鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit like lasagna at home; you don鈥檛 want it to be unevenly cooked. That鈥檚 why air flow and air circulation are so important,鈥� says Lisa Lundstr枚m, CEO of ElectroHeat, the company behind the 17-metre-long furnace.
Enablers for others
It is soon ready for delivery and will be used to mold parts for the electric power industry. But the furnaces that ElectroHeat manufactures are used in a variety of areas such as the marine, electric, automotive and manufacturing industries, but also in space research, medical technology and everything in between.
鈥淚f you look around in a room, you鈥檒l always find something that has been heat treated in an industrial furnace. But we keep in the background and see ourselves more as enablers for others. We help them realise their ideas,鈥� says Lisa Lundstr枚m.
The ElectroHeat plant caters for all the stages of the process 鈥� from receiving the customer鈥檚 vision to project management, construction, laser cutting and bending of metal parts, electrical work, assembly and final testing. As everything is done in the same place, each oven can be fully custom-made.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a creative process where we invent something new every time."
Finding the right education
And it was inventing things that attracted Lisa Lundstr枚m to the engineering profession from the very beginning.
鈥淚 was very young when I started dreaming about being an engineer. What sparked my dreams was the Chalmers Cort猫ge through Gothenburg every year during Walpurgis celebration. When I was ten years old I saw the cool things that the students had made, and it seemed so much fun.鈥�
Although the Chalmers Cort猫ge sparked her dreams, applying to the prestigious technical university in her home town was not the obvious choice.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really want to study at Chalmers, it felt a bit predictable. Also, it was fun to discover a new city. But the most important thing was to find the right type of programme.鈥�
Looking back, Lisa Lundstr枚m is convinced that she found the right programme 鈥� the Master of Science in Electronics Design, now called Electronics and Systems Design, at Campus Norrk枚ping.
鈥淭he programme provided an important foundation and shows yourself and others what you can actually do. It鈥檚 a difficult programme, and you really develop your ability to analyse and solve complex problems.鈥�
Inspire young people
But it was not only the Chalmers Cort猫ge that inspired Lisa Lundstr枚m to take an interest in technology and problem solutions. Sweden鈥檚 largest inventor competition for children, then called 鈥淔inn upp鈥�, nowadays 鈥淯nga innovat枚rer鈥�, further sparked her interest in engineering. She entered it with a lot of enthusiasm, and constructed a type of airpod, but with clips, designed for working out. Undoubtedly an invention far ahead of its time.
鈥淏ut I didn鈥檛 dare submit it. It鈥檚 still at home in a box somewhere. So I thought that I鈥檇 somehow like to help young girls today to actually dare.鈥�
Therefore, Lisa Lundstr枚m is now involved in 鈥淭eknikt盲vlingen鈥� a technology competition aimed at year 6 students. It is a national innovation competition where the goal is to broaden the image of the engineering profession and show it as an important problem solver in society.
鈥淚f you can reach out in the right way and make children curious and interested, it鈥檚 a way in for more people to apply for technical programmes. This kind of competition may make more people dare. But the image of an engineer is pretty square, so I think we have to show that you as an engineer actually make a positive difference to people鈥檚 lives.鈥�
Lisa Lundstr枚m believes that it is imperative to get more people to choose the engineering profession to meet current and future global sustainability challenges.
鈥淲e鈥檙e facing extremely complex problems in the world, and we need the sharpest brains we can find. So we have to look everywhere!鈥�