on applied research, says Hannu Kähkölä, Director in Lapland UAS.

Expertise Group Manager Lauri Kantola, on the other hand, believes that the long-term cooperation with SSAB is an absolute strength for the University of Applied Sciences.

– The capacity for the revolution that the era of fossil-free steel will bring is there. Straightforward communication between experts and a shared willingness to find students who are ready to be part of the change is possible when the actors trust each other.

The agreement is currently valid for three years. The contact persons for the agreement, Vili Kesti, Product Development Manager Pasi Suikkanen and Lauri Kantola, draw up an annual action plan that defines the themes and measures of the cooperation in more detail.

Riitta Rissanen, Rector of the University of Applied Sciences, sees the agreement as an example of how the green transition will reform different industries.

– Lapland University of Applied Sciences is fortunate to be part of SSAB’s journey towards sustainable steel production.