Narvik University College – Project leader
Narvik University College was founded in 1994 when the three local institutions for higher education were joined together. Narvik University College offers both bachelor and master programmes. All bachelor programmes are taught in Norwegian language whilst most of our master programmes are now taught in English. For students who want to study a Bachelor programme but do not have the necessary knowledge of Norwegian, Narvik University College also offer a one year course in Norwegian language and society. Narvik University College has several different bachelor programmes within technology and engineering, but also in economics and in nursing. All our master programmes (except for Integrated Building Science) are taught in English language. It is therefore no longer necessary for international master students to learn Norwegian language. Since Narvik University College has close collaborative ties with the business- and research communities both in Norway and abroad, students have the opportunity of participating in research and development projects which have a significant bearing upon their education. The College considers this so important that it cannot envisage higher education without this.
Narvik University College has used substantial resources to facilitate research through large international projects and partners. The college has several known academics who are editors or member of editorial groups spanning 14 journals. This is a large number for the relatively small academic environment we have here in Narvik. Through deliberate measures to achieve this, Narvik University College has managed to attain a strongly recognized status.
Research through recognized academic groups contributes to a pertinent qualification and good supervision for project- and masters theses. The strong research and development environment at the College has also attracted highly qualified and competent researchers to Narvik.
Web: http://www.hin.no/
Norwegian University of Science and Technology – Project partner
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is a centre for techno- logical research and education in Norway with a firm foundation in the natural sciences. In addition, the university has broadly based expertise in the classical university disciplines of the humanities, medicine and the social sciences. As a result of our academic scope, we have placed special emphasis on cross-disciplinary research and education. Our research has an international focus and in specific areas of technology, we are at the leading edge.
One of our main objectives is to be a valuable research partner for society at large and for industry in particular. This means developing and maintaining our capacity for high quality research. In specific terms, we have prioritized six strategic areas where we have strong research groups. Among these are energy and petroleum – resources and environment; marine and maritime technology, and medical technology. We host three national centres of research excellence and three national centres for Research- based Innovation. We are also a research partner in seven of the other centres. The Norwegian government has placed strong focus on research in climate and renewable energy, and has established eight centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research. Together with our main research partner SINTEF, we are the leading research community in climate and energy issues in Norway. This means that approxi- mately 1000 work-years and 400 PhD candidates are involved in this research. NTNU and SINTEF host six of the eight national centres. Carbon capture and offshore wind- power are among the key research areas.
NTNU is an active partner in international cooperation. Together with SINTEF, we have a broad portfolio of research projects in the European Commission’s framework programmes. Our partnership with other universities such as the Nordic Five Tech group and the longstanding cooperation with MIT and TU Delft, have been of great value in the further development of international excellence. Our future strategy is to continue developing networks and build international relations that promote high academic quality and bring increased global insight and understanding.
University of Banja Luka – Project partner
The University of Banja Luka has been established on 7th November 1975. At the time the University consisted of five faculties: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Law and Economics, as well as three higher schools. The other faculties were founded later: Medicine in 1978, Agriculture in 1992, Forestry in 1992, Philosophy in 1994, Architecture and Civil Engineering in 1995, Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 1996, Academy of Art in 1999 and Physical Education and Sports in 2001. The Faculty of Philology, Faculty of Political Sciences and Faculty of Mine Engineering have been established in 2009. Today the University of Banja Luka has 16 faculties with 52 licensed study programs. We have around 600 professors, 400 assistants and 450 administrative staff members currently employed at the University. At present there are around 17.000 students at the University. The number of students that obtained their degree is as follows: more than 19.000 graduates, 700 specialists, 650 M.A. degree holders and 300 PhD holders.
Most of the faculties of the University of Banja Luka, as well as university halls of residence with student dormitories, restaurants, recreation centers, student clubs and the University Computer Center are situated in two campuses, located close to the river Vrbas and not far from the city center. The University of Banja Luka has adequate various in size and shape classrooms, amphitheatres, medium and smaller classrooms, reading rooms and libraries, laboratories and computer rooms. Total size of classrooms is around 16 000 square meters, laboratories around 10 000 square meters. Most of the classrooms are equipped with video projectors and computers for display digital teaching contents. Procurement of interactive electronic boards, so called “smart” boards, is planned for the next period. The University has over 20 computer rooms with 24 hour internet access. Libraries of the University have around 185.000 books and they are subscribed to 75 scientific magazines.
As of 1 January 2008 the University of Banja Luka is integrated, with faculties as its organizational units. The Steering Board, Senate and Rector govern the University. The Rector legally represents the University. There are four Vice-Rectors (in charge of: research and scientific work, international relations, teaching and student issues and human resources and other issues). The Steering Board is the managerial body of the University. It consists of eleven members: five representatives of academic staff, one representative of non-academic staff, one representative of students and four members appointed by the government. The University Senate is the highest academic body, which discusses all academic issues and has twenty-six members: one representative of academic staff from each organizational unit (16), five representatives of students, Rector and four Vice-Rectors.
Web: http://mf.unibl.org/
PPM AS – Project partner
…..”turning innovation into flexible automation”…..
The founders, Ph.D. Trygve Thomessen, and M.Sc. Per Kristian Sannøs were developing new technology for improving productivity and flexibility in the manufacturing industry during more than ten year with R & D. Through this work, it was was discovered significant gap between the industrial requirements and the robot solutions available on the market. To support the companies having the need for highly productive and flexible manufacturing solutions, Trygve and Per Kristian established Productive Programming Methods AS December 31st 2000. The name was changed to PPM AS in March 2004. The aim was to merge knowledge from industry and R & D in a creative and open working environment to develop robot systems for today, taking care of the future’s possibilities.
To maintain the ability to offer state-of-the-art robot solutions to the industry, PPM AS has a close cooperation with several universities and R&D institutes and is continuously running national and international R&D projects. In addition, PPM is a member of the Norwegian-Hungarian ITM-laboratory, a R&D laboratory within advanced manufacturing systems.
Today PPM AS has four full time employees and is located in modern offices in Trondheim. In PPM’s Application Development Center we offer our customers advanced laboratory facilities with robots from ABB and NACHI. PPM AS is share holder of basClass Kft in Budapest which is serving the Hungarian and Eastern European market in addition to being PPM’s partner within software development.
PPM AS is distributing the robot simulation software Workspace5 in Norway and Sweden. In addition, PPM AS is offering its own PC-based offline programming- and disaster recovery software Simplified Programming Of RoboTs (SPORT).
Web: http://www.ppm.no/
Innovation Centre Banja Luka – Project partner
Innovation Centre Banja Luka was the first combined modernly equipped center for support and development of entrepreneurship in the Republic of Srpska, strongly committed with the intent to support the development of companies that are able to offer a wide market of advanced commercial solutions in terms of products, services, employment and improvement of business processes based on knowledge and application of innovative and advanced technologies.
Innovative SMEs play an imperative role in speeding up socio-economic development with their high-quality international business creation potential and operating flexibility. For that reason economic growth is not merely dependent on the start-up rate as such, but rather on the nature of the company. Start-up rates for high-tech, innovative and opportunity-based firms often bring high growth rates, and the presence of factors enabling innovative firms in industries such as innovation supporting facilities and university research Centre’s are essential for any successful economic growth strategy. Innovation supporting practice trough Incubators and other research and excellence centers play crucial role of merging government policy, university and private research with entrepreneurship initiatives and expert guidance.
Following global and European trends, Innovation Centre Banja Luka together with governmental policy framework represents a seed of the innovation system for Republic of Srpska and a hub for development of other innovation and incubation facilities by linking university created knowledge, individual entrepreneurship initiatives and professional business expertise and market orientation.
In that regard Innovation Centre Banja Luka follows principles of economic growth and jobs creation based upon industry-led and society-driven innovations, providing active contribution of Republic of Srpska to strengthening economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Web: http://www.icbl.ba/
