Keynote Speakers 2018

4th Karelia Symposium keynote speakers 2018

Dr. Jussi Mattila

was born in 1966 and is married with three adult children.  His has completed his Master of Science (Civil engineering, Structural engineering) degree at the Tampere University of Technology in 1991; and Doctor of Technology  (Civil Engineering) degree at the Tampere University of Technology in 2003. He is currently an adjunct professor of Construction Materials and Life-span engineering at the Tampere University of Technology 2011-.

Mattila has published more than 100 publications mostly dealing with assessment and renovation of concrete structures. His main duties include: Research Scientist work at different academic levels in Tampere University of Technology, Civil Engineering 1991-2009; CEO at Finnish Concrete Association 2009 – 2012; and CEO at Finnish Federation of Concrete Industries 2012 -.

Dr. Leif Gustavsson

is Professor of building technology at Linnaeus University, Sweden. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental and Energy Systems Studies, an MSc in Civil Engineering and an MA in Psychology from Lund University. His main field of research is systems analysis from a bottom-up perspective linked to sustainable development, especially building construction, energy efficiency, renewable energy, forestry and the interaction between these fields. The aim of his research is to increase understanding of how resource- and cost-efficient systems with low environmental impact can be designed, analysed and implemented.

Mr. Petri Heino

is a forester by profession; he studied the marketing of forest products at the University of Helsinki. After completing his education he started a long career in the promotion of Finnish wood construction, lobbying for organizations such as Puuinfo & Wood Focus and the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. He was also engaged in projects for the Nordic Timber Council. Heino then worked as a Research Manager at the Kymenlaakso University of Applied sciences for 4 years. The focus of the R&D was on interior design solutions with wood. Restorative environment design principles were designed as a result of this work.

Heino is currently responsible for the national wood building program at the Ministry of the Environment of Finland. His ongoing dialogue in business and social life with Finnish architects and other members of the building and construction ecosystem has enabled him to understand and firmly grasp the realities and possibilities of wood in the building sector.

Jun. Prof. Dr. Christopher Robeller

leads the Digital Timber Construction group DTC at TU Kaiserslautern. Previously he has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research Digital Fabrication NCCR dfab at ETH Zurich, as a doctoral assistant at the Timber Construction Laboratory IBOIS at EPFL Lausanne, and as a research associate at the Institute of Computational Design ICD, at the University of Stuttgart. Christopher holds a Doctor of Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology EPFL, and a Professional Diploma in Architecture with Distinction from London Metropolitan University.

His research of innovative timber structures, design for assembly and digital fabrication is widely published in scientific journals, books, conferences and exhibitions, and received the best paper award at the Advances in Architectural Geometry conference in 2014. The research has been implemented in experimental structures including the ICD/itke pavilion 2010 and the IBOIS curved folded wood pavilion, as well as buildings such as the timber folded plate structure for the Vidy Theater in Lausanne.