18 February 2021
Swedish cutting-edge technology with global competitiveness
www.uu.se/en/news February 2021 • Top of the five-metre-deep thermos (vertical cryostat), which will be used to cool down the magnet prototype to –270 degrees Celsius during the tests at FREIA laboratory. Photograph: Mikael Wallerstedt
Magnets and cryotechnology were one of the areas of technology discussed at the Big Science Sweden Conference/AIMday 2019, under the title, “What can Sweden do to help CERN develop a canted-cos-theta dipole magnet for the LHC?”.
Big Science Sweden helped bring together key partners for an exciting collaboration project involving industry and academia.
The discussion during the AIMday initiated a feasibility study on the formation of a Småland cluster to work on superconducting ‘cold’ magnets. The feasibility study concluded with a project application for which funding has recently been awarded. Three high-tech companies and two universities can now work together on an exciting research and development project. Collaboration partners in the project are Scanditronix Magnet, Ryd-Verken, Vattenskärningsteknik in Vislanda, Uppsala University and Linnaeus University.
“Pushing the boundaries of what is currently possible”
Per Grängsjö.
Superconducting magnets are becoming an increasingly important tool in science, medicine, and industry. A first stage in the project is to manufacture a prototype intended for CERN.
Per Grängsjö works with research support at Uppsala University, and is a strategic resource in the implementation of the project.
“This project concerns leading-edge technology that is really pushing the boundaries of what is currently possible. We have Swedish companies that are highly skilled and extremely specialised, such as Scanditronix. They and other companies have the manufacturing expertise that the universities lack. And the universities, in turn, can contribute with the latest research findings. We need each other,” he says.
The project will run until April 2023, and will combine expertise in research, business, technology, and innovation to compete on a global market.
The project
The project – Disseminating technology for cold magnets to provide access to a wider international market – will be carried out with financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Region Kronoberg. Collaboration partners in the project are Uppsala University, Linnaeus University, Scanditronix Magnet, Ryd-Verken, and Vattenskärningsteknik i Vislanda.
Read more about the project (Uppsala University)