INTERVIEW

CISB wants to increase the number of members and partnerships

Pontus de Laval and Alessandra Holmo, respectively Chairman and Managing Director of CISB

An appropriate environment for institutions and people to get to know each other; a unique opportunity to strengthen the innovation network that has been opened between Swedish and Brazilian organizations. This is the best definition of the annual meetings promoted by the Swedish-Brazilian Centre for Research and Innovation (CISB), which has operated in Brazil since 2011. Initially organized at the initiative of Saab, inspired on the Swedish Science Parks, the CISB currently has 12 members (including universities, companies, and research institutions). These institutions bet on innovation guided by challenges and also by the triple helix, which brings together industry, the public sector and the academic area.

Last November, CISB held its fourth annual meeting in São Paulo, mainly focused on Transport and Logistics. Within the event, there was the third CISB Innovation Week, based on the Aeronautical segment. In an interview, Pontus de Laval and Alessandra Holmo, respectively Chairman and Managing Director of CISB, talk about the future of the institution and of co-operation between Brazil and Sweden. 

CISB - CISB has been in Brazil since 2011. Why did you decide to come to this country?

de Laval - In fact, we started setting up the center in 2010, but we had some difficulties to begin with. Brazil is, indeed, not a country for beginners. There was a lot of work involved, a real lot, in putting together the structure and opening the Centre. We had to gather several documents, and overcome issues that would sprout up along the way.

CISB - Because of bureaucracy?

de Laval - Yes, also for this reason. Red tape in Brazil is by no means an easy matter. However, since then things have gone well. We have managed to get new members and we are now proceeding with work projects, establishing partnerships and hosting workshops. We are already in the third Innovation Week involving these two countries. Brazil is very interesting to us in terms of what the country produces, and what it has been developing in terms of technology. We went to clinch even more partnerships. There are many problems in the whole world that cannot be solved by individual organizations, and that need to be addressed using an open innovation system, as well as networks that include several institutions, as also several different issues.

CISB - Has Saab put together structures like this one in other countries? Or does the company act like this only in Brazil?

de Laval - We are active in several other countries, including Switzerland, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. However, the structure we have in Brazil is the most solid we have in the whole world. In some other locations, the research and innovation center acts only virtually, without a structure like we have here. Here we have an office, and a fixed team that works with us.

CISB - And why is the Brazilian structure the most solid? Why is it different from the others around the world?

de Laval - We feel Brazil has a lot to offer in terms of development of technology. There are many people who know what they do, many specialists, and many innovative developments. In addition, some Universities are excellent, with excellent researchers too. Brazil has excellent labor for research and innovation.

CISB - The workshops of the aeronautical segment were held on the ITA premises. Is ITA a member of the association?

Alessandra - Not yet, but we invited ITA during the event and we are now waiting for their reply. Now, regardless of whether or not ITA will become a member, it is already a partner of ours, being a key player in the aeronautics segment.

CISB - Why has the Innovation Week (which occurred within the fourth annual meeting) had a focus on the aeronautical segment?

Alessandra - The key fact is that there an agreement has been signed for the purchase of 36 Saab fighter airplanes by Brazil. Saab is our main associate member, and the FX program, which resulted in the purchase of these aircraft, took 17 years to reach the completion of the choice and the acquisition contract. This means that this is a real milestone in this segment. Now we need to construct real co-operation between Brazil and Sweden. This is not just a case of buying the fighter airplanes. There will also be significant transfer of technology involved. People and institutions need to get to know each other. We need to establish co-operation at the research level, thinking about the future. Co-operation in research, development and technology, in the areas of aeronautics and defense.

CISB - And what is the strategy for this?

Alessandra - We believe that one starts with small projects, especially with the University. People must get to know each other. Our Annual Meeting, last week, was an ideal environment for this. Many researchers came over from Swedish universities, and there were also representatives from the main Brazilian universities. University researchers know how to build networks very well. We are constructing the future.

CISB - And what are the prospects for the future?

de Laval - We want to attract more members for the CISB, for example. We are very interested in expanding the scope of the agreements, in making more agreements and establishing more partnerships, interacting with other people who think about common issues, or who are trying to discover innovative solutions. These are agreements for innovation and agreements for development of technologies. We also want to expand the scope of the areas in which these partnerships can be signed. We want to attract more companies, more research institutions, more universities, so that we can act together and solve any technological issues still outstanding.

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CISB 4th Annual Meeting is part of the programme of the Swedish-Brazilian Innovation Week in 2014

The fourth edition of the CISB Annual Meeting has become even more relevant this year, being part of the 3rd Swedish-Brazilian Innovation Week, held between 10 and 14 November in the cities of Brasília, São Paulo, São José dos Campos, Santo André and Belo Horizonte. Some 140 people took part in the fourth CISB Meeting which took place on 11 and 12 November at the Blue Tree Premium Faria Lima Hotel in São Paulo, with the participants including representatives from the Government, companies, innovation agencies, Universities and research institutions from both countries involved.

According to Alessandra Holmo, the general director of the CISB, the main aims of this meeting were those of making a general analysis of the activities of the CISB, launching the new focus area of the CISB which is the aeronautics industry, and promoting networking between partners and identifying new opportunities of projects with collaboration between companies and research institutions from both countries.

The program of the first day had the presence of the Swedish Ambassador to Brazil, Per-Arne Hjelmborn, who opened the afternoon session of the meeting. “The sale of the Gripen airplane by Saab to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is the most important export contract ever been signed by Sweden, and expands our industrial base in Brazil which is already impressive. This is a unique project in terms of size and partnership possibilities between Sweden and Brazil. We will cooperate for the next 30 or 40 years”, he highlighted.

Positive Balance - In the first event of the day, “Swedish-Brazilian Coration – Innovation for a Sustainable Future”, Joakim Appelquist, the Director for International Collaboration and Networks at Vinnova, has presented a positive picture of the five years of collaboration between Brazil and Sweden in the field of innovation.

In his opinion, Sweden has expanded its understanding of the Brazilian system of innovation and has managed to arouse greater interest on the part of the stakeholders, to develop agreements with the Brazilians. At this moment, there is a discussion with the Financing Institution for Studies and Projects (Finep) about the possibility of establishing a joint fund. “For us, transfer of technology is not important. We wish to develop innovation in a joint fashion. We have a strongly decentralized system based on the bottom-up approach, and we are learning how you do things over here”, he added.

Alexandre Zuccolo Barragat de Andrade, from the International Co-operation Department of Finep, said that the main aim of the agreement is that of developing new technologies that the two partners consider to be strategic. “We are overcoming the lack of symmetry between the institutions and co-operating, following a path where this is fully possible”, he said.

Strategic sector - The program included a special presentation by Luiz Góes, a professor at the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) about the future of the Brazilian aeronautics segment and the possibilities of co-operation in this area, between Sweden and Brazil. Góes mentioned some factors that are new challenges and opportunities for the Brazilian aeronautical segment such as, for example, the entry of new players in the international market, especially China, Russia and Malaysia, which are direct competitors of Embraer.

He also mentioned new technological challenges, highlighting the implementation of environmental policies with a focus on the reduction of the production of greenhouse gases, and the need to develop new systems for security and air traffic control. In his opinion, these are excellent opportunities for exchange between Brazil and Sweden in the aeronautics area.

Successful initiatives - Next, the event dedicated some space to the presentation of successful projects developed by Swedish and Brazilian institutions. Colonel Mats Olofsson, the head scientist at the Swedish Armed Forces, talked about programs in support of innovation in the aeronautical area, that currently exist in Sweden. University professors Semida Silveira and Keiko Verônica Ono, from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and the Federal Technology University of Paraná (UTFPR) respectively, showed the progress that has been made in the project of application of concepts of the intelligent city which are being implemented in the city of Curitiba, capital of the state of Paraná. A special “green line” is being constructed in the city. The project plans a new system for the circulation of hybrid buses made by Volvo, which run on electricity and diesel, as well as other actions.

The program manager at the Lindholmen Science Park in Sweden, Rosário Castro, said that several ideas of projects arose from the co-operation between the institution and Brazilian partners. One visit to the Brazilian port of Santos, for example, has already opened possibilities of co-operation between countries in the areas of logistics and naval transport.

The projects she mentioned include the CISB Arena for Open Innovation in Transport and Logistics, a platform which supports virtual meetings for discussion of challenges, opportunities, new ideas and technological solutions; the holding of face-to-face workshops; the Green Corridor project which tries to make use of the Brazilian port infrastructure to transport people and cargo along the coast, interconnected with the national road system, using green concepts and technologies; and the Maritime Performance Through Sea Traffic Management (Performar) project, which is developing and applying different concepts and technologies for the management of sea traffic.

Finally, Jefferson de Oliveira Gomes, the executive manager for Innovation and Technology at Senai, presented the measures taken by the institution in support of the innovative activities carried out by these companies in Brazil.

Prize - Also during the opening of the 4th Annual Meeting of the CISB, the winners of the Sweden-Brazil Innovation Challenge 2015 were announced. In all, 1,200 students took part in the competition. The first and second-placed candidates, Bianca Macedo, from ITA, and Fabio Gonçalves Rizzi, from the University of São Paulo (USP), won a one-week trip to Sweden, where they will have the opportunity to visit local companies and universities. Luisa Veiga da Cunha, from the Federal University of Brasília (UnB), and Mateus Alves de Pinho, from USP, were the other two winners of the competition.

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CISB Workshop promotes collaboration in the design and manufacture of composites

The dynamics was prepared with the support of Brazilian and Swedish experts.

As part of its 4th Annual Meeting, CISB organized a workshop on “Future vision of opportunities in projects and manufacture of composites”. Held in São Paulo on 12 November, the event had some 50 participants from Brazil and also from Sweden. On the Swedish side, the lecturers were: Lars Sjöström, the Future Business Director of Saab Aeronautics; Pontus Nordin, also from Saab; Dan Zenkert, from the Royal Institute of Technology; and Fredrik Winberg, from Biteam. From Brazil, the following guest speakers took part: Clovis Eca Ferreira and Amaury Gavazzi, from Embraer; and Sergio Frascino, a researcher at ITA.

“The lectures had the aim of inspiring the participants, as the main aim of this workshop was that of generating ideas of collaborative projects between Brazil and Sweden – within the triple helix environment. Before the event, we made appropriate preparations, consulted specialists from both countries to help us with the choice of the key issues and the participants on each side”, says Fellipe Sabat, the coordinator of the Project and Partnership Portfolio Manager at CISB.

At the end of the presentations, the participants were divided into groups to discuss specific issues, such as multifunctional compounds, modelling of manufacturing processes, optimization of design, fractures, fatigue and design and manufacture. “Each issue had one or more challenges for the participants to solve. Group discussions were guided by three main questions: firstly, what technology or solution could be developed in order to deal with the challenge as proposed? Secondly, which industrial applications could be subject to such solutions? And, thirdly, last but not least, how the project can be structured, including issues about its scope, participants, financing and next steps?”, says Sabat.

The following step was to send a report with all the discussions to each of the participants in the workshop. “Sometimes a researcher is identified more with the discussion of a certain group, different from the one he or she participated in”, explains Sabat, stressing that there is currently an open CISB call-up to support the joint construction of projects, to proceed with the work that was started with the workshop. “This is where we are now. The people are constructing proposals to deal with this call and, from this point forth, construct more robust projects”, he concludes.

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Volvo Cars is the newest member of CISB

The company’s interests in Brazil include renewable types of energy and fuels.

The latest member of CISB is Volvo Cars, a company that is setting up its research operations in Brazil, as informed by the company’s Director for Research and External Contracts, Tord Hermansson. In this process, he says that CISB is taking on a more strategic role as an articulator.

“The main aim of the association with CISB is that of having access to a local player with the function of a ‘broker’. As a manufacturer in the automotive segment, Volvo Cars has a strong need for support in the identification and establishment of the initial contacts with possible interested parties and also with relevant research programs within the Brazilian academic community. We believe, and have already been able to confirm, that the CISB plays an important role in the identification and facilitation of the valuable collaboration between Volvo Cars and its Brazilian partners”, says Mr Hermansson.

He lists the priority areas of the group for short-term research. “Essentially, these are: electrification and hybridation of propulsion systems; renewable fuels and types of energy; automation and autonomous driving; communications between cars and services based on the cloud”, the executive reveals.

“Volvo Cars is an importer, and does not yet produce cars here, but has ambitions. The company knows Brazil well, and is aware of the significant potential in renewable energy that is presented by this country. This is one of the areas where the company would like to know who the main players are within academia, and the types of expertise to think about projects in the medium to long term”, says Alessandra Holmo, the Managing Director of CISB. She says that CISB has already managed to find possible partners, and that the institution will be monitoring the dialogue between the company and the academic area.

“What is very interesting is the fact that, starting with the joining of Volvo Cars, CISB gains a good approximation with other leading players in the automobile industry, and here we highlight Volvo Group Trucks Technology. As Scania Latin America is already a member, many synergies can be generated. Our aim here is to have several members in the same segment, pooling forces to solve the challenges of society, sharing knowledge and common goals. Therefore, the admittance of Volvo Cars adds a lot and brings us closer to other possible actors in Brazil and also in Sweden”, Alessandra summarizes.

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Workshop on Aeronautics and Defense joined 500 participants during the 3rd Swedish-Brazilian Innovation Week

Prospects for an intensification of collaboration between Brazil and Sweden have arisen thanks to the commercial agreement between Saab and the Brazilian Air Force

As part of the program for the 3rd Swedish-Brazilian Innovation Week, the CISB has organized the 1st Brazil-Sweden Workshop in Defense and Aeronautics, at the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA). This event took place on 13 and 14 November with the participation of important Swedish and Brazilian institutions such as FINEP, VINNOVA (the Swedish innovation agency), ABDI, Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Saab AB, Embraer, Akaer, INNOVAIR and the Swedish universities, Linköping, Chalmers and Luleå, were some of the participants. The two days of the workshop had an average of 500 participants, including members of industry, academia and the Government.

The purpose of these workshops was to discuss and propose strategies for the long-term co-operation between Brazilian and Swedish universities and industries in strategic areas in the aeronautics and defense segments. The motivation for the workshops comes from the possibility of increased collaboration between Brazil and Sweden that has arisen from the commercial agreement between SAAB and the Brazilian Air Force (that has purchased 36 fighter aircraft from the Swedish manufacturer). This co-operation between Brazil and Sweden should be a long-lasting and fruitful partnership.

The second day of the workshop was divided into sections, with the identification of challenges and possible topics for collaboration between the two countries in the following areas: aircraft operation and design; aerodynamics and aeroacoustics; CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics); structure and materials; manufacture and development of products and of propulsion systems; automatic control and autonomous systems, and incorporation of security systems.

 “In the case of universities, the main aim of the co-operation is the development of joint research rather than a simple exchange of knowledge. We have good researchers in all areas, but the establishment of co-operation agreements creates a synergetic environment that boosts research, bringing benefits to both parties”, sums up Professor Emília Villani, from ITA. She explains that the results of the co-operation can have several different consequences, in different areas and with timeframes that vary according to the nature of the activity.

“When we speak of results, we can refer to the research area or to the results that have been incorporated into new products within the industry. Some areas, such as new concepts of aircraft, for example, correspond to research which still has a long way to go until it is materialized in the form of a product. Others, like the manufacturing area, can produce results which have the potential to be quickly incorporated into the production lines”, Emília clarifies.

“We have reached our goal, which was to provide a first major meeting between researchers of the Universities and companies from Sweden and Brazil, and we are already planning how this relationship can be intensified in 2015. In addition, two Swedish universities that are members of CISB (LiU and KTH) have signed an MoU with ITA, thereby showing their engagement in the creation of a joint agenda of projects, between these Institutions”, says Alessandra Holmo, the Managing Director of CISB.

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CISB opens calls for collaborative projects

Two of them receive applications through to the start of December.

The Swedish-Brazilian Centre for Research and Innovation (CISB) has three calls currently open: the first for the selection of proposals for partnerships of structuring of collaborative projects through short-term international missions. The second is to nurture long-term collaboration and to promote innovation between the academic environment and the industrial segment in both countries in the Aeronautics area. The third, in partnership with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Saab AB, for grants for sandwich doctoral and post-doctoral courses in Sweden.

In the first two cases, the applications may be made no later than 2 December, and the proposals will then be sent to the CISB exclusively by e-mail, to the e-mail projects@cisb.org.br, up to 5 p.m. on the last day for signing up (Brasília time). Services provided by the e-mail above and also by the telephone ++ 55 11 4314-9466, closes at 4 p.m. on the day preceding the deadline for enrolments. The proposals for both calls will be sent in the English language.

Areas of interest - In the case of the call for international missions, the areas of priority interest are materials and manufacture; electronics; information and technological communication; mechanical engineering systems; and energy and the environment. Further details may be found here. The results of this call-up will be informed on 18 December through the CISB website: www.cisb.org.br. The proposals be sent in PDF format, and shall not contain more than four pages (excluding the title page and the summary page).

In the case of collaboration in the long term in the aeronautics segment, the following areas will be given priority: design and operation of aircraft; development of products, manufacture and materials; propulsion systems; automatic control; and autonomous systems and security software. Further details can be found here. The results of this call-up shall be informed on 10 December, also through the CISB website. Among the main requirement for sending proposals are the following: at least one of the partners must be an industrial company; at least one partner shall be from Brazil and at least one partner from Sweden. 

CNPq, CISB and Saab - The third call refers to the 4th Call for Projects of CNPq-CISB-Saab 42/2014, within the scope of the Science without Borders program of the Brazilian Federal Government. A total of 15 grants is being offered, of which ten are for post-doctoral studies and five for sandwich doctorates at Swedish universities. Open from 8 December 2014 to 15 May 2015, it has a focus on the Aeronautics area, particularly the areas of Materials and Manufacture, Electronics, Information and Communication Technology and Mechanical Engineering systems.

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Saab seeks visiting researchers compatible with the R&D areas of the company

Swedish Universities have already received 26 different researchers within the scope of the Science without Borders Program.

The 7th Meeting of the Saab Brazil Network for Research and Development has brought together researchers, supervisors and other people interested in the Brazilian Science without Borders program, on 11 November at the Blue Tree Premium Faria Lima Hotel in São Paulo. The main aim of such meetings is that of promoting research and development, between Sweden, Brazil and Saab, connecting people involved in Saab’s grant program, to get to know and exchange ideas. This is the first time that this meeting has been held in Brazil.

This time, the meeting focused on the three years in which the Saab grant was given to Brazilian researchers. Other points addressed included the future in general and also the fourth call-up, launched this month. The Saab grant is part of the Science without Borders program, of the Brazilian Federal Government, which promotes the international mobility of undergraduate and graduate students and also of researchers.

“Finding the right visiting researcher is one of Saab’s main goals. We have specific areas for investigation and actions within Saab; thus, finding correspondence with a Brazilian candidate is a challenge. However, we know that when there is correspondence between the research area and the candidate for a grant, then the result, after the researcher has spent some time in Sweden, is often better than planned”, says Maria Tauberman, the director of Saab’s Global Innovation Program.

She says that Saab offers about fifteen grants per call-up, and so far has welcomed 26 Brazilian researchers. “After making this selection three years ago, we are still trying to enhance the process. One may think that, as we have done this three times, the process is already perfect, but each call-up is slightly different from the other, and there are new candidates that we have to attract”, says Maria.

The director says that Saab hopes that this year, with the 4th Call for Projects which was launched on the 17th of this month, more candidates than last time will come forward. “Now more people have heard about our company, and this has generated a greater interest in our grants. We have sought the visiting researcher with the correct knowledge background to compete for the Saab grants”, says Maria.

The priority areas for research at Saab are: Materials and Electronic Production, Information and Communication Technology, Mechanical Engineering Systems, and Energy and the Environment.

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CISB 4th Annual Meeting had two parallel workshops in the ABC region

One was about design and development of products for innovation, while the other was on cybersecurity. Both had the presence of specialists from Brazil and Sweden.

The 4th Annual Meeting of the CISB also had two parallel workshops that were held at the Santo André Campus of UFABC. One was about cybersecurity, while the other addressed the issues of design and development of products for innovation. At the time, specialists from Brazil and Sweden discussed the main challenges in the areas of research, development and innovation.

The Cybersecurity Workshop had the presence of the following professors: Sead Muftic, from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH); Carlos Kamienski, from the Federal University of the ABC Region; Rodrigo Filev Maia, from the University of Industrial Engineering (FEI); Magnus Svard da Clavister, from Sweden; and also Helder Gaudêncio, from LeverTech – specializing in computer security and cloud computing.

“The main challenges and trends that were identified during the event are related to protection against hackers, malware and other problems; the privacy of citizens and users of business networks; systems for anonymous payment – those that do not need user identification; and the reliable use of Information Technology to improve people’s lives in what have been called ‘intelligent cities’, reported Sead Muftic.

Muftic says there are areas that are highly promising for the co-operation and partnership between Brazil and Sweden. “In the area of research and development, the opportunities include advanced education, at PhD level, for the incorporation of security systems at Saab and also at Embraer”, the researcher said.

Professor Carlos Kamienski, in turn, stressed that security in the cloud is an essentially important issue. “The market for computer security will have an accelerated rate of growth in years to come, with the increased use of cloud solutions and electronic transactions”, he said. One point that will arouse technological solutions and care, he said, is the guarantee of privacy. “This is something that is more and more difficult, due to people’s own behavior, especially on social networks. Another important point is a guarantee of anonymity, required by many users. This will require significant efforts in research, development and innovation”, he sums up.

He sees Brazil as being well placed in terms of research, but that the country must have more intense work on the aspects of development and innovation. “This is necessary to reduce the technological dependence on other countries, also for national security reasons”, he believes.

Product Design – The workshop on Design and Development had three panel sessions and 12 speakers. The first panel (Connecting people in a creative and inclusive world), essentially addressed the human side of product development, from the formation of talent to the humanization of technology, as essential parts of the contemporary economy. The second panel (Connecting subject areas in a world of complexity) showed the need for integration between complex technological systems that need to be designed before being implemented. Finally, the third (Connecting ideas for a sustainable and uncertain world) discussed the issue of how to handle scarce resources.

“An important discussion was the limitation of the traditional educational models to cover more than just parts of the product design process, producing specialists rather than people with capacity of holistic integration”, said professor Petter Krus, from Linköping University, a participant in the second panel.

In his opinion, there was a consensus between specialists that, to qualify professionals able to produce innovative products, a multidisciplinary approach is called for. “There are plans to introduce new programs at the UFABC and also at Linköping University, combining engineering with management of innovation and design, and this workshop can be seen as an initiative to promote greater collaboration in this area”, said Mr Krus.

According to professor Luciana Pereira, from UFABC, one of the organizers of this workshop, a product should be designed with the user as the main element. “It is necessary to have creative human resources for the solution of problems at the center of construction of a more sustainable and inclusive world”, Ms. Pereira said.

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