Prof. Markus Reuter will be leaving the Finnish technology firm Outotec to join the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology at HZDR in September 2015. Source: Outotec |
Outotec Technology Director joins the
Helmholtz-Zentrum in Dresden, Germany
Presseportal für Hochbegabung With the arrival of Prof. Markus Reuter in September
2015, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) will gain an
internationally renowned expert in metal recycling and sustainable
technologies. Until that time, he remains in charge of technology management at
the Finnish company Outotec, the world leader in processing metallic and
mineral raw materials. As director of the HZDR’s Helmholtz Institute Freiberg
for Resource Technology, Reuter will intensify his research into the “Internet
of Things”, that is, into the recycling of metallic raw materials within a
material and energy-efficient Circular Economy 4.0.
“Recycling of modern products is becoming increasingly
more difficult due to their complex composition,” explains Markus Reuter. At
the same time, recycling is currently gaining tremendous importance because a
sustainable society must be able to recover discarded, scrapped or obsolete
products as a valuable and critical source for raw materials. “I have been
involved for many years in developing new concepts for a resource-efficient
circular economy,” continues Reuter. “The fact that we at Outotec were named
the third most sustainable company at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos is
significant for our industry.” Reuter, who is also professor at Aalto
University in Finland, has always been particularly concerned with making
students aware of matters of sustainability and with educating them in the
realms of recycling, metallurgy, process and system modelling as well as
optimization.
This particular combination of technology management,
science and education, makes Reuter the perfect candidate for director of the
Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF). The engineer and
beneficiation expert will serve as a second director, joining geoscientist and
founding director Prof. Jens Gutzmer. "Markus Reuter’s scientific
expertise fits precisely with the profile of our institute while it also
strengthens several important interfaces with the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, our
closest cooperation partner,” says Gutzmer. Reuter will receive approximately
four million Euros from HZDR and the Helmholtz Association for creating his own
research group and for networking with material and energy-relevant groups
within the Helmholtz Association.
Intelligent Circular Economy 4.0
But what are the characteristics of a circular
economy? It is the ultimate goal that any product that reaches the end of its
active use can be dismantled to enable the recovery of all raw materials
contained within it. These raw materials are thus recycled and retained for
future use. That is why research and development should take into consideration
how products can be recycled before they are produced. But how can devices and
materials with increasingly complex functionalities and compositions be
efficiently recycled in terms of resources? A systemic and largely digitalized
Circular Economy 4.0 should offer answers to this question. The objective is to
link all sectors of the resource value chain together – from the exploitation
of raw materials from primary sources and production of industrial goods to
recycling – via computer simulations and optimization models.
“We are very pleased that Markus Reuter, a recognized
leader at Outotec, will be joining the HZDR and contributing to German
science," says Prof. Roland Sauerbrey, Scientific Director of the HZDR.
“His role as main author of the UN report on metal recycling is a symbol of his
commitment to resource efficiency and his outstanding scientific influence.”
Link to the UN report:
The press release can also be found under:
__Further information:
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Markus Reuter
Director - Technology Management
Adjunct Professor Aalto University
Outotec Oyj & Aalto University
Riihitontuntie 7 D, PO Box 86, FI-02200 Espoo, Finland
Phone: +358 20 529 2907 | markus.reuter@outotec.com
Prof. Jens Gutzmer | Director
Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology
at HZDR
Phone: +49 351 260 - 4400 | j.gutzmer@hzdr.de
__Press:
Tina Schulz | HIF Press Officer
Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology
at HZDR
Halsbrueckerstr.
34, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)
conducts research in the sectors energy, health, and matter. It focuses its
research on the following topics:
• How can energy and resources be used efficiently,
safely, and sustainably?
• How can malignant tumors be visualized and
characterized more precisely and treated effectively?
• How do matter and materials behave in strong fields
and in the smallest dimensions?
The HZDR has been a member of the Helmholtz
Association, Germany’s largest research organization, since 2011. It has four
locations in Dresden, Leipzig, Freiberg, and Grenoble and employs about 1,000
people – approximately 500 of whom are scientists, including 150 doctoral
candidates.
The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource
Technology (HIF) pursues the objective of developing innovative technologies
for the economy so that mineral and metalliferous raw materials can be made
available and used more efficiently and recycled in an environmentally friendly
manner. The HIF was founded in 2011, belongs to Helmholtz-Zentrum
Dresden-Rossendorf and is cooperating closely with TU Bergakademie Freiberg.