IWM Winter Seminar 2026 Brought Together Researchers and Industry in Tampere
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The IWM Winter Seminar 2026 was held on March 3–4 at Tampere University’s Hervanta campus. It brought together doctoral researchers and professors, and on March 4 industry partners also joined the discussions and student presentations. The opening discussions on the first day focused on an overview of the IWM seminars and the researcher competences they aim to develop, as well as sustaining motivation and work engagement during doctoral studies. This was followed by students’ work on finalising their group‑work presentations, and visits to the IHA Mobile Lab and FAST‑Lab laboratories. The second day centred on doctoral researchers’ presentations on industrial challenges provided by partner companies, along with expert lectures on innovation and academic publishing.
Opening Day: Orientation, Doctoral Skills, and Lab Visits
The seminar began with a welcome and an overview by Professor Matti Vilkko, who described the purpose and development of the IWM seminar series and the competences it aims to strengthen in doctoral researchers.
This was followed by a session led by Sini Teräsahde on sustaining motivation and work engagement during doctoral studies. The discussion encouraged reflection on work practices, personal drivers, and strategies that support long‑term engagement.
In the afternoon, the doctoral researchers worked on finalising their group‑work presentations for the next day. Afterwards, students and professors visited both the IHA Mobile Lab and the FAST‑Lab facilities, where they were introduced to ongoing research activities.
At the IHA Mobile Lab, the visitors observed demonstrations related to mobile machinery research, including the autonomous wheel loader evee, presented by the IHA research group.
At the FAST‑Lab, the demonstrations showcased research themes such as LLM-based methods for human–robot collaboration, task‑level programming by demonstration, and skeleton-based estimation of interaction readiness in human–robot interaction (HRI).
These visits offered participants an overview of the diverse research infrastructures and methodologies used within the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences.
Day 2: Student Presentations and Expert Lectures on Innovation and Research Publishing
On the second day, industry partners joined the seminar to take part in the presentations and discussions. The morning focused on doctoral researchers’ group‑work presentations based on industrial challenges provided by participating companies. The topics included:
· Accuracy vs. latency trade-offs in real-time perception systems
· Building operator trust in intelligent machine behavior
· Approaches to path-following in autonomous driving
· Embedded edge-based AI-assisted voice control for mobile machinery
· Ensuring predictable and safe AI-based control
· Digital recognition of rocks vs. gravel
· Optimizing hydraulic boom movements for energy and time efficiency
These presentations showed how doctoral researchers rapidly acquire industry‑relevant knowledge, analyse real industrial problems, and communicate clear, well‑founded solution proposals.
Later, Professor Matti Vilkko introduced the concept of Absorptive Capacity, discussing how organisations identify, absorb, and apply new knowledge—an important process in research-intensive industries.
This was followed by a session on New Product Development. Antero Kutvonen (LUT) approached the topic from an Innovation Management perspective, highlighting processes and frameworks that guide product development in research and industry. Kalle Einola (Ponsse) complemented this with insights into real-life new product development practices, illustrating how innovation operates in an industrial context.
The seminar concluded with Professor Aki Mikkola’s editorial perspective on common reasons manuscripts fail before peer review. His talk offered practical guidance for early‑career researchers preparing their first submissions and provided advice on scientific writing and publication processes.
A Valuable Forum for Exchange
Through discussions, company-provided challenges, and exposure to ongoing research in automation and intelligent machinery, The IWM Winter Seminar 2026 provided a rich environment for sharing knowledge and experiences, strengthening research competencies, and connecting doctoral researchers with industry partners.
The IWM Doctoral Program extends its gratitude to all speakers, doctoral researchers, and industry participants for contributing to a productive and inspiring event.
