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A fragmented existance

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post, not from lack of interest, but rather because I’ve been busy getting grips with my new role. One major difference between being a department head to being dean is that my time has become very fragmented – I have to be able to switch very quickly between different tasks and subjects. This was also true during my time as Head of the Department of Electrical and Information Technology, but the variation between tasks has increased significantly.

– Publicerad den 16 mars 2015

A lot has happened during the last week within my own research area of electronics and mobile communication. Sony Mobile and Ericsson have both announced redundancies and we see an industry undergoing constant change. I can’t predict how this is going to affect LTH and the region, but I am convinced that wireless communication is an important part of developing our future, even if the landscape is changing.

Wireless communication will become an integral part of many industries, such as health care, transport and industrial production. I am hopeful about the future, but we have to make sure we adapt to the ongoing change.

In the last month I also found time for a research trip to California, where I attended the most important electronics construction conference there is – ISSCC. I also visited Intel in Portland, well-known to most, and Xilinx in San Jose, one of the world’s largest FPGA manufacturers, to present my departments testbed for Massive MIMO – a candidate for the next generation of mobile communication 5G. On my way to Xilinx I also visited Glo in Sunnyvale, a start-up with its roots in LTH’s successful nano research.

I also visited UC Berkeley to help celebrate Bob Brodersen’s 40th anniversary at UCB. Bob was involved in supporting the LTH’s first steps into electronics research in the 80’s, and has been an inspiration and a guide ever since. He was given an honorary doctorate from LTH in 1999.

I fredags var det också min första Professorsinstallation. Vid LTH installerades fem nya professorer; Sören Vang Andersen, Carin Andersson, Aleh Cherp, György Marko-Varga och Anders Warell. Det var mäktigt att stå i aulan i denna roll men den riktigt roliga biten var att går runt att besöka de fem. Förra måndagen diskuterade jag masspektrometri på morgonen med György, tillverkning av kugghjul under lunchen med Carin och sen energiomställning och politik med Aleh på IIIEE på väg hem. En fascinerande dag!

Last Friday I attended my first professorial inauguration. Five new professors were inaugurated into LTH: Sören Vang Andersen, Carin Andersson, Aleh Cherp, György Marko-Varga and Anders Warell. It was truly special to experience this event in my new role, and it was even more fun to visit our five new professors. Last month I discussed mass spectrometry in the morning with György, the manufacture of cogwheels during lunch with Carin, and finally energy transition and politics with Aleh on my way home. A fascinating day!