Jörgen Appelgren
Jörgen Appelgren is Vice President for Automation and Technology Products at Atlas Copco Rock Drills in Örebro.
Since 2002 he has been promoting innovative mining automation solutions that contribute to increased safety and better working conditions, and achieve high productivity rates. To realise these visions of a "digital mine" he initiated, as early as 2002, an R&D effort on autonomous mining machinery in close collaboration with the robotics researchers at Örebro University. This early effort has led to sustainable and productive collaboration between the University and Atlas Copco, where the main purpose is to bridge the gap between research, education and industrial innovation.
Jörgen Appelgren's personal contributions involve recruitment and supervision of industry-employed PhD students; active involvement in research proposals for new collaborative projects; mentorship and supervision within research projects as a member of their steering committees; as well as advisory services within the School of Science and Technology's different research activities and degree programmes. He has utilised the company's international academic and industrial networks in order to promote the University while helping to enhance its international reputation.
Jörgen Appelgren's presence in the academic world is not confined only to the University but also to other academic institutions in Sweden and in Canada. He has contributed to a number of PhD theses at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg and Queens University in Kingston, Canada. He is co-author of scientific articles and has authored publications on the problems and solutions for innovative R&D in current and future mining automation.