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Swedish research for growth 

A VINNOVA MAGAZINE 

A NEW GENERATION CARS • STRONGER SWEDISH STEEL • MEET PROFESSOR MATHIAS UHLÉN 

VINNOVA INFORMATION VI 2005:08

Facts and figures about Sweden. Did you know that...? 

Sweden is recognized as one of the world’s most knowledgebased 

and innovative economies. Around 4 per cent of GDP 

is spent on R&D, of which the government accounts for 1 

per cent and industry the remaining 3 per cent. 

The Nobel Prize, which was founded by Alfred Nobel, the 

inventor of dynamite, is awarded every year for innovations 

and discoveries that have conferred “the greatest benefit 

on mankind” in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and 

peace. 

ABB, AstraZeneca, Autoliv, Electrolux, Ericsson, Saab, Scania, 

Securitas, Sandvik, Tetra Pak, Volvo, IKEA and H&M are all 

wholly or partly owned Swedish multinational corporations. 

In 1959 Volvo introduced the 3-point safety belt, which is 

now saving a life every six minutes and is regarded as one of 

the most important road safety innovations ever. The curtain 

airbag and the Autoliv’s anti-whiplash system are other Swedish 

inventions. 

Swedish medical inventions include improvements in local 

anaesthesia, improvements in intravenous nutrition, the 

pacemaker, ultrasound, the gamma knife, beta blockers and 

Losec, the anti-ulcer drug. In recent years Losec has been 

the world’s best-selling pharmaceutical product. 

85 per cent of the population of Sweden had access to 3G 

services in January 2005, the highest figure in Europe. The 

NMT, GSM, GPRS, WCDMA and Bluetooth wireless standards 

all originated in Sweden. 

Sweden came third (after the US and Finland) in the World 

Economic Forum’s 2004 world ranking, both in terms of 

international competitiveness and growth prospects. 

The Swedish corporate tax rate, 28 per cent, is low by international 

comparison and significantly lower than the rates in 

most other European countries. 

Sweden is one of the world’s largest recipients of foreign direct 

investment. In the last ten years the number of foreignowned 

companies has risen from 2,500 to 10,000. The 

largest foreign investors during the last five years were the 

UK, Germany, the US, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway. 

Swedish exports account for nearly 50 per cent of GDP. 

Traditional industries such as forest products, mining and 

engineering (including the automotive industry, electrical 

goods and telecom) account for a substantial proportion of 

export revenues. 

Håkan Lans is a Swedish inventor. His inventions include the 

computer colour graphics and the GP & C satellite navigation 

system, which is the international standard in shipping and 

civilian aviation today. 

VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency 

for Innovation Systems, integrates research, 

development and innovation. 

VINNOVA’s mission is to promote sustainable 

growth by funding needs-driven research 

and developing effective innovation systems. 

Through its activities in this field, VINNOVA 

aims to make a significant contribution to 

Sweden’s development into a leading knowledge 

based economy. 

Postal address: 

VINNOVA, SE-101 58 Stockholm, Sweden 

Street address: 

Mäster Samuelsgatan 56 

Phone: +46 8473 3000 

Fax:+46 8473 3005 

E-mail: VINNOVA@VINNOVA.se 

www.VINNOVA.se 

Publisher: Per Eriksson, GD 

Editor-in-chief: Ylva Sjönell 

Editor: Sanna Berg 

Copy: Håkan Borgström, Andreas Nilsson, 

Per Westergård 

Form & Layout: Mårten Pien 

Production: Capito AB 

Printed by: EO print 

Printed on environment-friendly paper 

Cover: Advanced production of nanothreads 

in semiconductor materials could 

generate new Swedish export successes. 

Mikael Björk and Ann Persson have 

made path-breaking discoveries that may 

result in new electronic components and 

medical sensors. 

Cover photograph and page 23: Marcus Erixson 

Other photographs: Pressens bild: page 5, 14, 24. 

Anette Andersson: page 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. 

Niclas Kindahl, Acreo AB: page 21. Per Westergård: 

page 8, 15, 16, 26, 27, 28. Diamorph Magnetic: 

page 15. Martinson Group AB: page 17. Scandlines: 

page 20. Gunnar Ledfelt, KTH: page 21. 

Håkan Lindgren, KTH: page 22. 

ISSN 1650-3120 

2 | V I N N O V A M A G A Z I N E

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Small country – strong research 

Mathias Uhlén 

The art of commercializing research 

Swedish research is the key to growth 

Three examples 

How to become a leader in the vehicle safety industry 

Whiplash research has generated billions of euros in 

socioeconomic benefits 

Cooperation promotes high-tech primary industries 

Sweden’s mines, steelworks and paper mills are among the most 

technologically advanced in the world 

Interdisciplinary collaboration produces sensitive sensors 

Gas sensors will make diesel engines cleaner by measuring emissions 

in the hot exhaust gases themselves 

The branding of a nation 

By Simon Anholt, regarded as a leading specialist in creating 

brand strategies for countries, cities and regions 

Smooth cooperation at ABB 

Charlotte Brogren, Vice President of Technology at ABB Robotics 

15 

contents 

16 

26 

Towards the future 

Three examples of strategic areas 

16 

17 

18 

19 

22 

24 

26 

27 

Security research creates growth 

Research in this area promotes Swedish exports of 

security products 

Wood – a high-tech sunrise industry 

Wood is processed in order to produce higher-value 

products 

Knowledge-based biotechnology industry 

Collaboration between central government, higher 

education and trade unions 

Good ideas receive support 

Producing packaging from waste 

A camera that sees through the skin 

Air streams conquer the world 

The cradle of Swedish growth 

High-quality research – an essential condition 

for growth 

Global market for small enterprises 

Encouraging SMEs’ research activites 

Small country – large car industry 

Building a new hybrid ethanol-electric car 

Useful contacts 

V I N N O V A M A G A Z I N E | 3

EDITORIAL 

SMALL COUNTRY – STRONG RESEARCH 

Sweden has developed a strong 

research system over the years 

which has played an important part 

in our growth and prosperity. As a 

small country we have to trade in 

the international marketplace in order 

to survive. Close public-private 

partnership is a tradition in Sweden. 

This is one of the reasons for 

our high economic growth and our 

ability to develop large companies 

that play a major role in a globalized 

world. 

The last ten years have seen a 

shift in Sweden from a public-private 

partnership to a public-privateuniversity 

partnership, i.e. “triple 

helix cooperation”. This is also what 

drives VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental 

Agency for Innovation 

Systems. Our mission is to invest in 

problem-oriented research and the 

development of effective innovation 

systems. We do this through a 

systematic approach to research, 

innovation and growth. 

This magazine offers some examples 

of the kind of research and 

innovation being done in Sweden 

with VINNOVA’s support and of how 

these activities promote present 

and future growth in Sweden. The 

examples show that we are active 

partners in various types of triple 

helix projects whose aim is to 

strengthen R&D based on effective 

innovation systems. 

Per Eriksson 

Director-General 

Karin Markides, 

Vice Director-General 

The art of 

commercializing 

research 

He is one of Sweden’s leading researchers 

and is making history by mapping human 

proteins. At the same time Mathias Uhlén 

is very keen on commercializing his 

ideas – a recipe for exports and growth. 

THERE IS OF COURSE nothing to say 

that a person cannot be both an outstanding 

researcher and a successful 

entrepreneur. Nonetheless, very few 

people make the grade in both fields. 

In both cases you have to be among the 

best if you are going to get anywhere. 

Mathias Uhlén is the kind of citizen 

that every country dreams about. 

He has been engaged in world-class 

research for two decades now and has 

also started a number of successful 

biotechnology companies. The project 

he is leading at the moment comprises 

both these activities: he is carrying out a 

comprehensive mapping of human proteins. 

The project is being carried out 

at the Royal Institute of Technology, 

Stockholm. He has himself developed 

and commercialized many of the tools 

that make this gigantic task possible. 

Several groups of young researchers 

are working on different stages of the 

mapping process in Mathias Uhlén’s 

well-lit laboratory. They manage about 

10 proteins a day. 

– Within the space of a few fleeting 

years we will be revealing 

some of the most basic 

information about human 

beings. Being involved in 

this is absolutely fascinating 

and to us medical researchers 

it is like landing 

on the moon. 

Sweden has a long 

tradition of successful 

protein research. Swedish 

technology is used for about half the 

protein analysis done all over the world. 

Mathias Uhlén has contributed to this. 

He took out his first patent as a young 

research student over 20 years ago and 

has created protein analysis tools that 

generate Swedish export earnings worth 

tens of millions of euros every year. 

Mathias Uhlén often has the pleasant 

task of trying to explain to admiring 

colleagues or research funders why Sweden 

has so many successful companies. 

– There is a high level of knowhow 

here and we are receptive to new 

technologies. This sets its stamp on 

both research and industry. For several 

decades, moreover, Sweden has had 

political leaders who have realized the 

importance of serious investment in 

research and education generally. 

There is keen international competition, 

however. Mathias Uhlén says that 

he is eagerly following the world’s two 

strongest economies: the USA, which 

is becoming increasingly cautious when 

it comes to publishing biotechnology 

research findings, and China, which 

is driven by 

boundless 

confidence in 

the future. The 

The mapping of the 

body’s building blocks 

is based on small antibodies 

that can capture 

and identify specific 

proteins in tissue samples. 


Swedish protein research proved to be a great commercial success. Mathias Uhlén regards collaboration between industry and academia as an 

essential condition for growth. Here Mathias demonstrates a detail to Swedish Minister for Education, Research and Culture Leif Pagrotsky. 

recipe for Europe is to develop an effective 

research funding system that can 

meet a variety of requirements. 

– We need to go in for breadth, so as 

to have a broad scientific base, and for 

excellence, so that we can support largescale 

projects that require a concentration 

of resources. No country can afford 

not to support applied research today. All 

investment in this sector pays off handsomely 

in our export earnings. 

Apart from breadth, excellence and 

applied research there is, according to 

Mathias Uhlén, a fourth component in 

European growth – support for innovations. 

Sweden has an advantage here 

compared with many other countries, 

MAPPING THE BODY’S BUILDING BLOCKS 

since researchers in Sweden can take 

out patents on their innovations. The 

result is a very simple and unbureaucratic 

system, says Mathias Uhlén. 

HE HAS HIMSELF been involved in 

about 70 patent applications and has set 

up companies in fields as different as 

DNA sequencing and research into the 

biology and biochemistry of trees. One 

thing about commercializing research 

findings that he has learned over the 

years is the vital importance of picking 

the right product. 

– The crucial thing is to position 

yourself so that you are best in the 

world. It is not enough for a Swedish 

Human Protein Resource is a unique 

scientific project that involves mapping 

human proteins. The researchers 

in Stockholm are investigating the 

22,000 proteins that represent the 

body’s building blocks and improving 

our basic understanding of the biology 

of the human body. 

The objective of the project is to create 

an atlas of all the proteins that are 

active in human cells. This information 

is published continuously on the Internet 

and made available to researchers 

all over the world. About 800 proteins 

and half a million tissue images are 

added to the database every six months. 

All in all, the project is expected to 

produce about three million images 

company to be as good as an American 

competitor, since the USA is an enormous 

domestic market. You simply have 

to find a niche where you are unique. 

He considers Sweden a good country 

for research-intensive companies. 

– Swedes are good at teamwork, although 

we are sometimes a little too dependent 

on consensus, which can hold 

up decisions. But we are loyal co-workers 

and this is something that you really 

need in research-intensive companies. 

There is also a very laid-back relationship 

between universities and companies, 

just as there is in the USA. This is 

a great advantage for knowledge-driven 

growth. 

covering over 700 different types of 

body tissues. The proteins control 

the life processes in the cells, and 

knowledge about them can be used 

to improve our understanding of the 

progress of diseases and make the key 

to the development of new drugs. The 

project is funded by the Knut and Alice 

Wallenberg Foundation. 


SWEDISH RESEARCH IS THE KEY TO GROWTH 

It is no longer merely a question of statistics. 

More and more examples show 

that funds allocated to research and 

development stimulate growth in society 

as a whole. Research is a growth factor 

of strategic importance to industry. But 

smooth cooperation between academia 

and industry is also an important factor 

for the development of society as a 

whole. 

The Whiplash research carried out 

at Chalmers University of Technology 

in Gothenburg is one example of how 

basic research – conducted in cooperation 

with industry and public actors 

– saves many millions of euros in 

public spending. 

The shift towards sustainable development 

is one of the great challenges 

of our time. It could prove a powerful 

driver of growth, either by boosting environmental 

engineering or by encouraging 

energy conservation. The ProcessIT 

project is a good example of this. Better 

process monitoring, integration of IT 

systems and a number of other functions 

create economic growth. 

The project has built up a world-class research 

and innovation environment that 

is based on close interaction between 

academia, industry and public actors. 

The solutions it produces will be used in 

a variety of sectors, such as the chemical 

industry, paper manufacturing and 

engineering industries. One successful 

subproject is concerned with optimizing 

mining infrastructure, which should 

save millions of euros every year. 

Innovation, entrepreneurship and 

generation of new knowledge are important 

factors for growth. Sweden is 

among the biggest investors in research 

and development and is also one of the 

countries with the highest innovative 

capacity. The aim of these investments is 

to create new products and companies. 

The road to success usually starts with 

research strategies that focus on the 

interaction between academia and industry. 

One example is S-SENCE, the Swedish 

Sensor Centre in Linköping. This 

centre represents one of the first Swedish 

efforts to establish a strong research environment 

in which industry’s needs and 

interests play an important part. 

Here follows a more detailed presentation 

of the above three examples 

of how research stimulates growth in 

Sweden. 


INNOVATIVE THINKING 

Sweden became a world leader in neck 

injury research after new theories were 

presented in the mid-1980s about the way 

whiplash injuries are caused. This research 

is currently led by Professor Per Lövsund 

at Chalmers University of Technology. 

How to become a leader in 

the vehicle safety industry 

Whiplash research has generated billions of euros in 

socioeconomic benefits. In addition, Swedish companies have 

achieved great success in the export market for these products. 

ONE COLD WINTER day in Stockholm 

Gunilla Sogell was on her way home 

from work as usual. Her car suddenly 

skidded on Lidingö bridge outside 

Stockholm and crashed into the bridge 

railing at 70 kph. Her head flew backwards 

and forwards like a whiplash. The 

neck is exposed to enormous forces in 

such a collision. It can be stretched by 

as much as 5 centimetres. Vertebrae can 

be dislocated, discs slipped and ligaments 

stretched and ruptured. Most of 

these injuries are more or less invisible. 

The years following the accident were 

a nightmare. At most, she was taking 

23 painkillers a day, apart from sleeping 

medicine and anti-inflammatory and 

anti-depressive pills. 

– Two years after the accident I didn’t 

want to live any more. I was so frustrated 

at not being able to work as usual. 

You see, there are no visible signs that 

you are injured, she says. 

A MEDICAL MYSTERY 

Per Lövsund, Professor of Traffic Safety 

at Chalmers University of Technology, 

has studied whiplash injuries for many 

years. He says that about 2,000 people 

are disabled every year in Sweden as a 

result of neck injuries. These injuries are 

on the increase and cost society several 

million euros every year, mostly in compensation 

for loss of income. 

But there is hope. Today, Sweden is a 

world leader in the field of neck injury 

research, for which Per Lövsund is now 

responsible. 

– Rather modest public investment 

has yielded a good return, he says. 

According to Per Lövsund, this 

success is largely due to cooperation 

between industry, research and society. 

His research team has already achieved 

remarkable results. For example, not a 


‘ The industry has even been enthusiastic about our 

long-term research, which is not so common in a 

world where everyone wants to see results fast.’ 

single car is produced today without 

airbags, curtain airbags or specially 

designed seats. 

– The whiplash protection that has 

been built into all Volvo and Saab cars 

since 1997 has reduced the risk of neck 

injuries by at least 50 per cent in connection 

with serious accidents, he says. This 

is the result of many years’ research. 

– We have gone all the way from basic 

to applied research. The industry has 

even been enthusiastic about our longterm 

research, which is not so common 

in a world where everyone wants to see 

results fast. 

ADVANCED IMPACT DUMMY 

The results of neck injury research 

include the development of a very 

advanced impact dummy that has been 

used in many studies. It can measure 

the stress on different joints in connection 

with a collision. 

The research team has also developed 

a mathematical model corresponding 

to the female anatomy. The reason for 

this is that women are injured more 

seriously than men in connection with 

rear-end collisions. 

– We do not know yet why this is. 

There is a theory that it has something 

to do with differences in muscle mass 

and nerves. We hope that new studies 

STUDY QUANTIFIES THE BENEFITS OF NECK INJURY RESEARCH 

Vehicle safety research has generated 

more than 500 million euro in socioeconomic 

benefits in the form of lower 

medical costs, reduced loss of income 

and less suffering. 

VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental 

Agency for Innovation Systems) and its 

predecessor have supported neck injury 

research at Chalmers University of 

Technology ever since 1985. A vehicle 

research programme has enabled 

researchers to collaborate with Volvo 

and Saab and other companies on ways 

and means of making vehicles safer. 

Needs-based research has given safety 

developers in these companies the 

knowledge they need to develop new 

products. A study has now been made 

of the achievements of this research. 

– We ourselves were surprised at the 

will point us in the right direction, says 

Per Lövsund. 

– Later on, a completely new dummy 

will be built so that we can study angle 

collisions from the rear and from the 

front. 

results. The studies of collisions and 

injuries indicated without any doubt that 

serious injuries can be reduced by 50 

per cent. This is a direct result of measures 

taken as a result of the research 

done at Chalmers University of Technology, 

says Knut Sandberg Eriksen of the 

Institute of Transport Economy, Oslo, 

one of the authors of the study. 

The study, which was carried out in 

cooperation with Møre Research in 

Molde, Norway, found that this research 

benefits society in two different 

ways. First, it benefits ordinary citizens 

by making vehicles safer in connection 

with rear-end collisions. Second, it 

benefits Swedish industry by increasing 

exports of these products or vehicles 

that include them. 



SVENSK INDUSTRIS INNOVATIVA FRAMSTEG 

Cooperation promotes hightech 

primary industries 

Sweden’s mines, steelworks and paper mills are among the most 

technologically advanced in the world. But they must become 

even more efficient if they are to be profitable in the future. 

HERE IS A SUCCESSFUL example in the 

north of Sweden of how primary industries 

can collaborate with universities to 

secure economic growth and create new 

jobs in small technology-based companies. 

Ore mining in the LKAB Group’s 

mines in Kiruna and Malmberget is carried 

out nowadays by means of remotecontrolled 

machinery about 1 kilometre 

underground. The cost per tonne of 

ore mined has been reduced by 3 per 

cent per year in the last few decades. 

As a result, twice as much ore is now 

mined by only half as many employees, 

and LKAB is one of the country’s most 

profitable groups with profits exceeding 

1 billion euro and constantly increasing 

turnover. 

– If this trend is to continue, we will 

have to develop our processes even further 

so that we can extract more from 

the raw materials while controlling production 

so as to avoid bottlenecks. This 

will require integration of IT systems, 

better process monitoring and other 

improvements, explains Lars-Eric Aaro, 

Director of Research and Development. 

LKAB’s head office is in the centre of 

Luleå. The inhabitants of this prosperous 

city are the wealthiest in Sweden 


A winner of the VINNVÄXT award. Competitive companies and new jobs are the top priority for Anders OE Johansson of Luleå University 

of Technology, Lars-Eric Aaro, Director of Research and Development at LKAB and Mayor Karl Petersen. 

north of Stockholm. Mayor Karl Petersen 

has no doubts about the reasons for 

its success. 

– The universities and heavy industry 

are the backbone of the region. 

BROADER RESEARCH 

The challenges that Luleå faces are 

the same as in the north of Sweden as 

a whole – the primary industries must 

produce more at ever lower cost, and at 

the same time new, highly qualified jobs 

are needed. Sweden’s two northernmost 

counties are now cooperating within 

the framework of the ProcessIT project 

in order to achieve this goal. Anders 

OE Johansson of Luleå University of 

Technology is the project leader: 

GROWTH PROGRAMMES IN THE REGION 

The aim of the VINNVÄXT programme 

(Growth in regions by R&D and effective 

Innovation Systems) is to promote 

sustainable growth and international 

competitiveness in regions by means 

of needs-driven research. Another aim 

is to develop the innovation system so 

that it attains an internationally competitive 

level in a specific growth area. 

The ProcessIT project is a VINNOVA 

project implemented within the VINN- 

VÄXT framework. The participants are 

the authorities and universities in Umeå 

– We have long experience of dedicated, 

needs-driven research. LKAB 

and other industrial companies realize 

that they must go a step further and engage 

in broader research together with 

the universities. One of the aims of the 

ProcessIT project is to produce generic 

lessons. It must be possible to apply the 

technological solutions not only in mining, 

but also in the chemical industry, 

paper manufacturing and engineering 

industries. 

This opens the door for new cooperation 

projects in which the industries 

concerned support small local researchbased 

companies at the cutting edge of 

technological development. With the 

primary industries as customers, they 

and Luleå and the following companies: 

LKAB, Boliden, SSAB, Kappa Kraftliner 

and SCA. 

Lorentz Andersson, governor of Västerbotten 

county, chairs the board of 

the ProcessIT project. 

– Our aim is, together with our neighbouring 

county, to support cooperation 

between large companies and the universities. 

Today, the technological level 

in the primary industries is at least as 

high as in the telecom industry. 

Lorentz Andersson is looking even 

will be able to grow and create new 

jobs. The ProcessIT project started by 

carrying out an analysis of the region’s 

companies and their production. This 

generated a hundred proposals for 

improvements, including measurement 

data that will make it possible to control 

production chains, which are often 

complex, more efficiently. 

Close collaboration is the motto 

for the ProcessIT project, a winner of 

the VINNVÄXT award. Competitive 

companies and new jobs are the top 

priority for Mayor Karl Petersen, Lars- 

Eric Aaro, Director of Research and 

Development at LKAB, and Anders 

OE Johansson of Luleå University of 

Technology. 

further afield and would like to expand 

cooperation to the Gulf of Bothnia 

region as a whole. 

– A large proportion of Europe’s 

suppliers of raw materials, i.e. iron ore, 

steel, forest products, oil, natural gas 

etc., are to be found in this region. 

Successful companies are not only crucial 

to regional growth, but competitive 

primary industries in the north are vital 

to Europe as a whole. 

1 0 | V I N N O V A M A G A Z I N E


From steel pellets 

to meatballs 

Small balls of iron ore are one reason why the Swedish 

production chain from iron ore to finished quality 

steel is the most profitable and efficient in the world. 

Using pellets instead of ordinary ore makes steel 

production more reliable and less energy-consuming. 

THE CONVEYOR BELT trundles at the 

rate of a few metres per second towards 

the top of Furnace 3 at SSAB. Several 

thousand tonnes of ore pellets, coke and 

lime are poured into the 40 metre high 

furnace every day. After eight hours at 

a temperature of 2,000° C the iron minerals 

are converted into liquid pig iron 

that can be tapped from the bottom of 

the furnace and be worked into quality 

steel. 

THE KEY TO SUCCESS 

The ore pellets with a diameter of one 

centimetre that constitute the raw 

material are the key to SSAB’s success. 

The process in the blast furnace is 

complicated. It requires great precision 

to produce high-quality pig iron with 

the minimum of energy. Using pellets of 

a consistent quality rather than lumps 

of ore makes it easier to control the 

process, although the size and quality of 

the ore pellets must be checked, too. 

– But when we get the results of the 

day’s slow test the ore is already in the 

furnace and it is too late to change the 

After eight hours at a temperature 

of 2,000° C the iron minerals are 

converted into liquid pig iron. 

mixture of pellets, coke and slag-forming 

materials, explains Robert Johansson, 

who is a development engineer. 

With the help of the ProcessIT 

cooperation project the aim is now to 

measure the properties of the pellets at 

the same time as the furnace is charged, 

thus optimizing the quantity of coke in 

relation to the size of the pellets. 

– This could save several million euros 

a year if we were able to avoid using too 

much coke – having too low a temperature 

in the furnace might otherwise 

mean that we would have to stop production. 

John Erik Larsson is the man 

who will make this possible. He used to 

be a researcher at Luleå University of 

Technology and runs an optical metrology 

business called MBV Systems. 

– Using high-speed measurements 

we can create high-resolution threedimensional 

images of the pellets while 

they are on the conveyor belt. Advanced 

calculation methods then tell us the size 

distribution and roundness deviations, 

which give an indication of the quality 

of the pellets. 

Iron pellets are a rapidly growing product 

that is profitable both for mining and 

steel companies. Work is in progress on the 

development of a laser-based method for 

measuring deviations in the quality of the 

small pellets. 

FLEXIBLE SYSTEMS 

The ore pellets, which consist of finely 

ground grains of ore and various binders, 

are easy to handle and reduce the 

need for treatment steps at the steel 

works, explains Lars-Eric Aaro, Director 

of Research and Development at 

LKAB. 

– Ten years ago we only made one 

kind of pellet. Nowadays pellets account 

for more than 80 per cent of 

sales and we have a range of seven 

different types that have all been 

developed to meet the requirements of 

various customers, he says. 

John Erik Larsson mentions the 

breadth of the ProcessIT project. 

– The technology we develop should 

not be restricted to the needs of a single 

customer. My system can measure 

and monitor the quality of everything 

from wood chips in heating plants and 

pulp plants to meatballs! 

V I N N O V A M A G A Z I N E | 1 1


Interdisciplinary 

collaboration produces 

sensitive sensors 

A product no larger than a fingertip – the result of a decade of 

research – has the potential to break into the world auto market. 

The gas sensor will make diesel engines cleaner by measuring 

emissions in the hot exhaust gases. The tiny sensor is one result 

at S-SENCE, a VINNOVA-supported Competence centre. 

SENSORS CAN BE USED for many industrial 

applications. They are useful for 

measuring gases and liquids in many 

different areas, such as the food industry, 

water treatment, medical diagnostics and 

Sensors are important in a wide range of 

industries, from process industries to 

medical diagnostics, according to Tina 

Krantz-Rülcker. 

process and environmental engineering. 

S-SENCE has taken advantage of 

this. Close cooperation takes place at 

this Competence centre at Linköping 

University between researchers at the 

university and the development departments 

of the participating companies. 

VINNOVA is contributing 623 000 euro 

per year for a period of 10 years, and 

these funds are being matched by corresponding 

contributions from industry 

and the university. The director, Tina 

Krantz-Rülcker, has noted many advantages 

as a result of close collaboration 

with industry. 

– Companies gain access to advanced 

and successful research findings related 

to their business areas and researchers 

like us get the opportunity to work on 

topics that interest us. Thanks to our 

collaboration at S-SENCE we can test 

our research findings directly in the 

company’s processes! 

WINNING COLLABORATION 

Higher education benefits, too. Doctoral 

students may be employed by 

the university and work at one of the 

companies affiliated to the Competence 

centre. At the same time, industrial 

doctoral students who are employed by 

the companies can visit the academic 

environment, so that both groups benefit 

from this collaboration. 

One concrete example is Helena 

Wingbrant, who recently became the 

20th student at the centre to obtain her 

PhD. She has now completed the last 

tests of a new gas sensor based on heatresistant 

silicon carbide. It is designed 

to measure the hot exhaust gases in 

a diesel engine in order to optimize 

exhaust emission control. 

– It has been stimulating to work 

so close to the product development 

side. I have carried out measurements 

with sensors in the test laboratories at 

both Volvo in Gothenburg and Ford in 

Detroit. 

MULTIMILLION EURO AGREEMENT 

Per Holmberg, development manager 

at AppliedSensor, which paid for some 

of Helena Wingbrant’s research at S- 

SENCE, says that they are now going 

ahead with the patented sensor. 

– This demonstrates how our collaboration 

works – the researchers are 

ahead of us, but they are not in our way. 

We believe that the sensor has great potential 

in view of future stringent exhaust 

emission standards, for example in the 

USA. Now we are involved in discussions 

with several car manufacturers. This 


The sensor developed by researcher Helena Wingbrant, which measures exhaust emissions, 

has the potential to conquer the world auto market. It is the result of successful research collaboration 

between Linköping University and industry at the S-SENCE Competence centre. 

may lead to sales of millions 

of sensors, he says. 

The company has been 

successful in commercializing 

research results. A few 

years ago it signed an agreement 

with Texas Instruments 

worth over 50 million 

euro relating to another gas 

sensor. The sensor measures 

concentrations of noxious 

gases in vehicle ventilation systems. 

When these concentrations reach a 

certain level the sensor causes the air 

damper to close long before the driver 

has noticed anything. 

S-SENCE’s current success just goes 

to show how long the road from research 

to commercial product normally is. 

– Long-term funding has really paid 

off. It takes time to build up a research 

team with the right people and equipment. 

Working in a centre has also 

given us a strong team spirit, although 

we have very different backgrounds 

– from physics to chemistry to biology, 

explains Tina Krantz-Rülcker. 

She is now planning the future of the 

centre after the project in its present 

form comes to an end in mid-2006. 

Collaboration will continue in some 

form, and many new companies have 

‘Long-term funding has 

really paid off. It takes 

time to build up a research 

team with the right people 

and equipment.’ 

joined as partners during the last year. 

They include NIBE, which produces 

heating systems, and the paper manufacturer 

Billerud, which apart from 

COMPETENCE CENTRE FOR SENSOR TECHNOLOGY 

S-SENCE is one of VINNOVA’s 28 

Competence centres for collaboration 

between industry and university. It is 

based on the Department for Applied 

Physics at Linköping University. 

S-SENCE focuses on gas and liquid 

sensors. These may be used to monitor 

processes in the food industry and 

rinsing water in household appliances, 

and also in connection with medical 

diagnostics and to detect narcotics 

and explosives. They may also be 

used to measure exhaust emissions 

the project at the centre also 

collaborates with Senset, a 

spin-off company on measurements 

of emissions from its 

paper mills. 

– Counter-financing from 

VINNOVA has naturally attracted 

these companies, since 

they have not had to pay for 

all the research themselves. 

The fact that several new 

partners have appeared, now that the 

product does not have long to go, is a 

sign that they believe that cooperation 

will continue in the future. 

and the quality of oil in vehicles. 

VINNOVA’s aim is to develop worldclass 

research resources at universities 

for the benefit of, and in cooperation 

with, industry. Asko Cylinda, Volvo, 

Ford, Billerud, AppliedSensor, Biacore, 

Biosensor Applications, NIBE, 

Senset and Tekniska Verken i Linköping 

AB all take an active part in the 

S-SCENCE Competence centre in 

the expectation of long-term benefits 

from cooperation. 


CHRONICLE 

THE BRANDING OF A NATION 

‘For a rich country, 

it can help update 

people’s perceptions, 

to communicate 

technological expertise, 

creativity and 

dynamism, alongside 

the images of heritage 

and tradition.’ 

Nation branding is a phrase we hear 

very often today, and it isn’t surprising 

that places are trying to compete 

on the global market by building their 

brands. It’s the natural consequence 

of a crowded marketplace where competing 

‘products’ need to attract the 

attention of the ‘consumer’. 

I define nation branding as the 

process of aligning 

the policies, 

investments, 

innovations, behaviours 

and communications 

of a 

country around a 

clear strategy for 

achieving enhanced 

competitive 

identity. 

The process 

can add value 

to countries in 

many different 

ways. For a poor 

country, surviving on handouts and 

labouring under a negative ‘brand 

image’ of war, poverty, disease and 

corruption, nation branding can be 

a way of eliciting more than pity, of 

communicating that the country also 

offers attractive prospects for investment, 

export, tourism and cultural 

relations. 

For a rich country, it can help update 

people’s perceptions, to communicate 

technological expertise, creativity 

and dynamism, alongside the images 

of heritage and tradition. 

Whoever is doing it, true nation 

branding has little to do with slogans, 

logos or advertising. 

Most places ultimately 

get the reputation they 

deserve, and the only 

way to change it is by 

doing different things. 

This means creating 

a culture where every 

player in every sector, 

from policy-making to 

industry, from tourism 

to exports, strives to 

achieve constant innovation, 

implemented 

to impeccable international 

standards, but 

always in line with the national brand 

strategy. All these innovations have 

to prove the point about the way the 

country wishes to be perceived. 

When a country starts to practise 

innovation clearly guided by a common 

strategy, the media take notice: 

promotion becomes simpler and cheaper 

when there is always something 

new to say, when it is all part of the 

same compelling new story. 

The only way to acquire a reputation 

is by earning it, and brand strategy 

provides a good way of planning 

and aligning the change in national 

behaviour which ultimately leads to a 

better national reputation: one which 

is more fair, more true, and more useful 

to the country’s economic, social 

and political goals. 

© 2005 Simon Anholt 

Simon Anholt is one of the world’s leading specialists 

in creating brand strategies for countries, 

cities and regions. He is the British Government’s 

advisor on Public Diplomacy. 

Breast milk speeds up healing 

A refinement of an innovation at Sahlgrenska 

University Hospital has proved 

effective in speeding up wound healing 

and scarring. This innovation may 

even provide a solution to an unsolved 

problem that occurs in connection with 

operations on the abdomen. There is a 

risk after such operations of the intestines 

growing together with the healing 

surface. This restricts mobility in the 

abdomen and causes ileus, which is 

very painful. Breast milk may provide 

a solution to the problem. It contains 

lactoferrin, a protein that regulates and 

strengthens the immunological defence 

mechanisms of babies. A peptide (a 

string of amino acids) that helps operation 

wounds to heal has been identified 

and isolated. A group of entrepreneurs 

have refined this patented innovation 

and established a company called PharmaSurgics. 

A material with extreme properties 

A fantastic new material – MAX – can be 

used instead of gold in the manufacture of 

electrical components. MAX has low friction, 

low resistance, high heat resistance 

and high abrasive resistance, which makes 

it suitable as an alloy. Apart from that, it 

is cheap: gold costs 12,500 euro per kg, 

while MAX costs 36 euro per kg. 

Thin film made from MAX has been 

produced by the Impact Coatings company 

in Linköping in cooperation with ABB, 

Sandvik Kanthal, Uppsala University and 

Linköping University. The role of Impact 

Coatings was to scale up laboratory experiments 

and develop a mass production 

process. 

The object of the project was to industrialize 

a completely new nanomaterial 

consisting of three elements (titanium, 

silicon and carbon). In no time at all this 

work has made Sweden a leader in this 

field. The whole value chain is here, from 

basic materials science to know-how 


INTERVIEW 

Smooth cooperation 

at ABB 

No country with such a small population 

has produced so many complex 

products. 

– It’s not that we are smarter than 

anybody else. Sweden’s advantage 

is that we have long experience of 

developing technical systems, says 

Charlotte Brogren, Vice President of 

Technology at ABB Robotics. 

– But competition in a globalized 

world is becoming keener all the time. 

That is why Sweden must concentrate 

on areas where we already possess 

advanced know-how. 

ABB’s product portfolio is full of robots 

and power transmission products. 

Superficially, it looks like old technology, 

but the customers’ constantly 

changing wishes create an environment 

of continuous change. In order 

to succeed, ABB is engaged in close 

cooperation with researchers at many 

universities all over the world. 

– It is thanks to our contacts with 

The Linköping and Lund universities 

of technology that we are successful 

robot manufacturers today. 

CORE AREAS 

According to Charlotte Brogren, cooperation 

with Swedish researchers is 

smooth, direct and unbureaucratic. But 

relations with some foreign universities 

are more complicated, and regulations 

make it more difficult to conduct joint 

research projects with them. 

Although ABB only sells 3 per cent of 

its products in Sweden, almost a third 

of all research is done in this country. 

– We continuously evaluate where 

we can get the best value for our 

research grants. So far, our Swedish 

partners hold their own. But we cannot 

live on our past successes. Sweden’s 

future growth lies in our core areas, 

automation and power transmission, 

but also in the telecom, vehicle and 

process industries. All these areas 

require broad experience of technically 

complicated system solutions. 

about processes and production equipment 

to finished applications. Apart from 

having a market worth many millions of 

euros for its thin film processes using 

MAX, the company also intends to sell 

complete production plants. 

A new superglass 

Innovations are not always planned. 

Diamorph in Stockholm started with a 

failed experiment. This gave rise to a new 

superglass that is extremely hard, impactresistant 

and with a refraction index on a 

par with diamonds. Saeid Esmaeilzadeh 

is a researcher at the Department of Inorganic 

Chemistry at Stockholm University. 

Two years ago he was studying silicon 

nitride ceramics. Silicon nitride and 

additives were melted in his experiments 

at high temperature and were then set to 

cool at a controlled rate so that crystals 

were formed from the melt. But one 

night something unforeseen occurred. 

They usually work with melts at a 

temperature of 1,500 to 2,000° C and 

always keep the coolant connected to 

the kilns. In the middle of the night the 

cooling system broke down, the kiln was 

automatically shut down and the melt 

cooled much faster than usual. When 

Saeid examined the sample it was not 

crystalline but glass, with very interesting 

properties. It was the hardest silicate 

glass that has ever been produced. In 

addition, it has an extremely high refraction 

index, virtually the same as that 

for diamonds. It can be endowed with 

magnetic properties by adding high concentrations 

of various metals. Apart from 

all this, it can be produced by means of 

a simple process technology. The innovation 

has got to the commercialization 

stage and discussions are in progress 

with several cooperation partners. 

Award-winning high-performance 

processes 

ECPR (ElectroChemical Pattern Replication) 

is a completely new method for 

manufacturing conductor patterns on 

certain types of electronic chips. It has 

reduced 6 steps of the 10-step fabrication 

process to just one. The fabrication 

time has been cut from two hours to 2 or 

3 minutes! The innovation was developed 

in connection with a degree project 

in Lund and the company Replisurus 

is now located in Kista. The company 

has won a number of awards, including 

VINNOVA’s VINN NU competition. 


TOWARDS THE FUTURE 

Key measures are required at various 

levels to achieve long-term growth. In 

order to know where these measures 

should be taken we need analyses of 

future needs and strategies. These may 

relate to education, research, innovation 

and interplay between actors. 


Agency for Innovation Systems) has 

identified a number of areas in which 

such key measures can promote growth 

in Sweden. 

One example is Sweden’s national 

strategy for security research, which 

includes a plan for making better use 

of knowledge and skills to produce 

products, processes and services. 

Another example is the national 

innovation and research strategy for 

biotechnology. This strategy focuses on 

areas where there are good prospects 

of high growth and international competitiveness. 

Structures are identified 

in industry and in clusters of biotechnology, 

pharmaceutical and medical 

technology companies in various 

Swedish regions. 

A third example is wood manufacturing. 

Swedish sawmills, construction 

companies and researchers are collaborating 

on the development of rational 

wood processing. And they are well 

on the way to success. Here follows 

a more detailed presentation of the 

above three examples of how research 

stimulates growth in Sweden. 

Security research creates growth 

Sweden needs a programme for security research. This would enhance preparedness for 

all kinds of threats and disasters and promote Swedish exports of security products. 

Many Swedish ideas about security solutions 

are more advanced than those in the 

USA, says Svante Bergh, director at 

Ericsson Microwave Systems. 

THE MAIN THREAT today is not an 

invasion by a foreign power. Nowadays, 

the threats and risks that we must watch 

out for are the spread of serious infection, 

acts of terrorism, natural disasters 

that put essential infrastructure out of 

action and technical breakdowns in 

power, telecom and IT systems. 

According to the study ‘Knowledge 

for Safety’s Sake. Proposals for a national 

security research strategy’, which 

was conducted by VINNOVA, strategic 

changes are needed. 

Several members of the study group 

speak in terms of transformation from 

a society that is capable of meeting 

military threats alone to a society that 

can deal with all types of threats. 

– We must build a system in which 

our response is geared to the needs, regardless 

of whether this involves sending 

combat units to other countries or 

dealing with power failures in different 

parts of the country. In some cases the 

armed forces can operate under police 

command, while in others a fireman 

could be the key person, says Svante 

Bergh, the Confederation of Swedish 

Enterprise representative. 

According to the authors of the study, 

about 300 companies and institutes in 

Sweden may benefit from research programmes 

in order to develop new civil 

security products. The main sectors are 

complex IT systems, simulation and IT 

security, followed by mobile solutions, 

sensor technology, physical transports, 

NBC technology and the arms industry. 

– Sweden is already in the forefront in 

many areas, both in research and in the 

SWEDISH SECURITY RESEARCH STRATEGY 

VINNOVA presents the following proposals: 

• Invest 15,5–20,7 million euro per 

year on security research. 

• Make the Swedish Emergency Management 

Agency responsible for 

coordinating security research. 

• Set up a four-year national R&D 

programme to promote research in the 

EU. 

• Facilitate participation in US security 

research programmes. 

corporate sector. This gives us an excellent 

starting-point in the nascent international 

market for civil security products, says 

Head of Department Eva Lindencrona at 

VINNOVA, who led the study team. 

But there is no time to lose. The 

European Commission plans to improve 

protection against terrorism, 

serious organized crime and natural 

disasters in the EU. The EU is to spend 

375 million euro on space and security 

research during the period 2007‒2013. 

– We must be on that train, and 

preferably among the leaders, says 

Svante Bergh. 

He also says that many Swedish 

ideas about security solutions are more 

advanced than those in the USA, despite 

the fact that America spends vast 

sums on research into civil security. 

• Create innovative capacity for the 

security sector by enhancing public 

authorities’ purchasing capacity and developing 

common technical standards. 

The group included representatives of 

VINNOVA, the Swedish Emergency Management 

Agency, the Swedish Armed 

Forces, the Defence Materiel Administration, 

the Swedish Defence Research 

Agency, the Swedish National Defence 

College and the Confederation of Swedish 

Enterprise. 


STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE 

Wood 

Manufacturing 

– a high-tech 

sunrise industry 

Wood is beautiful, practical and strong, 

and it has more uses than people 

realize. In addition, it has such good 

environmental properties that 

using more wood instead of other 

materials would lower atmospheric 

carbon dioxide concentrations. 

A beautiful air control tower in Skellefteå, in the north of Sweden. The 

facade is made of glulam panel and is assembled in whole lengths. 

WE ARE NOT TALKING about a magic 

new material, but about ordinary wood, 

albeit subjected to high-tech processes 

in which its functional, aesthetic and environmental 

properties are improved in 

order to produce higher-value products. 

Nowadays wood research is conducted 

at most universities of technology, 

often in close cooperation with 

the timber industry and wood research 

institutes such as SP Trätek. VINNOVA 

has identified wood manufacturing as a 

fast-growing industry and contributes 

research funding to it. Two sectors that 

are considered to have growth potential 

are the interior industry and woodbased 

construction. 

Martinsons is a family firm that was 

founded in 1939. In those days it was just 

an ordinary sawmill. 

Laminated wood (glulam) was the first 

processed wood material. Nowadays it is 

often used for structural beams in many 

different types of buildings. Another 

processed product on the market is 

called solidwood. It consists of crossglued 

laminated timber that can be 

used for beams and other load-bearing 

structures. The technology ensures a 

strong, dimensionally stable and very 

light material. Solidwood can have a 

free span of up to 12 metres, but is only 

a quarter the weight of concrete. 

Martinsons, a company in the village 

of Bygdsiljum in northern Sweden, has 

conducted intensive research in order to 

develop the new products glulam and 

solidwood. 

– We have laid a good foundation for 

a successful business with excellent export 

opportunities, says Lars Martinson, 

the managing director. 

– The new products are important, 

but at the moment we are concentrating 

on developing effective and efficient 

system solutions. So we are designing 

standard modules that can be used in 

flexible applications. Building a wooden 

house should not be any more difficult 

than building one with Lego, says Lars 

Martinson. Martinson is very keen on 

the idea of building large apartment 

blocks of wood. A long-term research 

project has been started to produce finished 

modules with all the installations 

made at the factory. The buildings could 

then easily be assembled on the building-site. 

Five six-storey apartment blocks 

of wood with a total of 96 apartments 

have just been completed in Sundsvall, 

a seaside town in the north of Sweden. 

All those involved in the project were 

pleasantly surprised by the result. 

A SUNRISE INDUSTRY 

– We were worried that noise might be 

a problem in these buildings, says Lars 

Martinson. But our newly developed 

patented sound-absorption system 

works better than we expected. 

The residents agree that the buildings 

are quiet. The sounds that can be 

heard are soft and less invasive than in a 

building built of hard materials. 

Japan is the company’s largest export 

market at present. There is such great 

demand for glulam that a new production 

line has been built to meet it. One 

of the reasons why glulam is so popular 

nowadays is that it is both stronger 

and lighter than steel. The company’s 

Japanese customers have realized that 

wooden buildings offer a better chance 

of surviving an earthquake. 


STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE 

Knowledgebased 

biotechnology 

industry 

Swedish life science 

companies have achieved 

great success and improved 

many people’s lives. 

Sweden can continue to create innovative products thanks to collaboration between higher 

education, the health services and industry. 

THE LIFE SCIENCE industry is the fastest 

growing in Sweden. World-class 

innovations such as ulcer drugs, other 

pharmaceutical products and dialysis 

equipment, the pacemaker and other 

medical technology are the result of 

collaboration between enterprises and 

Swedish universities. 

– The new knowledge about our 

genes and basic body functions offers 

the industry new challenges. It is 

important, in order to take advantage 

of the commercial opportunities, the 

cutting edge of science, says Harriet 

Wallberg-Henriksson, President of 

the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, 

which is one of the world’s leading 

medical universities. 

TRADITION 

A long tradition of outstanding research 

and close collaboration with the Swedish 

health service, with its large proportion 

of researcher physicians, is one of 

the main reasons why the Swedish biotechnology 

industry has a world-class 

reputation. However, it is an extremely 

competitive industry. Developing new 

products is very costly and takes a long 

time. 

– But this is Sweden’s comparative 

advantage, explains Per-Erik Sandlund, 

CEO of SwedenBIO. Sweden’s topclass 

– and cost-effective – know-how 

is what enables it to compete. Swedish 

biotechnology enterprises are streamlined 

and flat, and there are no hierarchical 

obstacles in the industry, he says. 

NEW JOBS 

Furthermore, Sweden has an efficient 

system of patient records and bio banks, 

and it is a relatively simple matter 

to carry out clinical studies of drugs, 

compared with the situation in the USA 

and Asia. 

VINNOVA has formulated a national 

biotechnology strategy with a view to 

strengthening the industry. In addition, 

the government is discussing these issues 

with representatives of the industry, 

higher education and trade unions. The 

goal is to create new jobs and increase 

export earnings, even though the industry 

already accounts for a quarter of 

Successful medical research is important 

to ensure that the Swedish biotechnology 

industry is a growth industry, says 

Harriet Wallberg - Henriksson, President 

of the Karolinska Institute. 

Sweden’s exports. Among other things, 

there are plans to set up a national 

programme for researchers who wish to 

divide their time between academia and 

industry. The government is also examining 

the possibility of aiding companies 

that have a large R&D budget. 

Interesting areas for the future mentioned 

by Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson 

include individualized medicine, 

with tailor-made treatments for small 

groups of people on the basis of genetic 

information. This would be a completely 

new approach for pharmaceutical 

companies. 

– There is also great potential for 

combining medical and technological 

research, for example in the form 

of nanomedicine and new sensors for 

different types of IT solutions for telemedicine 

and self-tests. 

PROFITABLE OPERATIONS 

In the longer term, biotechnology may 

also play an important part in transforming 

traditional industries such as 

food, forestry and chemicals. 

– It is clearly profitable to support 

medical research, says Harriet 

Wallberg-Henriksson. According to 

American studies, there is a 10-dollar 

return on each dollar invested. Per-Erik 

Sandlund agrees. 

– Developing the life science sector is 

one of our great challenges. Apart from 

generating export profits for enterprises 

and creating new jobs, it could also 

reduce healthcare expenses. 


GOOD IDEAS 

RECEIVE SUPPORT 

Maria Gröndahl and Lisa Eriksson with their new packaging material. 

PRODUCING PACKAGING FROM WASTE 

Waste can really turn to gold. The 

Xylophane company has invented a new 

packaging material. Maria Gröndahl, a 

doctoral student of biopolymer technology 

at Chalmers University of Technology, 

succeeded a few years ago in producing 

a thin film of the renewable material 

xylane. This biopolymer is present in 

grain, straw and wood, but until recently 

it was regarded as a residue without any 

economic value. 

– We have produced a film from this 

material that can be used in environmentally 

sound packages instead of aluminium 

and other non-renewable materials, 

she says. She collaborated on this 

project with her colleague Lisa Eriksson, 

who has a degree in engineering biology. 

– We discovered that the films we 

developed are an excellent barrier 

against oxygen. They are very useful in 

the packaging industry, which uses large 

quantities of oxygen barriers to protect 

sensitive products such as food and 

drugs, she says. 

Developing alternative packaging, 

whether for juice, fast food or headache 

pills, is a timely idea. The EU Packaging 

Directive regulates the design of the 

packages of the future. It stipulates, 

Many good ideas are created in 

Sweden. VINNOVA supports innovative 

ideas with growth potential, thus 

promoting the establishment of new 

technology-based companies. The 

VINN NU competition provides funding 

for small companies at an early stage, 

thus creating opportunities for them 

to realize their ideas. Here are three 

examples of projects that have been 

supported in this way. 

among other things, that packaging must 

be environmentally sounder in future. 

Xylophane is also the name of the product 

developed by the two engineers together 

with Paul Gatenholm, a professor 

at Chalmers University of Technology. 

– We are already in touch with the 

packaging industry with a view to scaling 

up our laboratory results to a larger 

pilot scale, says Maria Gröndahl. 

The product has raised great expectations, 

and she mentions that the 

company has also established international 

contacts. 

A CAMERA THAT SEES THROUGH THE SKIN 

Our skin is often used to study the 

safety of all sorts of products from 

cosmetics to drugs. A company called 

WheelsBridge has developed a system, 

for which a patent has been applied 

for, that makes such tests simpler and 

more effective. 

– The camera that we have developed 

can see “through” the outer 

layers of skin and photograph the blood 

circulation in the deeper skin layers. It 

may detect signs of inflammations or 

allergic reactions to an ointment, for 

example, explains Gert Nilsson. 

He is Professor of Medical Technology 

at Linköping University and runs the 

company together with others, including 

a dermatologist. Their customers 

are manufacturers of skincare products 

and drugs who need to test the safety 

of their products. 

– Sometimes the aim may be to 

measure the effectiveness of a product, 

such as a product designed to increase 

blood circulation. 

At present, dermatologists assess 

red spots subjectively. The camera can 

provide more accurate values and also 

monitor the development of a reaction 

in the skin over time. The technology is 

based on the changes that take place 

in polarized light when it strikes red 

blood cells in the skin. Development is 

complete and the product will soon be 

launched on the market. 

– We have gone from development to 

marketing in order to sell the product. 

The money from VINN NU will help us 

to establish a distribution network in 

Europe. 


GOOD IDEAS 

RECEIVE SUPPORT 

AIR STREAMS 

CONQUER 

THE WORLD 

A new, revolutionary cooling technology 

offers completely new heat transfer 

possibilities. The method is silent and 

extremely effective. It can make existing 

cooling systems better and cheaper, 

as well as offering new ways of cooling 

electronic and industrial equipment of 

various kinds. 

– One problem connected with the 

cooling of materials is that air is a very 

poor conductor of heat. A fan can be 

used to blow away hot air to accelerate 

the cooling process, but the material 

always retains a thin layer of air around 

itself that slows down the heat transfer, 

explains Anna Borgström. 

Together with her colleague Roderick 

Barrett she has developed the cooling 

technology used by Aureola Swedish 

Engineering. The method is based on 

fundamental physical phenomena that 

the two Royal Institute of Technology 

students use in a new way. 

– We can manipulate air molecules 

that are in direct contact with a heated 

object so that they are repelled, thus 

increasing natural heat transfer by a 

factor of eight. We can even determine 

the direction the molecules are moving 

in and thus create circulation without a 

fan, says Roderick Barrett. 

A broad patent has been applied for, 

and both inventors are still secretive. 

All they will say is that the method does 

not require surface treatment or moving 

parts, that it is silent and uses almost 

no energy. The VINN NU award was the 

first of many. 

– The money came in very useful, but 

above all we got a lot of publicity. Several 

of the companies that we are collaborating 

with today called us after the competition, 

says Anna Borgström. They have 

great plans for the future. Cooling technology 

is a multibillion euro industry, and 

she believes that one of their cooperation 

ventures with interested companies will 

soon result in their first product. 

The technology offers new possibilities 

for the electronics industry, for 

example when it comes to cooling 

laptop computers or flat-screen TV 

sets. Large industrial structures that 

require extensive fan systems and more 

efficient air heating are other potential 

applications. 

Quick help at sea 

ject was Torbjörn Henriksson, managing 

director of Kockum Sonics. 

– We started with people spread out 

everywhere, but they had a very interesting 

mix of skills, says Torbjörn Henriksson. 

As project leader, his first task 

was to produce order out of chaos and 

achieve effective cooperation in order to 

make the best possible use of everyone’s 

skills. Evidently he succeeded. Today a 

working prototype has been installed in 

M/S Skåne, a ferry operating the Trelleborg-Rostock 

route. 

SCS is an active security system 

which, in the event of a leak on board or 

cargo displacement, automatically starts 

evaluating the stability of the ship and 

simultaneously predicting its condition 

at various intervals, in particular its final 

condition. An automatic alarm is also 

connected to the shipping company’s 

on-call team so that people on land can 

also receive up-to-date information about 

From “chaos” to an exciting innovation. 

Kockum Sonics’s new prototype Safety & 

Cargo System shows how the twists and 

turns of an innovation process can lead 

to success in the end. 

But such a project often needs one 

or more driving forces to see it through. 

One of these driving forces in this prothe 

condition of the ship. This project 

is included in VINNOVA’s safety at sea 

programme, which was launched in 2001 

in order to build up research and development 

in this area. It is financed with funds 

that were left over when the burial of M/S 

Estonia was called off. 

Keys to security 

A pin-on-card is a smart card; you enter 

the pincode in a keypad on the card itself. 

It can be used, among other things, 

as a pass card and bank card. Security 

is guaranteed since the code is saved 

on the card and not in a computer that 

reads it, which would make it possible to 

trace the number. The product is based 

on a new intelligent technique called 

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification), 

which was developed by the Swedish 

company Cypak. The pin-on-card won 

the European IST prize in competition 

with 430 products from 29 countries! 


Acreo is a Swedish R&D institute which 

designs innovative microelectronics, optics 

and communication solutions that contribute 

to growth and profitability. Acreo uses 

a commercial printing press to print displays 

and electronics onto flexible substrates 

at high speed in a reel-to-reel process. 

outer packages. The system gives a 

complete picture of the distribution chain 

and shows where there may be flaws, 

says Bengt Sahlberg, Managing Director 

of Bioett AB. 

Linköping University and Acreo, a research 

institute, have developed a method 

for printing plastics with built-in electronics 

on ordinary paper or cardboard. 

This makes it possible, for instance, to 

produce packages that instead of a date 

stamp have a little display showing that 

the contents (fish, say) will remain fresh 

for X more days. The text is generated 

by a small computer that is printed on to 

the package and measures the temperature 

and/or gases inside. 

– At the moment we are working on 

ways of transmitting printed electronic 

components such as displays, diodes, 

transistors and small logic circuits, as 

well as sensors, from “plastic to paper 

reel”, says Mårten Armgarth, sales 

manager at Acreo in Norrköping. Acreo’s 

method uses a technique for printing 

plastic electronics on ordinary paper. 

STFI-Packforsk, a research institute in 

the fields of pulp, paper, graphic media, 

packaging and logistics, is working on 

embedding electrical tracks and other 

components in cellulose. 

– We are investigating how we can go 

one step further and build these functions 

into the cellulose itself, says Staffan 

Nyström at STFI-Packforsk. 

STFI-Packforsk is examining this 

particular method by using chemically 

modified wood fibres. These are incorporated 

into various solutions to deposit 

electrically conducting polymers on the 

fibre surface. 

– This will make it possible to customize 

various solutions later on. The fibre 

material could, for instance, be used as 

a circuit board on which components, 

such as temperature sensors or RFID 

components, are installed. 

Talking packages 

Nowadays paper and cellulose can incorporate 

electronics, both on the outside 

and inside. 

“Active packages” are a new range of 

products that interact with their surroundings. 

Some of them are food packages 

that scavenge oxygen or have protective 

barriers built into the cardboard. 

– Development continues. “Smart 

packages” can now even communicate 

with the consumer, says Tim Nielsen of 

the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, 

which conducts strategic and 

applied research in an industry-driven 

research programme. 

These packages can do anything from 

telling the customer that the product 

has reached “eating temperature” in the 

oven to reading aloud a declaration of 

ingredients or giving a warning that there 

are too many microorganisms in a food 

product. 

Such a function has been developed 

by the Swedish company Bioett AB. It 

has developed a product that measures 

the temperature of food, for example 

during transport from the producer to the 

supermarket. The measurement device, 

a circuit with a built-in biosensor, is located 

on the transport packaging, where it 

measures the temperature and stores the 

measurement values. 

– This is the first step towards smart 

Leverage through research 

Sweden has many Competence centres 

in research and innovation. The 

basic idea is to transform universities 

and research organizations into a 

resource for industry and the public 

sector. 

One of them – PSCI, the Parallel 

and Scientific Computing Institute, 

which was set up in 1995 – has 

developed simulation methods that 

offer cost-effective solutions to design 

and development problems in industry. 

The centre has given companies 

with large calculation requirements 

access to advanced knowhow in the 

field of mathematical modelling and 

simulation so as to improve their competitiveness. 

The Institute can also 

simulate electromagnetic properties in 

various products, such as the effects 

of high-frequency electromagnetic 

radiation on technical systems or 

living creatures. The picture illustrates 

the field intensity in a Saab 2000 aircraft 

whose nose has been struck by 

lightning. The simulation was carried 

out within the framework of a project 

called GEMS. 


The cradle of 

Swedish growth 

High-quality research is essential to 

continued growth in Sweden. 

– MOST OF WHAT IS produced by 

Swedish companies is for export and 

must be better than the products of 

foreign competitors. Swedish companies 

are therefore constantly on the search 

for new, competitive products. 

As president of Sweden’s largest university 

of technology, Anders Flodström 

is aware that research has a key role 

in more or less all social sectors today. 

Knowledge generated by the Royal 

Institute of Technology in Stockholm 

is used in everything from banking 

systems and telecom services to drug 

development and forest raw materials. 

- A strong innovation system that 

helps to produce new ideas is at the 

heart of what we are trying to achieve: 

broad-based growth for Sweden. And 

Strong, internationally competitive universities 

play a key role in Sweden’s growth, 

according to Anders Flodström. 

our research must be world-class. 

Companies cannot afford to invest in 

anything but the best in today’s global 

competition. 

DIRECT CONTACTS 

He regards the extremely open and 

direct contacts with universities as the 

key to success for Swedish companies. 

There is also a tradition of cooperation 

between central government and 

industry on major development projects, 

such as the expansion of power supply 

and telephony systems. 

In view of the increasing importance 

AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 

Few countries spend as much on R&D 

in relation to their size as Sweden 

does. About 4 per cent of GDP is invested 

in research in Sweden. Industry 

accounts for a large proportion of this 

investment, particularly in areas such 

as vehicle technology, drug development 

and telecommunications. 

The Swedish higher education system 

has been expanded rapidly in the 

last 10 years in order to increase the 

breadth of higher education as a whole 

and research in particular. Today, 

almost 50 per cent of each cohort of 

school leavers go on to higher education, 

a figure that is not matched by 

any other country. There are 36 staterun 

universities and university colleges 

in Sweden, as well as a further 10 

non-state centres of learning. 

Institutions of higher education play 

a major role in the Swedish funding 

agencies. Researchers are often in a 

of small and medium-sized enterprises 

(SMEs) for growth, the challenge for 

Sweden is to establish closer collaboration 

with SMEs as a complement to the 

existing collaboration between universities 

and large companies. 

– The ambitious expansion of regional 

centres of learning in Sweden has 

made a great difference. Small companies 

often make their first contacts 

with these centres before embarking 

on cooperation with one of the larger 

universities. 

The important task of linking up the 

expertise that is available at centres of 

majority on the boards of these agencies. 

The Swedish model with strong, 

independent agencies is unique and 

contributes to high-quality research. 

The largest research funding agencies 

are the Swedish Research Council, 

which allocates 260 million euro per 

year for basic research in the natural 

sciences, engineering, medicine, 

humanities and social sciences, and 


Agency for Innovation Systems), which 

has a budget of 115 million euro and 

supports problem-oriented research 

in the fields of technology, transport, 

communications and working life. 

A unique feature for Sweden is that 

researchers at universities etc. retain 

the copyright on their research findings. 

National bodies and support 

structures at the Swedish centres of 

learning assist in commercializing 

ideas. 


Advanced production of nanothreads in semiconductor materials could generate new Swedish export successes. Mikael Björk and Ann 

Persson have made path-breaking discoveries that may result in new electronic components and medical sensors. 

learning around the country is accomplished 

by research schools, common 

education programmes and Competence 

centres. Anders Flodström also 

regards international cooperation as 

important for the quality of Swedish 

research. Above his desk there is a map 

of the world with pins for the 75 universities 

around the world with which the 

Royal Institute has research exchanges. 

COOPERATION PARTNERS 

– During the 1980s Sweden educated 

more Chinese guest students than any 

other country in the world. Many of 

these are now professors in their home 

country and they make good cooperation 

partners. 

Maintaining a leading position in 

science is also important when it comes 

to establishing research-intensive 

companies in future growth areas. Lund 

University of Technology in the south 

of Sweden is involved in a nanotechnology 

research venture that is unique in 

Europe. It ranges over disciplines such 

as quantum physics and materials science 

to electronics and life science. 

– Many young world-class researchers 

are working in this multidisciplinary 

environment. Our success is due to 

the support we have received for many 

years from courageous and far-sighted 

research funders, says Lars Samuelsson, 

who is leading the research project. 

The most exciting project at the moment 

is building electronic components 

from the atomic level in the form of 

nanothreads in semiconductor materials. 

This research has been designated 

one of the country’s strongest scientist 

environments. A new, unique production 

plant makes it possible to produce 

nanothreads in a laboratory environment 

that is optimized for nanotechnology 

and nanoelectronics. 

The nanotechnology research being 

done in Lund has resulted in the 

establishment of a number of companies, 

some of which are collaborating 

with Philips and IBM. This offers great 

potential, explains Lars Samuelsson. 

In many respects, microelectronics and 

optics are already based on nano effects. 

– One future challenge is to make 

even smaller and more energy-efficient 

components based on nanothreads. 

And before long there will be applications 

in the field of medical technology. 

We hope that by setting up innovative 

companies supported by first-class nano 

research we will pave the way for future 

export successes and new jobs. 


Global market for 

small enterprises 

Sweden is actively encouraging the research activities of small and 

medium enterprises. This is done by means of direct support, but above 

all with the help of know-how available in our regional university 

colleges. One example of this is the Water Jet Sweden company. 

‒ SWEDISH COMPANIES seldom get any 

orders because they are cheapest. We 

have to be best instead. We set aside 10 

per cent of our turnover for research in 

order to succeed, says Jan Ryd of Water 

Jet Sweden. 

Hurrying from machine to machine 

in the assembly shop, he explains: 

– In five years’ time we aim to lead 

the world. He is full of confidence and 

has every reason to be. 

– This machinery is going to China, 

over there is a shipment for Russia, 

and the truck outside is on its way to 

Germany with a machine. 

Water Jet Sweden, based in Ronneby 

in southern Sweden, is growing at a 

phenomenal pace. Ten years ago Jan 

Ryd worked alone from his garage, but 

now the company has 50 employees and 

is aiming for 100. They have customers 

all over the world. 

The company is one of many examples 

of the way Swedish small and 

medium sized companies collaborate 

with both regional, national and international 

universities in order to achieve 

optimal results. This is in line with 

the recommendations issued by the 

Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, 

a cooperation organization for Swedish 

enterprises: advanced research in 

strategic areas is the key to ensuring the 

competitiveness of industry. 

CUTTING WITH WATER 

Water Jet Sweden has developed a 

machine that can cut through all types 

of material except hardened glass with 

very fine jets operating at high pressure, 

up to 4,200 bar, with the very greatest 

precision. 

The jets are precision-controlled, 

with a margin of error of less than 0.2 

millimetres, by means of sophisticated 

mechanics and software. 

Waterjet cutting has mostly been 

used with flat materials up to now, but 

special machines are now being developed 

for three-dimensional cutting. 

The advantage of this technology is 

that it makes no impact on the material. 

Other methods, such as laser cutting or 

punching, usually modify the properties 

of the cutting surface. When it comes to 

high-performance applications, such as 

aero parts, waterjet-cutting is the only approved 

method. Since the machines can 

be used to cut various types of materials, 

customers buy jet cutting machines for 

a variety of applications, ranging from 

sponges to turbine blades in jet engines. 

– Often, a customer will buy a machine 

for a particular application, but 

once it is installed they often find new 

uses for it. Waterjet cutting is a technology 

with great future potential. 

The main challenge at the moment 

is to increase the cutting speed process. 

Jan Ryd makes a comparison with a 

Formula 1 race to illustrate this particular 

problem. 


3G OPENS UP NEW OPPORTUNITIES 

– Cutting fast is simple enough in a 

straight line, it’s the bends that are a 

problem. Any manufacturer who succeeds 

in developing a control system 

that makes it unnecessary to slow down 

in bends will get the jackpot. 

Although Water Jet Sweden is quite a 

small company, it is involved in intense 

collaboration with higher education institutions, 

mostly with Blekinge University 

of Technology, which is in the next 

town. Exchanges are mutual. Sometimes 

Water Jet Sweden wants help with calculations, 

at other times the university 

asks the company to let students do their 

degree projects at the company. 

– Having access to a regional university 

is a great advantage for us. They are 

very much involved in our development, 

which would hardly be the case if it was 

a bigger university. 

The fact that Blekinge University of 

Technology is small does not mean that 

it lacks capacity. There are five waterjet 

cutting companies in Ronneby, a small 

town with 30,000 inhabitants. As a 

result, a natural cluster has been formed 

that enables the companies and the university 

college to develop side by side. 

– They are also very good at information 

technology. We are now incorporating 

this knowhow into our machines, 

says Jan Ryd. With 3G technology we 

can use a web camera to control our 

machines. We can see, hear and control 

them without an operator being present. 

COOPERATION WITH MANY PARTNERS 

60 per cent of Water Jet Sweden’s 

contacts in academia are with local 

researchers. But when their expertise is 

not sufficient, Jan Ryd applies to a university 

that has the specific knowhow 

that the company needs. 

– We often use the universities in 

Stockholm or Gothenburg. But just as 

often we use universities in other countries. 

Today the workshop is full of German 

voices. Jan Ryd and his colleagues 

are working on an advanced project, and 

the only universities with the specialist 

expertise are the universities in Berlin 

and Hannover. 

– Having access to a regional university 

college that can help us with our 

long-term development work and being 

able to take advantage of specialist 

expertise for specific problems enables 

us to get all the help we need. 

A traditional problem for many 

SMEs is the lack of time and money 

for research and development. In order 

to strengthen and stimulate research in 

such companies the Swedish government 

has set aside 10.5 million euro in 

direct aid, which is administered by 

VINNOVA. The overall objective is to 

help the companies so that they can 

compete in global markets. Increased 

research will hopefully enable companies 

to bring new products or services to 

market more quickly. 

STRATEGIES FOR STRENGTH 

Sweden is a world leader when it comes 

to knowledge-intensive industrial 

production. Together with representatives 

of key industries and trade unions, 

the Swedish government is now 

working on common strategies that 

will help Sweden maintain its leading 

position. The goal is to reach agreement 

on important challenges and 

comparative advantages in research, 

production etc. The industries concerned 

contribute more than 80 per cent 

of Swedish industry’s total investment 

in R&D, generate 57 billion euro in 

export earnings and provide about 

600,000 jobs. Here are some examples 

of important growth areas. 

• The aerospace industry is an 

international growth industry in 

which Swedish companies have 

doubled their sales in the period of 

10 years. R&D accounts for a high 

proportion of costs in the industry. 

• The automotive industry is one of 

Sweden’s most important industries 

and one of the most dynamic and 

knowledge-based in the world. The 

Swedish automotive industry is 

better prepared for the future than 

many of its competitors. 

Waterjet cutting technology makes it possible 

to cut detailed patterns in almost all types of 

material. The water passes the cutting head 

with a speed of 900 metres per second. 

• The Information & Communication 

Technology industry in Sweden 

includes several very successful 

companies and accounts for almost a 

third of R&D in the industrial sector 

as a whole. Apart from large export 

earnings, the ICT sector also helps to 

improve productivity in other sectors. 

• Sweden’s mining and metal industry 

leads the world in certain strategic 

areas. Leading-edge technology, 

highly processed products and 

sustainable resource use ensure 

international competitiveness. 

• The pharmaceutical and biotechnology 

industry is strong in Sweden, 

and collaboration between research, 

industry and the health service is 

very well-developed. This collaboration 

has led to several world-class 

innovations. 

• The forest and timber industry 

is very important for Sweden’s 

economy and also accounts for a 

large percentage of the balance of 

trade. Sweden is the world’s fourth 

largest exporter of pulp, the third 

largest exporter of paper and the 

second largest exporter of sawmill 

products. 


Small country 

– large car industry 

The task is clear: to build a “green” car. The Swedish government has joined 

forces with the car industry, and together they have invested 187 million euro 

in the Green Car programme in order to accomplish this task. 

THE NEXT GENERATION of cars will 

soon be here – hybrid ethanol-electric 

cars. The development of green cars is 

a top priority at Saab. As a result, the 

Saab 9-5 Biopower car – which can use 

ethanol, a renewable and carbon-dioxide 

neutral fuel – was launched in 2005. It 

was an immediate sales success, in fact 

more so than anyone had dreamed of. 

Environment-friendly fuels are needed, 

but it is equally important to develop 

technology to lower fuel consumption. 

Hybrid technology is one way of making 

vehicles more energy-efficient. Fuel consumption 

can be reduced by combining 

an electric traction motor and a battery 

with the internal combustion engine. 

The secret is to recover energy when the 

vehicle brakes or coasts downhill. 

– But building a hybrid car is complicated, 

says Yngve Larsson, who is 

responsible for hybrid development 

both at Saab and at GM Europe. 

– Everything, from engine suspension 

to control systems, has to be modified. 

We have to look at every single detail 

in the car and see what needs to be 

adjusted. 

IN-HOUSE DEVELOPMENT 

Saab’s engineers have designed and 

produced all the parts for the hybrid car. 

Now they need to be assembled and the 

laborious task of getting everything to 

work together will begin. 

– To start with we had two options, 

either to buy all the technology or to 

develop it ourselves and learn it from 

scratch, says Tommy Lindholm, project 

manager. 

– The Green Car programme has 

given us the necessary resources to 

develop the technology in-house. The 

reason why we have made so much 

progress is that we have worked together 

with Lund University of Technology. 

They participated in the project with 

an enthusiasm that drove it forward at 

great speed. 

– They have knowhow there that car 

manufacturers usually do not possess. 

It will take several years before Saab’s 

hybrid car is ready for the consumer. It 

normally takes three years or so from 

the time when the development process 

is complete and until the first car leaves 

the production line. 

There is a continual struggle among 

the global car companies as to where 

various technologies are to be developed. 

Developing a hybrid car means that many of the parts need to be modified. For example, the car must have a high-voltage electrical system 

to drive the electric motors instead of the usual 12V system. 


SAAB RESPONSIBLE FOR HYBRID CARS 

Saab’s engineers were assigned responsibility 

for the task of developing 

the hybrid technology for the European 

market. They are also developing 

software for the GM group as a whole. 

Software development is essential for 

the future, when modern cars in general 

and hybrid cars in particular will be 

equipped with increasingly advanced 

control systems. 

– The sky’s the limit when it comes to 

what we can do with computer support. 

A hybrid car could, for instance, use 

the navigation system to predict what is 

around the corner. If it is a hill, the car 

could prepare by giving the battery an 

extra charge, says Tommy Lindholm. 

The collaboration between the car 

industry and university is two-way. The 

industry gets help in the areas where it 

does not possess the necessary knowhow. 

In exchange, car companies help to 

train the automotive researchers of the 

future. 

A Saab 9-3 being transformed from a 

traditional singe-engine petrol-driven car 

into a two-engine hybrid. 

SET TO CONTINUE 

The automotive industry and its subsuppliers 

are among Sweden’s most 

important industries and account for 15 

per cent of the country’s export earnings. 

Brands such as Volvo, Saab and Scania 

are well known around the world. 

But the industry is constantly threatened 

by the ever keener competition 

in a globalized world. Manufacturers 

who cannot deliver the technology that 

customers want will be wiped out. 

The Green Car programme has 

helped the Swedish automotive industry 

turn a threat into an advantage. 

Customers have started asking for cars 

that do not destroy the environment or 

change the climate. The first round of 

the Green Car programme has come to 

an end, but thanks to the good results 

everyone has agreed to continue the 

programme. 

Useful Swedish contacts 

VINNOVA 

(the Swedish Governmental Agency for 

Innovation Systems) 

SE-101 58 Stockholm 

Street address: 

Mäster Samuelsgatan 56 

Phone: +46 8 473 30 00 

Fax: +46 8 473 30 05 

E-mail: VINNOVA@VINNOVA.se 

www.VINNOVA.se 

VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental 

Agency for Innovation Systems, integrates 

research, development and innovation. 

VINNOVA’s mission is to promote 

sustainable growth by funding needsdriven 

research and developing effective 

innovation systems. Through its activities 

in this field, VINNOVA aims to make 

a significant contribution to Sweden’s 

development into a leading knowledge 

based economy. 

Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) 

PO Box 90, SE-101 21 Stockholm 

Street address: World Trade Center, 

Klarabergsviadukten 70 B6 

Phone: +46 8 402 78 00 

Fax: +46 8 402 78 78 

E-mail: isa@isa.se 

www.isa.se 

The Invest in Sweden Agency is a 

government agency that assists foreign 

investors and informs them about business 

opportunities in Sweden. Companies 

that are planning to establish or 

expand business operations in Sweden 

can, free of charge, obtain information 

and assistance from ISA and its regional 

and international network. 

Swedish Trade Council 

Box 240, SE-101 24 Stockholm 

Street address: World Trade Center, 

Klarabergsviadukten 70 

Phone: +46 8 588 660 00 

Fax: +46 8 588 661 90 

E-mail: infocenter@swedishtrade.se 

www.swedishtrade.com 

The Swedish Trade Council helps companies 

to do business with Sweden. It 

identifies the right suppliers and can 

also answer questions about Swedish 

exports quickly and free of charge. It 

also helps Swedish companies that want 

to establish a presence abroad. 

Swedish Research Council 


Street address: Regeringsgatan 56 

Phone: +46 8 546 44 000 

Fax: +46 8 546 44 180 

E-mail: vetenskapsradet@vr.se 

www.vr.se/english 

The Swedish Research Council is a 

government agency under the Ministry 

of Education, Research and Culture. 

The Council provides support for basic 

research of the highest scientific quality 

in every field of science. Its main areas 

of responsibility are research funding, research 

policy and science communication. 

Government Offices of Sweden 


Phone: +46 8 405 10 00 

www.sweden.gov.se 

The Government is assisted by the 

Government Offices, an integral authority 

comprising the Prime Minister’s Office, 

the ministries, the Permanent Representation 

of Sweden to the European Union 

and the Office of Administrative Affairs. 

Swedish Institute for Growth Policy 

Studies (ITPS) 

Studentplan 3, SE-831 40 Östersund 

Phone: +46 63 16 66 00 

E-mail: info@itps.se 

www.itps.se 

The ITPS is a government agency that 

is responsible for policy intelligence, 

evaluation and various areas of official 

statistics. 


The field intensity in a Saab 2000 aircraft whose nose has been struck by 

lightning. The aircraft simulation is one example of the work at the PSCI, 

the Parallel and Scientific Computing Institute, which is one of VINNOVA’s 

Competence centres for collaboration between industry and university. 

Research is a growth factor of strategic importance to industry. More and 

more examples show that funds allocated to research and development 

stimulate growth in society as a whole.

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