Piia Sormunen becomes associate professor in building services engineering
Piia Sormunen is excited about her new role where she will be responsible for starting and developing a new study programme in building services engineering. The Master’s Degree Programme in Building Services Engineering will begin in Tampere in August 2025.
Some 20 students will be admitted to this new education. The applicants were required to hold a bachelor’s degree in building services engineering from a university of applied sciences or to have equivalent qualifications. The students will graduate with the degree of a Master of Science in Engineering.
“There were more applicants than we are able to admit. The programme in building services engineering will concentrate on project management in construction and building services engineering,” Sormunen says.
As an associate professor, Sormunen is on the tenure track which means the prospect of being promoted to a full professorship in the future.
The job interested applicants from all over the world. Sormunen’s appointment was based on her extensive and long-term experience of various roles in the field of building services engineering.
“The expansion of research and teaching in building services engineering attests to the faculty’s and unit’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of construction industry. We are proud to welcome Piia to this solid role where she will be responsible for research on building services engineering,” says Professor Sami Pajunen, Head of the Unit of Civil Engineering.
Strong support for the professorship, education and research
The Paavo V. Suominen fund – which is a sub-fund of the Industrial Research Fund at Tampere University of Technology sr – has granted a €800,000 five-year funding to the professorship. The development of the building services engineering specialism is supported by the Promotion Centre for Electrical Engineering and Energy Efficiency (STEK).
“The Paavo V. Suominen Fund supports research on refrigeration engineering and related topics at Tampere University,” says Mira Toroi, Executive Director of the Industrial Research Fund.
Sormunen also thanks the companies and organisations in the building services sector, especially the RTL Foundation as the largest supporter, for their significant support for the industry professorship. External funding enables maintaining a high level of research and education in the field.
She is also delighted by the consolidating position of building services engineering research at Tampere University and the entire field. Her research group currently focuses on digitalisation and data in building services construction, healthy indoor air quality, and carbon-neutral construction.
Piia Sormunen
- Earned a master’s degree in engineering at Lappeenranta University of Technology in 1994.
- Completed her doctorate in engineering at Helsinki University of Technology (currently Aalto University) in 2003.
- Has worked eg as a researcher, teacher and consultant.
- Was appointed to a five-year industry professorship at the Faculty of Built Environment at Tampere University in spring 2020.
- Transferred to Tampere University from Granlund oy where she workes as a development manager in construction and real estate development. Continues to work part-time in specialised positions at Granlund oy.
