From master's student to professor ‑ AI & sound researcher Jan Lundgren

Jan Lundgren's research is currently mainly on sound measurements and AI. Techniques that can be used for everything from measuring heart sounds to predict strokes to identifying faults in industrial machinery to prevent breakdowns.

From master's student to professor

But, Jan has not always researched AI and sound, the journey began as a student at Mid Sweden University's master's program in systems engineering. Then Jan did his degree project on printed sensors on paper in collaboration with SCA R&D. After his master's studies, Jan was at a crossroads, either to start working in industry or continue in academia. It was the latter.

- I got a job at Mid Sweden University and started by developing course content and then felt that a future in academia was attractive, says Jan Lundgren.

Jan took a step further and chose to do a PhD, then in another area, developing models to simulate noise in microchips.

- It was quite far from my research today, but I learned to do research and my doctoral studies went very well. I finished my thesis three months ahead of schedule, says Jan.

After completing his studies, Jan was employed at Mid Sweden University and worked with both research and education, and here somewhere a seed was sown for Jan's sound research. Jan, who has a great interest in music and plays saxophone in an orchestra, was commissioned to develop a new basic education.

- Göran Thungström, who has a background in sound production, and I were commissioned to develop a new education at the undergraduate level. Together, we started a collaboration with two other universities and developed the Music and Sound Design programme. It was very fun and educational and had a very good effect. The program eventually accounted for almost 60% of the department's student income, says Jan.

The entrepreneurial journey

Jan has also been involved in starting the spin-off company OnTop Measurement together with some research colleagues. OnTop used X-ray technology to measure the surface of paper during manufacturing. The aim was to characterize the paper quality and optimize the manufacturing process. And becoming an entrepreneur was a completely new experience for Jan and his colleagues.

- Combining the role of entrepreneur and researcher eventually became unsustainable. The entrepreneurial role drew a lot of energy from the research and in addition, I worked in parallel with developing the music and sound program. The complexity of combining the entrepreneurial and researcher roles was something I also brought up in my docent lecture, says Jan.

From audio to AI

In the meantime, Jan's research into sound-based measurements grew, which has led him into completely different application areas.

- There was very little research in this area when I started and I thought it was interesting to develop. I bring my experiences from other research areas with me and with hindsight, there are many similarities that I have benefited from, says Jan.  

In recent years, Jan has focused on building his network and research group. What really got it going was the collaboration with visiting professor Tina Liguori from the University of Salerno in Italy. This collaboration contributed to Jan starting with AI-related research.

- AI was coming more and more and it was a real eye-opener when we, together with the University of Salerno and the company Biometria, managed to develop an AI model that could measure timber loads just as well as a human using data about the trees, Jan says.

Ready to create new experiences

Now Jan's focus is on developing his research and has several research applications and new collaborations in the pipeline, both with other research subjects and with new partners.

- You don't always know where you're going, you do different things along the way that take you to unexpected areas. But synergies arise and make it take off. I like to say yes to new assignments and often learn something new and gain experience. I want to continue with that, Jan concludes.