Programme
Tuesday, November 24
9:00-16:30
PhD Student Workshop
@Lyhty
See information here. Lunch included and provided also to paper discussants.
14:00-14:30
Coffee break
14:30-16:30
Heads of Department Meeting
Chair: Tuomas Ahola (TAU)
Heads of Doctoral Education Meeting
Chair: Miia Martinsuo (UTU)
Heads of Degree Programme Meeting
Chair: Arild Aspelund (NTNU)
18:00-19:30
City of Tampere reception
@Tampere Old City Hall: Keskustori 10, 33200 Tampere.
20:00-22:00
Tuesday evening get-together event including Tampere Sauna Experience and Black Sausage tasting
@Restaurant Kuuma: Laukontori 21, 33100 Tampere
Sauna participation is optional and can be decided on-site (please bring your own swimsuit so that you will not have to regret leaving it to the hotel; towels will be provided). The event also includes a shared lounge area, refreshments, a light buffet featuring traditional Tampere black sausage, and time to socialise with fellow conference participants.
Wednesday, November 25
9:00-10:00
Opening Session
@Lecture room A1
10:00-11:00
Parallel Sessions IA: Use of AI in IEM master’s theses
by Mats Engwall (KTH) and co-chairs
Parallel Sessions IB: Building an IEM Research Agenda on Nuclear Energy in the Net-zero Transition: A Roundtable
Maria Morgunova (UU) and Anastasia Tsvetkova (ÅA)
This roundtable aims to broaden the discussion on nuclear energy within the IEM community and industry to identify opportunities for future research and collaboration. Rather than treating nuclear energy only as a technical or energy policy issue, the session invites participants to explore its dimensions as technology adoption, potential for novel business models, infrastructure and supply chains, stakeholder collaboration, etc. By bringing together scholars and practitioners, the roundtable seeks to expand the network of researchers interested in nuclear energy and industrial transformation, and to support the development of a broader IEM research agenda on the role of nuclear energy in sustainability transitions.
Parallel Sessions IC: ScAIEM Young Scholars session
by Filip Högberg (KAU) and co-chairs
11:00-12:00
Lunch
12:00-13:00
Keynote: Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, Minister of Local and Regional Government
@Lecture room A1
13:00-14:00
Industry-Academia Panel
@Lecture room A1
14:00-17:00
18:00-22:00
Conference Dinner
@ Grand Ballroom of the Tampere Comedy Theatre: Lapintie 3a, 33100 Tampere
Live music!
Thursday, November 26
9:00-10:00
Parallel Sessions 2A: Future Competence Requirements of IEM professionals
by Osmo Kauppila (UO) and co-chairs
Parallel Sessions 2B: Spaces for Innovation: Choreographing the Dance Between Academia and Industry
Anna Yström (LIU) and Susanne Ollila (CTH)
This interactive session explores how “spaces for innovation” enable and constrain collaboration between academia and industry. Building on research on collaborative arenas, boundary work, and relational dynamics, participants will reflect on how spaces for innovation are designed, governed, and experienced in practice. After a short introduction, participants engage in facilitated small-group discussions around key themes such as orchestration, power and inclusion, and the role of intermediaries. The session invites shared reflection on how we can better “choreograph” the interaction between academic and industrial actors to support innovation, learning, and societal impact.
10:00-11:00
Celebration of ScAIEM
@Lecture room A1
Presentation from ‘Thesis awardee’, ‘Teaching achievement award’ and the ScAIEM 2027 primer
11:00-12:00
Lunch
12:00-13:00
ScAIEM General Assembly
@Lecture room A1
13:00-14:00
Parallel Sessions 3A: Technology implementation: what works well workshop
Hanna Krauth (DTU), Kathrin Kirchner (DTU), Thomas Burø (DTU) and Christine Ipsen (DTU)
This interactive workshop explores how professionals understand and make sense of technology implementation in organizational settings. Participants will discuss what technology implementation means in practice, the assumptions and expectations associated with it, and the processes through which implementation unfolds. Aligned with the conference theme, “Dance of Academia and Industry,” the workshop aims to have a dialogue between researchers and practitioners from the ScAIEM community, while generating insights for an ongoing conceptual research project. The session will serve as both a knowledge-sharing forum (with takeaways for participants) and a collaborative data-collection opportunity (with takeaways for the research team).
Parallel Sessions 3B: Standardization education and research
Jussi Heikkilä (LUT) and Anu Kostiainen (LUT), Gülfem Özmen (LUT), Ville Ojanen (LUT), Mirva Peltoniemi (TAU), Jyri Paasonen (UVA), Jyri Naarmala (UVA), Toni Selkälä (UTU), Timo Ali-Vehmas (IND.)
Standards and standardization shape businesses, ecosystems and innovation activities in all industries. The interplay between regulation and standardization directs R&D investments of companies and more generally technological progress. Hence, it is important to analyze how companies and other organizations develop their dynamic standardization capabilities. This session brings together fresh perspectives on standardization education and research. (3-5 research paper/project presentations)
Parallel Sessions 3C: Dancing with industry in IEM education
Lars Bengtsson (LTH) and Carl-Johan Asplund (LTH)
We will in this session present different forms of university-industry educational collaboration activities in the IEM-education, and our experiences and the effects of these activities. The session will discuss various ways to strengthen university-industry educational collaboration, especially for SMEs and startups, in the road ahead, with a special focus on IEM-education.
14:00-14:30
Coffee break
14:30-15:30
Parallel Sessions 4A: Are We Teaching Yesterday’s Industrial Engineering and Management for Tomorrow’s Sustainability Challenges?
Nina Tura (LUT)
Sustainability transitions are reshaping industries, organizations, and managerial decision-making, raising important questions about the future of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) education. This interactive LEGO Serious Play® roundtable invites participants to explore and discuss how IEM education should evolve to better support sustainability transitions. Using hands-on LEGO modelling as a catalyst for reflection and dialogue, participants will share perspectives on current challenges, emerging needs, and possible futures for IEM education. The workshop is designed to encourage active participation, creative thinking, and exchange of experiences across universities, countries, and career stages. Rather than seeking consensus or predefined solutions, the aim is to trigger meaningful discussion and new perspectives on the role of sustainability in IEM education. The session seeks to create connections and conversations that can continue beyond the workshop and contribute to the ongoing development of the IEM community.
Parallel Sessions 4B: Ethics in industrial engineering and management education
Kirsi Kokkonen (LUT) and Thomas Lennerfors (UU)
Ethical issues are central to industrial engineering and management education, for example related to AI and automation, sustainability trade-offs, workplace safety, responsible business and accountable leadership. This workshop invites educators, program directors, and others to share current experiences on addressing ethics in IEM courses and programs, and to generate collective development ideas for future ethics education.
Parallel Sessions 4C: The identity and essence of IEM
by Guðmundur Oddsson (HI) and co-chairs
Parallel Sessions 4D: In-the-pipeline presentations
Conference participants (Yes, that is You!) are invited to hold micro-presentations of 5min to network, raise attention, and start new collaborations. Please see call for presentations here.