Smart Campus enables practical learning experiences and diverse RDI collaboration
Metropolia’s Myllypuro Smart Campus serves as a learning environment for the construction industry and a development platform for building technology solutions. Data and user experiences gathered from the living lab concept-designed spaces can be utilized in studies, research, and various collaborative projects, such as innovation projects. The intelligent learning environment and its operational models foster networking among the university, students, and companies in the real estate and construction sectors.
The smart and adaptable spaces of the campus are highly beneficial for students in real estate and construction. Building technology and automation are extensively applied in education, allowing students to develop new applied technologies and solutions that integrate modern building technology, artificial intelligence, and cloud services expertise.
“The Myllypuro Smart Campus plays a significant role in developing future skills and offering multidisciplinary learning solutions. When designing the campus, we aimed to create a comprehensive living lab where learning environments are not seen as traditional classrooms, but spaces where students can experiment and test solutions in real-world conditions”, says Jorma Säteri, Metropolia’s Director of School of Real Estate and Construction.
The innovative environment has received recognition, such as an award at the WDBE Awards 2023 in the category "Most Collaborative Use of Data" and the Golden Smart Building certification from the Smart Building Collective.
The development of the Smart Campus has been made possible through multi-year funding from the Electrical Engineering and Energy Efficiency Promotion Centre (STEK ry). This funding has enabled the acquisition and maintenance of necessary devices, software solutions, and technical expertise.
“With STEK's support, we have also engaged in research collaboration with Aalto University and provided building automation training to degree students. We are currently negotiating further funding to expand the smart campus concept to block and area levels, continue research into AI solutions for building technology, and offer training through the opin.fi platform”, Säteri explains.
The Smart Campus brings industry actors together and showcases innovations
In addition to educational activities, the Smart Campus serves as a vital platform for research, development, and innovation (RDI) collaboration between Metropolia, businesses, and other stakeholders. A concrete example of this is the New Dimensions in Construction event, held for the second time on November 28, 2024, which brought a wide range of built environment experts and stakeholders to the Myllypuro campus.
According to Metropolia’s Innovation Director Anna-Stina Tähkävuori, the event acts as a showcase for Metropolia’s RDI activities and collaboration opportunities.
“New Dimensions in Construction highlights the extensive impact and future of the built environment. The event is a tribute to our partners — companies, startups, cities, and other key players in the field — who are doing significant development work in the real estate and construction industry. Our aim is to create opportunities for networking, promote collaboration, and facilitate joint research and development projects”, Tähkävuori says.
Teams participating in the Raksa AI innovation competition were also awarded at the event. The grand prize went to a team working on SmartLab smart home solutions, tasked with developing an AI solution that allows external companies to explore SmartLab’s capabilities and determine what they can test in the laboratory. Team members included Miikka Lahtinen, Kirill Tolkunov, Nikita Makurin, Darijus Seporaitis, and Yehor Tereshchenko. SmartLab is a smart home simulation space created in collaboration with Metropolia, Skanska, and ABB.
The event was organized by Metropolia’s Smart and Creative City innovation hub and the Future Construction Hub, TITAN. Partners of the TITAN project, Stadin AO and Aalto University, also participated the event. The event showcased various research, development, and innovation projects, industry companies, and startups, with dedicated exhibits by the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa. Smart Campus activities were presented in the HVAC laboratory and SmartLab.
On November 28, Myllypuro Smart Campus also hosted the final event of the Uudet osaamispolut energia-alalle (New Competence Paths for the Energy Sector) project, funded by the The Service Centre for Continuous Learning and Employment's (SECLE). Focusing on new energy storage technologies, modern power grid solutions, and investments, the event brought together over 200 professionals, innovative thinkers, and influencers interested in the future of the energy sector.
More information:
Anna-Stina Tähkävuori
Innovation Director, Smart and Creative City innovation hub
Anna-Stina.Tahkavuori [at] metropolia.fi (Anna-Stina[dot]Tahkavuori[at]metropolia[dot]fi)
Jorma Säteri
Director of School, School of Real Estate and Construction
Jorma.Sateri [at] metropolia.fi (Jorma[dot]Sateri[at]metropolia[dot]fi)