The collaborative relationship between Saab and Linköping University
A hub of knowledge and innovation
Linköping, Sweden’s fifth-largest city, is home to both Saab and Linköping University (LiU). The city has a rich history of knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit, and ground-breaking innovation dating back to the 12th century. In 2023, Linköping was even the winner of The European Capital of Innovation Awards, in the European Rising Innovative City category.
Saab, the biggest private employer in the region, has more than 6,000 of its 22,000 staff members based in Linköping, offering world-leading solutions, products, and services for security and defence with the mission to keep people and society safe. Their technology is continuously developed, adapted, and improved to meet customers’ changing needs in over 100 countries.
LiU, founded in the 1960s, has four campuses across three cities and is organised into four faculties: Arts and Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Educational Sciences, and Science and Engineering. The university has 37,600 students and 4,300 employees.
A long standing partnership
Saab and LiU have collaborated in a wide range of areas and disciplines since the university’s founding. Saab played a significant role in why the Institute of Technology was established in Linköping in the sixties. The first general collaboration agreement, covering all aspects of collaboration between LiU and Saab Aeronautics was signed in 2004. This latter evolved into a strategic Agreement between LiU and Saab, signed in 2014, with the aim to strengthen, broaden, and secure the co-production of knowledge.
This collaboration agreement serves as a platform for the long-term and strategic provision of competencies, providing added value to strengthen both parties. The collaboration’s resulting project portfolio is adaptable over time and involves all relevant functions at LiU with a focus on relevance, quality, and open innovation. The collaboration activities under the agreement include:
- Research
- Competence provisioning and development
- International collaboration activities
- Access to the physical environment, infrastructure and innovation system
- Policy and communication efforts.
The overall objective of the cooperation is the long-term provisioning of well-educated engineers and impactful education and research. The goal is that existing and future technologies shall contribute to profitable and sustainable growth and competitiveness. For Saab, collaboration with universities is of high importance as it allows access to state-of-the-art technology and the possibility to recruit talent. Whereas for LiU, the collaboration contributes to their ambition of being a university of international standing, where people and ideas converge and develop.
Key areas of collaboration
Saab and LiU have been working strategically for over 30 years on aviation and system technologies, and AI, and also cooperate in many other areas. These areas of collaboration are selected by comparing Saab’s technology roadmap with relevant areas of excellence at LiU and creating a yearly activity plan with specific projects and activities. Both parties have appointed a Relationship Manager as a dedicated contact person for this collaboration who is responsible for fulfilling the plan of activities.
The partnership has produced extensive results from all the different fields in the cooperation agreement. One such example of a critically important common research environment is the national Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems, and Software Program (WASP), led by LiU. This privately funded research program focuses on artificial intelligence and autonomous systems acting in collaboration with humans.
The partnership has also worked closely together to support their respective international goals. This has led to various university internationalisation activities in Brazil, such as professor and student exchange, joint research projects, contract training, joint education, international matchmaking events, and hosting delegations. Another international project is a four-part partnership between Saab, LiU, Boeing, and Washington State University, which enables student exchange.
Typically, over half of Saab’s new hires in Linköping, are LiU graduates. On the PhD and researcher level, Saab uses a “boundary spanner model” where an academic path, an adjunct path, and a Saab employee path are described as parallel but also interrelated processes.
A bright future ahead
Looking to the future, Saab and LiU keep collaborating and plan to deepen their partnership in line with their goals. Saab faces a new market and a growth journey, and they need many diverse and skilled employees in old and new fields of knowledge related to defence tech and dual-use innovation. Similarly, LiU needs to stay relevant to draw students and tackle societal challenges with excellent research. Our strong relationship and strategic partnership are a vital factor for our future success.
Dr. Ingela Lindahl, Head of Innovation and Strategic Collaboration Unit, Linköping University, is an accomplished leader with expertise in business development, innovation, and strategic collaboration.
