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Celebrating electricity and the birthday of a legend of the Faculty of Engineering, LTH

A themed day about electricity was held to celebrate an 80-year-old LTH legend. Sture Lindahl has been a part of LTH since the 1970s and is about to celebrate a milestone birthday. Most recently, he was adjunct professor of industrial electrical engineering and automation, and over a hundred people met to reflect on his contributions, and to look forward. Sture Lindahl also attended to receive the accolades.

Jessika Sellergren – Published 18 April 2023

Ett hundratal människor i en stor sal sett från ovan. Foto.
In the middle of April 2023, around a hundred people gathered to talk about electricity and energy with an historical perspective – and also to honour Sture Lindahl. Photo: Pernilla Daws

Seminar topics included subjects such as the historical development of the electrical energy system, the expansion of nuclear power, challenges in protection and control systems and future electricity systems and energy transition – all of which are connected to Sture Lindahl’s research over his long career.

Göran Andersson, professor emeritus at ETH Zurich and KTH with a focus on electric power systems, held one of the introductory presentations. He compared Sture Lindahl to the lion on the Lund University seal: one paw in a book and one holding a sword. That is Sture Lindahl, according to Göran Andersson; one foot in the muddy practicalities, solving new problems with great curiosity.

The participants of the celebrations showed that contacts between industry and academia are strong in the field of electrical power systems. Representatives were present from companies such as E.ON, Vattenfall, Hitachi (previously ABB) and DNV (Det Norske Veritas) – a global consulting firm that bought Gothia Power, the company Sture Lindahl co-founded.

Speakers during the day included Karl-Johan Åström, professor emeritus of automatic control and one of LTH’s first professors, Sture Larsson, retired technical director of Svenska Kraftnät, Thomas Smed, expert in nuclear power dynamics at Vattenfall-Forsmark, Zoran Gajic, expert in protection systems at Hitachi, Ambra Sannino at DNV and chair of the Swedish Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Joining them were former colleague from when Sture Lindahl worked at Sydkraft, Per Norberg, who later joined Vattenfall Eldistribution, and Bengt Ekenstierna, retired project manager at Sydkraft for the Baltic Cable between Svedala and Travemünde, and who today works with the “Beken model” – a pricing model aimed at reducing high Swedish electricity prices.

A large part of the day was spent on recollections, but there were also several elements that cast the focus into the future.

One of those looking forward was Olof Samuelsson, professor of industrial electrical engineering and automation, as well as coordinator for LTH’s profile area “Energy Transition – Power and Transport”. He said:

“I’m struck by the sheer amount of expertise in the room. Many here contributed to Sweden’s first energy transition when nuclear power and electric heating replaced the burning of oil. The global energy transition today requires lots of fresh expertise in electric power systems, and I am happy to see all the younger participants here today.”

Among those participating were seven of Olof Samuelsson’s students writing their degree projects in electrical power systems and who are about to enter the workforce.

Sture Lindahl. Foto.

Sture Lindahl

Adjunct professor of industrial electrical engineering and automation at LTH.

After receiving his Master of Science in engineering at Chalmers, Sture Lindahl came to Lund for doctoral studies in automatic control at LTH, and has lived in Lund ever since. After many years working in industry – at Vattenfall, Sydkraft and ABB – he started the consultancy Gothia Power (now DNV) in 2005. During his career in the private sector, he kept close contact with LTH and became associate professor at LTH in 1985, honorary doctor at Chalmers in 1998 and acted acted as adjunct professor of industrial electrical engineering and automation at LTH between 2000 and 2008.