
Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering
Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering was created same time with uniting universities at Tampere. Unit integrates seamlessly automation, control, measurement, hydraulics, machine design, factory automation, product development, aviation, manufacturing, product automation research and teaching. Unit includes seven closely co-operating research areas.
Automation technology
- Automation and Systems Theory
- Factory Automation and Industrial Informatics
- Innovative Hydraulics and Automation
Mechanical engineering
- Machine Design and Product Development
- Manufacturing and Production Automation
- Mechatronics research
- Aviation and Aircraft Engineering
In the unit works ca. 100 employees including 16 professors.
Matti Vilkko
Laboratories
Automation and Systems Theory
Our research areas that come under the umbrella of automation include automation and systems theory, and robotics and autonomous systems. Our research partners are mainly companies operating in the fields of automation, information and communication technologies and in the process or forest industries.
Risto Ritala, Matti Vilkko, Azwirman Gusrialdi
Factory Automation and Industrial Informatics
The ultimate objective of FAST-Lab. was set as the seamless knowledge integration of humans and machines creating smart environments by capitalizing the advances on Information and Communication Technologies.
Jose Lastra
IHA - Innovative Hydraulics and Automation
Innovative Hydraulics and Automation (IHA) is doing interdisciplinary research in the field of Fluid power automation, by the bridging of theory and practice with cooperation with industry.

Kalevi Huhtala, Jouni Mattila, Reza Ghabcheloo, Tatiana Minav
Machine Design and Product Development
Asko Ellman, Tero Juuti
Manufacturing and Production Automation
Research in Manufacturing and Production Automation focuses on intelligent machines and systems, ICT tools to design and model, and the required theoretical frameworks supporting modeling, simulation, and optimization of advanced manufacturing processes.
The following groups are active in this area:
Research and educational environments:
- The RoboLab Tampere has been established to facilitate the learning process or both formal and non-formal education, and academia-industry R&D&I collaboration. The RoboLab Tampere operates with similar principles as e.g. Fab Labs.
- Virtual FMS is a Digital Twin for educational purposes with physical counterpart FMS Training Center located at Fastems Oy premises.
Minna Lanz, Eric Coatanea, Roel Pieters
Mechatronics research
Mechatronics Research Group conducts research in close cooperation with industry in the area of intelligent machines and systems. Our objective is to create new knowledge in the area mechatronics and mechanical engineering which can be applied in real products and processes and also to be published in high level scientific journals and conferences.

Kari T. Koskinen
Aviation and Aircraft Engineering
Stephen J. Wright, Kari T. Koskinen
Research groups
Manufacturing systems research group (MASYRE)
Research groupResearch groupContent ownerTampere UniversitiesArea of focus: TechnologyCognitive Robotics group
Research groupResearch groupContent ownerTampere UniversityArea of focus: TechnologyProduction Systems and Technologies
Research groupResearch groupContent ownerTampere UniversityArea of focus: TechnologyIntelligent Networked Systems (IINES)
Research groupResearch groupContent ownerTampere UniversityArea of focus: Health, Society, TechnologyMRG - Mechatronics Research Group
Research groupContent ownerTampere UniversityArea of focus: Technology
Head of the unit

Matti Vilkko
Professors and associate professors

Eric Coatanea
About me
I am Professor of Manufacturing Engineering and Systems Engineering. I am in charge of the Manufacturing research group. My interests include:
- Modeling and simulation of manufacturing systems,
- Early integration of manufacturing considerations in the system development process,
- Efficient dynamic control and development of additive manufacturing methods based on Directed Energy Deposition,
- Knowledge coding in form of causal graphs,
- Integration of existing knowledge and design of artificial neural networks topologies using causal graphs,
- Dimensional analysis theory and its combination with causal graphs,
- Causal graph networks for decision-making support,
- Multi-Disciplinary Optimization and creativity support for Engineering,
- Early design process, automatic extraction and analysis of requirements,
- Metrics for system design and manufacturing.
Fields of expertise
I have skills in different domains: Manufacturing processes, Engineering design theory and practices, Systems Engineering, Mathematical methods for modeling simulation and Machine Learning. I published broadly in those fields during the past years.
Chevalier des Palmes Académiques (Nov. 2018)
Honor Issuer: French Republic to distinguish academics and figures in the world of culture and education.
Dr. Coatanéa is member of the ASME. He serves as associate editor, guest editor and reviewer for many international journals.
- Commitment in scientific institutions:
Member of the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) expert selection committee for NSERC Canada Chairs in Design Engineering Selection Panel.
- Commitment in companies:
o Dynavio Cooperative Oy: co-founder and Head of the Board
o Selko Oy (selko.io), member of the board and advisor
I am trying to develop tools base don graph approaches for supporting early design, modeling, simulation and decision making, in a context where quantitative data doesn't exist or is scarce.
My publications can be viewed following my ORCID ID or using Academia.edu or Research Gate (see links below).

Asko Ellman

Inigo Flores Ituarte

About me
Research professor and industry professional with knowledge and skills for technology trends. I specialize in digital design, engineering design, digital manufacturing, CAx, simulation, predictive modelling, data science, optimization, material science, mechatronic system design, and advanced manufacturing technologies.
A. Peer-reviewed scientific articles (Published)
Flores Ituarte, I., et al., “Surface modification of additively manufactured 18% Nickel Maraging steel by ultrasonic vibration-assisted ball burnishing”. ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., pp. 1–38, Apr. 2020 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4046903
Afshin Hasani Aleni, Niklas Kretzschmar, Anton Jansson, Flores Ituarte, I. Luc St-Pierre. “3D printing of fully-dense and porous TiO2 structures”. Ceramics International, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.03.248
Flores Ituarte, I., N. Kretzschmar, A. Hadi, S. Chekurov, D. B. Pedersen, and A. Chaudhuri, “Implications of lattice structures on economics and productivity of metal powder bed fusion,” Addit. Manuf., vol. 12, no. November 2019, p. 100947, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947
Flores Ituarte, I., Boddeti, Narasimha; Hassani, Vahid; Dunn, Martin L.; Rosen, David W. (2019) ‘Design and Additive Manufacture of Functionally Graded Structures Based on Digital Materials’, Additive Manufacturing. Elsevier, 30(August), p. 100839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.100839
Nilsén, F., Flores Ituarte, I., Salmi, M., Partanen, J., Hannula, Simo-Pekka (2019) ‘Effect of process parameters on non-modulated Ni-Mn-Ga alloy manufactured using powder bed fusion’, Additive Manufacturing. Elsevier, 28(May), pp. 464–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.05.029
Flores Ituarte, I., Wiikinkoski, O., & Jansson, A. (2018). Additive Manufacturing of Polypropylene: A Screening Design of Experiment Using Laser-Based Powder Bed Fusion. Polymers, 10(12), 1293. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10121293
Flores Ituarte, I., Chekurov, S., Tuomi, J., Etienne Mascolo, J., Zanella, A., Springer, P., & Partanen, J. (2018). Digital manufacturing applicability of a laser sintered component for automotive industry: a case study. Rapid Prototyping Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-11-2017-0238
Ballardini, R. M., Flores Ituarte, I., & Pei, E. (2018). Printing spare parts through additive manufacturing: legal and digital business challenges. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 29(6), 958–982. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/MRR-09-2015-0216
Kretzschmar, Niklas, Flores Ituarte, I., and Jouni Partanen. (2018). “A Decision Support System for the Validation of Metal Powder Bed-Based Additive Manufacturing Applications.” The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-1676-8
Aleni, Afshin Hasani, Flores Ituarte, I., Ashish Mohite, Luc St-Pierre, and Jouni Partanen. (2018). “Comparing Stiffness of Solid and Scaffold Nano-TiO2 Structures Produced by Material Extrusion Method.” Ceramics International 44 (2): 2231–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.10.181.
Mendes, Luís, Anneli Kangas, Kirsi Kukko, Bjarke Mølgaard, Arto Säämänen, Tomi Kanerva, Flores Ituarte, I., et al. (2017). “Characterization of Emissions from a Desktop 3D Printer.” Journal of Industrial Ecology. 0 (0): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12569.
Flores Ituarte, I., Mika Salmi, Rosa Maria Ballardini, Jukka Tuomi, and Jouni Partanen. (2017). “Additive Manufacturing in Finland: Recommendations for a Renewed Innovation Policy.” Physics Procedia 89: 70–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2017.08.002.
Salmi, Mika, Juha Huuki, and Flores Ituarte, I. (2017). “The Ultrasonic Burnishing of Cobalt-Chrome and Stainless Steel Surface Made by Additive Manufacturing.” Progress in Additive Manufacturing. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-017-0017-z.
Salmi, Mika, Flores Ituarte, I., Sergei Chekurov, and Eero Huotilainen. 2016. “Effect of Build Orientation in 3D Printing Production for Material Extrusion, Material Jetting, Binder Jetting, Sheet Object Lamination, Vat Photopolymerisation, and Powder Bed Fusion.” Int. J. Collaborative Enterprise 5 (3/4): 218–31.
Ballardini, Rosa Maria, Juho Lindman, and Flores Ituarte, I. 2016. “Co-Creation, Commercialization and Intellectual Property - Challenges with 3D Printing.” European Journal of Law and Technology 7 (3): 1–39.
Flores Ituarte, I., Siavash H Khajavi, and Jouni Partanen. 2016. “Challenges to Implementing Additive Manufacturing in Globalised Production Environments.” Int. J. Collaborative Enterprise 5 (3/4): 232–47.
Paris, H., H. Mokhtarian, E. Coatanéa, M. Museau, and Flores Ituarte, I. 2016. “Comparative Environmental Impacts of Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing Technologies.” CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, 4–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2016.04.036.
Flores Ituarte, I., Sergei Chekurov, Mika Salmi, Jukka Tuomi, and Jouni Partanen. 2015. “Post-Processing Opportunities of Professional and Consumer Grade 3D Printing Equipment: A Comparative Study.” Int. J. Rapid Manufacturing 5 (1): 58–75.
Flores Ituarte, I., Eric Coatanea, Mika Salmi, Jukka Tuomi, and Jouni Partanen. 2015. “Additive Manufacturing in Production: A Study Case Applying Technical Requirements.” Physics Procedia 78 (August). Elsevier B.V.: 357–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2015.11.050.
B. Conference papers and non-refereed scientific articles
S. H. Khajavi, I. Flores Ituarte, A. Jaribion, J. An, C. K. Chua, and J. Holmström, “Impact of Additive Manufacturing on Supply Shain Complexity,” in Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), 2020, p. 4505.
Flores Ituarte, I., Kretzschmar, N. and Chekurov, S. (2019, Nantes, France) ‘Measuring the value of Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) in metal powder bed fusion direct part production’, in EUSPEN Advancing Precision in Additive Manufacturing.
Chaudhuri, A., Jayaram, J., Flores Ituarte, I., Veng Søberg, P., H. Khajavi, S. (17 - 19 June 2019, Helsinki, Finland) ‘Design for additive manufacturing: Motivations, competencies and performance impact’, in 26 th EurOMA Conference: Operations adding value to Society. Helsinki, Finland, pp. 1–8.
Dharmawan, Audelia G., Padmanathan, S., Xiong, Y., Flores Ituarte, I., Foong, S., Soh, Gim Song (2018) ‘Maximizing Robot Manipulator ’ s Functional Redundancy via Sequential Informed Optimization’, in 2018 3rd International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics (ICARM). IEEE, pp. 334–339. Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8610834.
Flores Ituarte, I., Eero Huotilainen, Olii Wiikkinkoski, and Jukka Tuomi. 2018. “Experiment with Machine Vision for Polymer Flowability Analysis in Powder Bed Fusion.” In 3rd International Conference on Progress in Additive Manufacturing (Pro-AM 2018), edited by C.K. Chua, W.Y. Yeong, M.J. Tan, and E.J. Liu. Singapore.
Salmi, M., Flores Ituarte, I., Tuomi, J., & Mäkitie, A. (2018). Workflow for 3D printing of medical models – phases, timeline and costs, 18(June), 1–2.
Flores Ituarte, I., Eero Huotilainen, Ashish Mohite, Sergei Chekurov, Mika Salmi, Jukka Helle, Meng Wang, et al. 2016. “3D Printing and Applications : Academic Research through Case Studies in Finland.” In Nord Design, Design Society.
Kriesi, C., M. Steinert, L. Aalto-Setälä, A. Anvik, S. Balters, A. Baracchi, Flores Ituarte, I., et al. 2015. “Distributed Experiments in Design Sciences, a next Step in Design Observation Studies?” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED. Vol. 2.
Flores Ituarte, I., Eric Coatanena, Mika Salmi, and Jukka Tuomi. 2014. “Robust Design Principles to Evaluate Additive Manufacturing Capabilities.” In International Symposium on Robust Design, 135–45.
C. Contribution to book chapters
Jayaprakash, S., Flores Ituarte, I. and Partanen, J. (2019) ‘Prosumer-Driven 3D Food Printing: Role of Digital Platforms in Future 3D Food Printing Systems’, in Fundamentals of 3D Food Printing and Applications. Academic Press, pp. 331–354. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-814564-7.00011-0.
Flores Ituarte, I. et al, 2018. “Additive Manufacturing Validation Methods, Technology Transfer Based on Case Studies.” In Additive Manufacturing – Developments in Training and Education, edited by Eujin Pei, Mario Monzón Verona, and Alain Bernard. Springer International Publishing. https://www.springer.com/it/book/9783319760834.
Zhang, Liguo, Flores Ituarte, I., and Rosa Maria Ballardini. 2017. “Essential Patents and Technical Standards in Additive Manufacturing.” In Intellectual Property and Innovation - Insights from Law and Technology, edited by Rosa Maria Ballardini, Marcus Norrgård, and Jouni Partanen, 1st editio, 442pp. Wolter Kluwer.
Flores Ituarte, I., Siavash H. Khajavi, and M. Salmi. 2017. “Current and Future Business Models for 3D Printing Applications.” In Intellectual Property and Innovation - Insights from Law and Technology, edited by Rosa Maria Ballardini, Marcus Norrgård, and Jouni Partanen, 1st editio, 442pp. Wolter Kluwer.
D. Publications intended for professional communities
Flores Ituarte, I. et al. (2015) 3D Printing for Industrial Innovation - 3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the industrial context : promoting competitiveness. Business Finland – Policy brief
E. Theses
Flores Ituarte, I. (2017) From rapid prototyping to digitalization: Steps on industrializing Additive Manufacturing. 1st Edition. Espoo: Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS, 61/2017.

Azwirman Gusrialdi

About me
I am an Assistant Professor (head of Intelligent Networked Systems group ) at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Finland. Previously, I was a research associate at Dept. of Electrical Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF), USA. I received both the B.Eng and M.Eng degrees in Mechanical & Control Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan and Dr.-Ing. degree in Control Engineering from Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), Germany. I was also a visiting researcher at Australian National University (ANU).
Fields of expertise
Control theory and optimization with main applications to networked cyber-physical-human systems
Associate editor of IEEE Access (since 2018)
Analysis, optimization and control of networked cyber-physical-human systems with applications to smart grid, intelligent transportation systems, smart city, social network and brain network.
1. Resilient distributed optimization for cyber-physical systems
2. Data-driven control for networked cyber-physical systems
3. Distributed optimization and control of cyber-physical-human systems
Theory: (Distributed) Optimization + control + (machine) learning
Application: smart grid, intelligent transportation systems, distributed robotic network, digital twins, epidemic spreading
see my personal website for up-to-date publications:

Reza Ghabcheloo

About me
I am determined to solve challenging robotics problems, build autonomous robots to work for human and with human, and train future robotics engineers to be able to do so.
Responsibilities
Responsible for Robotics major, and international program on Factory Automation and Robotics.
Member of engineering degree program planning group; member of automation program development group.
Fields of expertise
Autonomous machines, robotics, AI, optimal control, imitation learning, motion control, optimal trajectory planning, model predictive control, control-estimation integration, construction robotics.
I am both with Robotics and Intelligent Machines Lab (https://research.tuni.fi/robotics/) and Innovative Hydraulics and Automation Lab (https://research.tuni.fi/iha/).

Kalevi Huhtala

Tero Juuti

Kari Koskinen

About me
I am working as professor in Mechanical Engineering and I am leading Mechatronics Research Group (MRG) in TAU. My mission is to conduct research in close cooperation with industry in the area of intelligent machines and systems. The objective is to create new knowledge in the area mechatronics which can be applied in real products and processes, but also published in high level scientific journals and conferences.
Fields of expertise
My research interests are wide-ranging in the are of intelligent machines and systems. My research focus is in mechatronics - especially in design and analysis of complex machine systems my special expertise being in motion control, fluid power systems and high pressure water systems. I am also interested in industrial internet solutions in life-cycle management of intelligent machine and manufacturing systems.
Underwater robotics and systems is one of my group’s expertise area where we are focusing on research of mechanical designs, propulsion systems and control of different kind of robots.
We have a long history on research of aircraft systems - especially related on flight control and fuel systems. In addition we do research on system reliability analysis of aircraft systems.
System availability and preventive maintenance is also one of my group’s research focus areas. Our approach is based on knowledge based analytics which combines contextual technical expertise and tools with statistical methods in order to improve predictability of system behavior .
Fellow, International Society of Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM)
Matine – The Scientific Advisory Board for Defence, member of Tampere sub-committee
Chair of WCEAM 2015 and SICFP’11–conferences
Network of Fluid Power Centres in Europe, executive secretary 1998-2013

Minna Lanz

About me
I lead the production systems and technologies research group. My research interests are in manufacturing ICT and digitalisation, industrial robotics and human-robot collaboration, Re- and de-manufacturing in the framework of circular economy and life-long learning in technology rich environments.
Responsibilities
I am is responsible of production automation and engineering education, and minor in Industrial Robotics at Tampere University. I co-lead the Robotics major. I am is responsible of a transfer education module (from BSc to MSc in digital manufacturing and data analytics) in Seinäjoki, which is targeted for employees of local companies. I and my team run different education related services for companies and society in regular basis.
I together with my team supervise 30-40 MSc theses to industry.
I usually give 30-40 presentations annually for international audience around the Europe.
Fields of expertise
Core competences in the field of production engineering and production development
- Team building and competence enhancement
- Analytical skills
- Project Sales and Management
- Negotiation for win-win
- R&D (Horizon 1-3)
- Additional language: Fluent in Engineering to Common sense
- Public presentation and teaching
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Flanders Make (Belgium), Scientific advisory board at Linz Mechatronic Center (Austria), and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment Tekoäly 4.0 steering group
Member of advisory board for stipends in Kulkuneuvoteollisuus Ry
I coordinate, manage, guide and support my research teams focusing on following topics:
- Manufacturing ICT: Digitalisation of production, Smart Factory solutions, Digital Twins, APS/MES, KPI visualisation, UIs, semantic modelling, information management, agent-based/holonic manufacturing systems (in discrete part manufacturing)
- Robotics: Safety, HRI/C, Industrial robotics, virtual commissioning, and system design
- Circular economy : Technical cycles in the CE especially re-manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing in terms Social, Technical, Ecological, Economic and Political aspects
- Continuous Learning: “Learning to learn” - methods, versatile methods and tools for learning in technology-rich environments

Jose Martinez Lastra

About me
Jose Luis Martinez Lastra currently works as Professor at FAST-Lab., Tampere University (FINLAND). Jose L. does research in Automation, Industrial Informatics, Industrial Cyberphysical Systems, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. The main application domains for Jose L. research are: Factory Automation, Healthcare Automation and Smart Mobility.

Jouni Mattila
About me
I am Professor of Machine Automation in of IHA-Innovative Hydraulics and Automation research group. My R&D interests include:
- Real-world autonomous mobile working machines (mobile manipulators)
- Whole body motion estimation and control of rough terrain mobile manipulators
- Heavy-duty robotics motion and contact force controls
- Advanced high performance and energy-efficient actuators, and their non-linear controls
- Remote Handling/teleoperated safety-critical systems (e.g. in ITER-project)
Fields of expertise
I have proven project-based track-record on multidisciplinary R&D topics dealing with full scale heavy-duty mobile working machines relevant to Finland-based companies and in big science projects: heavy-duty robotics motion/force controls, autonomous mobile working machines, nonlinear control engineering, and systems engineering in safety critical applications (e.g. in ITER-project). I published broadly in those fields during the past years.
Technical Editor in ASME/IEEE Transaction on Mechatronics 2015-2020.
I am committed into high impact academic research that targets into technology transfer projects with Finland-based industry and into creating high-tech products and jobs in industry for our students and my research group (MSc and Dr (Tech)) members graduating
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jouni_Mattila
https://tutcris.tut.fi/portal/fi/persons/jouni-mattila(452a6aaa-135b-4ce5-8dab-c91763014d21).html

Tatiana Minav
About me
Prof. T. Minav, (PI, D.Sc. (Tech.)) is part of IHA-Innovative hydraulics and Automation unit in Tampere University/Finland. She is received Doctor of Science degree (D.Sc.) from Lappeenranta University of Technology
(LUT) in 2011. She is expert in electro-hydrostatic systems and actuators, cylinder’s sensorless position motion control, simulation, energy balance and energy recovery systems in off-road mobile machinery. During her academic career, she worked in 5 industrial projects funded by Business Finland (former Tekes), and as PI in IZIF and ArcticWEll projects (funded by the Academy of Finland) related to electro-hydraulics system implementation for off-road machinery.
So far, I have authored in total 90 scientific publications. I am the first author of 39 of these publications comprising 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, 2 book chapters and 22 conference proceedings ( number of open access publication 8). My H-index is 12 (according Google scholar) and 10 (according Scopus). In 2013, I changed research environment and field from electric engineering to mechanical engineering (fluid power). In 2015, I added a parallel research topic with focus on thermal study for arctic conditions.
Zonal hydraulics, Direct driven hydraulic drives, electrci and hybrid powertrains for off*road machinery and stationary applications
Electrical and Mechanical engineering

Roel Pieters

Cognitive Robotics
Human-robot interaction

Risto Ritala

Stephen Wright
