Montanuniversität Leoben

Leader Partner

Montanuniversitaet Leoben is a 176 year-old technical university covering the field of mining, metallurgy, material sciences and new energy technologies. The research and education profile is set along the value life cycle of products ranging from the extraction of raw materials, to processing, production processes, product design, product distribution and recycling of end of life products to reintroduce them into the value life cycle. All study programmes of MUL are located along this cycle. Further, the university philosophy is set along this value life cycle and the mentality of a new understanding of raw materials as a wholesome concept has long penetrated university thinking. MUL will be the lead partner in the project. It has a long standing history in the mining industry and has thus gathered enormous expertise with regards to mining technologies as well as extensive experience in project acquisition and management. In combination, it has a long standing tradition and expertise in teaching and designing mining curricula over the past 175 years.

Epiroc

Epiroc Rock Drills AB is a company based in Sweden. It has been split from Atlas Copco (founded in 1873), with a focus on the Mining and Excavation Business Area. It has operations in more than 180 nations all over the world. The Mining and Rock Excavation business area is one of the largest suppliers of mining equipment in the world. It is also active all over the world with a large part of the development being done in Sweden. Epiroc Rock Drills AB is the legal entity of Epiroc which includes development of mining machines and services. The majority (probably all) of the work by Epiroc in this project will be done within Epiroc Rock Drills AB, located in Örebro, Sweden. The strong motivation for Epiroc to participate in the project goes back many years when the company (Atlas Copco) published regularly mining and rock excavation handbooks for surface and underground mining. Many of the drawings and tables included in these books became a standard in higher mining education all around the world. It is expected that the future MR based handbooks, for which Epiroc will provide its AR and VR material which is already existing inside the company, will again become a new and modern standard in mining education world-wide. At Epiroc a complete family of underground drilling, loading, trucking and rock support machines and related technologies is available and will be provided as an input into the project.

Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg

TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF) is a public university located in Saxony/Germany and an EIT Raw Materials core partner in CLC Eastern. The university has its main scientific focus on natural resources and has been ranked among the best universities worldwide for minerals and mining engineering. From TUBAF two Chairs will participate: the Institute of Mining and Special Engineering, Chair of Mining – Surface Mining and the Chair of Virtual Reality and Multimedia. The Chair of Mining has thorough expertise in teaching and research in mining engineering. The institute’s scientific and teaching staff extensively contributes to mining-related study courses such as the nine semester diploma program “Geo-Techniques and Mining” and the Master program “Advanced Mineral Resources Development”.

Technische Universität Graz

Graz University of Technology (TUG) is the second largest research and education facility for technical sciences in Austria. TUG participates in the project with 2 institutions, the Department of Educational Technology and the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision (ICG). The Department of Educational Technology has strong knowledge in the area of learning with technologies, which includes didactical approaches for different scenarios (research area = educational technology). The department has created eBooks for educational purposes, online courses for thousands of learners and educational videos. Therefore, TUG can bring in pedagogical and didactical knowledge on how to produce successful learning content in a digital environment.  The Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision is the only Austrian academic group with the charter to address the whole range of research in visual computing, encompassing computer graphics, computer vision and human-computer interaction. The institute currently has a research staff of 60 full time researchers. A wide variety of courses in graphics, vision, and human-computer interaction topics are offered to students.

KGHM CUPRUM Sp. z o.o. Centrum Badawczo-Rozwojowe

KGHM Cuprum Ltd. was established in 1967 as former Cuprum Research and Design Centre for Copper Mining. It was a part of the Copper Mining and Metallurgical Complex in Lubin. During over 50 years of experience in the mining industry KGHM Cuprum gathered wide knowledge about Polish kupferschiefer deposits, mining systems and production cycle in the mines of KGHM Polska Miedz. It provides a comprehensive research and design service for the Polish copper industry. It conducts scientific and technological research in geology and hydrogeology, mining, rock-mass mechanics, surveying, mine ventilation, automation, electrification and mechanization, ore processing, tailings disposal, environmental protection and new energy technologies. Key areas of activity within research projects are geology, hydrogeology, modern mining and mineral processing as well as industrial risk assessment systems. KGHM Cuprum is specialized in 3D modelling, including geological modelling using geostatistical methods. Gathering, analysing and processing of spatial data with the application of GIS systems is also an important part of KGHM’s experience. KGHM specialists are further authors of many 3D models of tailings facilities to visualize their environmental impact and to indicate the visibility of dams from different locations.

Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB

LKAB is a high-tech international minerals group, world leading producer of processed iron ore products for steelmaking, and a growing supplier of mineral products for other industrial sectors. With pellets and fines LKAB supplies highly processed iron ore products for blast furnaces and direct reduction, services to the steel industry, customized minerals for other industries and mining products and technologies. LKAB has a significant experience in conducting industrial R&D projects in mining technology, mineral processing and logistics, with successful implementation of many R&D results in the company’s processes. LKAB will provide expertize in mining technology and process demands together with test sites for the development of content. LKAB has an established history of working in international consortiums on EIT and EU projects, including those of an educational development nature. The company has a vested interested in improving not only the techniques and methods used in today’s industrial mining operations, but also in the training and preparation of the next generation of mining engineers and students, and in improving the quality of workplace training.

Luleå tekniska universitet

Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has been founded in the 70 ties as Sweden’s most Northern University. Since then it has been developing into an international centre for first class education and research, amongst others in the field of mining engineering. Today Luleå LTU has a total turnover of SEK 1.6 billion per year. We currently have 1,600 employees and 15,000 students. LTU participates in the project with 4 institutions:
The Ore Geology research group at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has world-class expertise in the research of economic geology, as well as education from high-school to doctoral level. The Mining and Rock Engineering research group at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has worldclass expertise in the research of Rock Mechanics, Rock Engineering, Mine Production systems and Blasting and Fragmentation. The Visual Art research group at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has expertise in visual design and content production for 3D in games, VR and digital visual effects for feature films. The Pervasive and Mobile Computing group at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has expertise in video game technology, distributed systems, and mobile networks.

LTU Business AB

LTU Business AB is the largest business development company in northern Scandinavia. We specialize in business development, innovation management and professional education. In addition to being the official Technology Transfer Office for the Luleå University of Technology, we serve clients from both private and public sector.
Today we hold a thirty year track record of running industry collaboration efforts and student programs in order to create growth in SME’s in northern Sweden, a region where several raw materials related companies are started every year.
Our experience in business development have made us a trusted partner for innovation management on the international arena including numerous European projects in industry sectors including mining, renewable energy, ICT and more.

Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen

The RWTH-IMA/ZLW (Informationsmanagement im Maschinenbau (IMA) Zentrum für Lern- und Wissensmanagement (ZLW)) leads several projects contributing to the methodologies of delivering the information through classrooms, workshops, summer schools, labs, games, etc. Moreover, IMA/ZLW also works on developing and implementing new innovative technologies focusing on Augmented and Virtual Reality in different fields regarding production, education and Health. In 2018, the institute is participating in the EIT RM VR-Mine, in which a Mittersill Mine in Austria will be transformed into a virtual reality environment, allowing students to have full flexible access to it. The Institute of Mineral Resources Engineering (RWTH-MRE) leads the EIT RM VR-Mine and brings together competencies ranging from ore geology to mining engineering. For the last three years and within an industry funded contract research project, MRE has been working with 3D-Animations, in which underground mining processes have been depicted. The created animations are meant to give both students and industrial partners a thematic introduction and insight into underground excavation of mineral resources.

Tallinna Tehnikaülikool

Tallinn University of Technology (TTÜ), the only technological university in Estonia, is the flagship of Estonian engineering and technology education. TTÜ is internationally renowned in the European research area and an active partner in cooperation networks between universities, business clusters, national institutions and authorities. In Raw Materials field research and development is covered all six EIT Raw Material thematic fields, started with exploration, mining, processing and finishing with circular economy, research is including developing mining waste utilization, oil shale ash usage, it also included collecting and systemization of data for geological and technological modelling of sustainable and environmentally acceptable oil shale mining and evaluation of oil shale reserves. For developing innovative solutions, financing prototyping and to support commercializing and entrepreneurships, TTÜ have established special house Mektory (ttu.ee/mektory), where bring together scientists, students and entrepreneurs; solve practical product development problems and generate new intelligent ideas. The core of Mektory is different type of laboratories, included Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality showrooms as Industry 4.0 research and also special cases for exploration and mining.

Università degli Studi di Trento

The University of Trento was founded in 1962 and has always aimed at building alliance and reciprocal efficiency with Italian and foreign institutions and organizations. In 1982, the University (until then private) became public, with a statute that guaranteed self-government. The department that will participate to the project is the Department of Industrial Engineering. It performs research, training, and teaching in the sectors of Mechanics, Mechatronics, Materials Engineering, Electronic-and Micro-electronics systems, Managerial Information Systems, and Optimization Methods and Models to support decision making. The research objectives of the Department regard the structure of materials; their features and applications; new materials and technologies; automation systems of processes and machineries; energy production and storage; the design and implementation of mechanical/electronic integrated devices, with specific functions in innovative applications; the optimization of products and processes. The Department cooperates with various national and international research institutions, and is engaged in basic and applied research projects, with a strong connection to the industrial world.

Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (VTT) is a state owned and controlled non-profit limited liability company established by law and operating under the ownership steering of the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy. VTT is an RTO whose activities are focused on three areas: Knowledge intensive products and services, Smart industry and energy systems, and Solutions for natural resources and environment. VTT is impact-driven and takes advantage from its wide multi-technological knowledge base to strengthen Finnish and European industrial competitiveness. VTT can combine different technologies, produce information, upgrade technology knowledge, and create business intelligence and value added for its stakeholders.  VTT is ranked among the leading European RTOs. VTT is internationally recognized as one of the leading research institutes in Augmented Reality (AR). VTT’s AR research is concentrated in the Human Factors, Virtual and Augmented Reality team, including 24 researchers in Espoo and Tampere. Overall VTT provides to the project expertise in Augmented Reality and point cloud technology, as well as linking BIM models with external systems such as maintenance, renovation and energy monitoring information.