Leading and developing the department
As Head of Department since 2018, I lead an organisation with around 400 employees and annual revenue of just over SEK 500 million. Over the past eight years, the department has grown from approximately 230 to around 400 employees. Revenue has also increased, with annual growth of between 12 and 18 per cent in most years.A central part of my work is to support researchers and teaching staff in a growing organisation, working alongside the deputy heads of department and heads of division. The department runs targeted initiatives to increase the number of applications for external research funding and improve their quality and competitiveness. These efforts include applications to EU research programmes, Vinnova and other research funders.
I initiated an effort to develop the department’s role in defence and security research. This involves new applications to the European Defence Fund (EDF) and collaboration with organisations including the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Sweden’s civil defence agency (Myndigheten för civilt försvar) and Saab. It also includes collaboration with companies developing dual-use technologies and products for civilian and military applications.
Education and student recruitment
For several years, I have led sustained efforts to recruit more students to engineering programmes in Norrköping and to Campus Norrköping as a whole. This has included communicating the distinctive profiles and content of the programmes and the career opportunities they offer.The department has developed new approaches to promoting its programmes. Targeted campaigns in the Stockholm area have formed part of these recruitment efforts, with the student accommodation guarantee as an important part of the offer to prospective students. In recent years, both the number of first-choice applicants and the number of students admitted have increased.
Campus Norrköping 2040 and future learning environments
As Campus Chancellor, I work to strengthen the role of Campus Norrköping in the city and the wider region. From January to November 2024, I led the Campus Norrköping 2040 review. The review developed a vision and a roadmap for the campus and its contribution to strengthening Linköping University as a whole.
The work addressed attractive degree programmes and student life, the development of existing and new research environments, and closer collaboration across departmental and disciplinary boundaries. An important aspect was to clarify the campus’s distinctive profile to support the recruitment of students, researchers, teaching staff and other employees. The review also examined how collaboration with Norrköping Municipality, Region Östergötland and other external partners can contribute to innovation, sustainability and regional development.
The vision review was followed by a more detailed study, Towards the Education of the Future: Learning Labs as a Driver of Quality, Relevance and Attractiveness. The study began in June 2025 and its final report was submitted on 30 November 2025. It explored how flexible, authentic and interdisciplinary learning environments can improve educational quality and strengthen connections with research and professional practice.
A four-year learning lab initiative at Campus Norrköping will begin in winter 2026/2027. The aim is to give students more practical experience and a better understanding of their future professional roles, while developing new teaching approaches and integrating them into regular courses.
Collaboration and regional enterprise
As Campus Chancellor, I am involved in initiatives that make it easier for students to settle in Norrköping and remain in the region after graduation. These include the accommodation guarantee for new students, the post-graduation housing pledge and the career pledge, which offers eligible applicants an initial interview with participating companies under the terms of the initiative.I am a board member of Norrköping Science Park and Norrköping Visualisation Center. Through Norrköping Science Park, I work to attract more businesses to the city and help turn research results into new companies. This includes supporting spin-offs through innovation environments such as LEAD and enabling organic electronics companies to grow through the Home of Printed Electronics (HOPE) accelerator.
Previous experience and education
Before joining LiU, I was CEO of RISE SICS East from 2016 to 2018. During the same period, I was a project manager at Saab Aeronautics, developing a public safety demonstrator within the WASP research programme.From 2003 to 2016, I was a division head at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), responsible for activities in command and control systems, information systems, and sensor and electronic warfare systems. I was also a member of the agency’s executive management team. Earlier in my career, I worked in user-centred systems development, research and management at Ericsson and as an Assistant Technical Attaché in San Francisco.
I am an Associate Professor in Human-Computer Interaction, hold an MSc in Computer Science and Engineering from Linköping University and an Executive MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics. I have been a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences since 2007.