On August 20, the WANDER Research Center celebrated its 20th anniversary with a seminar titled “Pintaa syvemmälle – veden, sisätilan ja kasvun tutkimusmatka”. The event brought together experts and partners in the field at SAMK's Rauma campus in Merimäki and via Teams across Finland.
During the seminar, participants looked back on two decades of research into water, materials, and indoor hygiene. The program included presentations on the history of the research center and ongoing projects related to water research, the development of indoor hygiene, and new applications in the bioeconomy, among other topics. At the same time, the focus was turned to the future: what kind of research questions will the coming years bring and how can WANDER respond to the changing needs of society?
From water research to indoor hygiene
At the beginning of the seminar, Research Manager Martti Latva looked back at the early years of the Water Institute, which was then part of Prizztech Oy. The name WANDER was chosen in 2009 because it was easy to pronounce. Initially, the main focus of the institute's activities was on conducting various studies, for example on the quality of drinking water and the durability of materials. Next, Researching Senior Lecturer Aino Pelto-Huikko gave a presentation titled "Once upon a time there was domestic water, network materials and the desire for European product approval" the jungle of EU material approval, in which WANDER experts have been involved since 2005. Chief Researcher Merja Ahonen presented ongoing indoor hygiene projects. The three-year HEAL project has yielded promising results on the effectiveness of the indoor hygiene concept on morbidity in a daycare group. The recently launched Smart Care Environments project is developing the Smart Care concept to promote well-being in assisted living.
Nanobubbles, biochar, and Agri-PV
After the coffee break, Fredrik Eklund, CEO of Holtra AB, appeared via Teams and talked about the history of nanobubbles and methods for detecting them, particularly the advanced nanoparticle characterization technique he has developed. Martti Latva and Expert Noora Salonen talked about magnetic water treatment (MWT), which was studied in the WETA project. The WANDER laboratory pilot network studied the effect of the produced nanobubbles on the inner surface of different pipe materials. Project Manager Sari Repka from the BIOVAHVA project was also present at the event and gave a presentation on the use of biochar in spruce seedling cultivation. Researcher Teemu Heikkinen talked about Agri-PV systems, which can improve land use efficiency by combining food and electricity production.
Growing media, disease control, and water sufficiency
After lunch, Expert Kalle Salonen spoke on the topic of developing real-time monitoring of growing media. The Mikaha project has conducted extensive testing of sensors and determined the best possible growing media to replace peat. The growing medium can be used to measure temperature, humidity, and nutrient levels, for example. Project manager Meija Kivisaari spoke about the technological hygiene solutions for animal facilities in the ERISTEK project. Effective disease control breaks the chain of infection in closed spaces by using, for example, FarUVC lamps, air quality meters, and antimicrobial coatings. Finally, Senior Researcher Riika Mäkinen presented the Vesivara project, in which ensuring sufficient water supply in a changing climate was seen as a key research challenge. The project's pilots are investigating, among other things, the impact of water treatment methods on the prevalence of Legionella.
Think Future
At the end of the seminar, we heard a video greeting from Heikki Haaparanta, Head of Technology and Maritime at SAMK, directly from India. He thanked the WANDER staff for their hard work and expertise and said that the research center is a reliable and respected partner in both national and international cooperation.
Over the past two decades, WANDER has built a reputation as a pioneer in research on water, materials, and indoor environmental hygiene. The anniversary seminar showed that the work continues strong and that future research expeditions are just around the corner.
See photos from the celebration in the photo gallery!
