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Chemical engineering student Mauri Hartikainen believes that metal recycling is a major challenge for the future and at the same time a huge opportunity.

"The need for metals is constantly growing, and new processes and ways are needed to get used metals back into new products. The coolest thing about metals is that their properties do not deteriorate during recycling, unlike, for example, plastics or chemicals," Mauri says.

In his Bachelor’s thesis, Mauri studied the recycling of electric vehicle batteries using metallurgical processes.

“At the Bachelor’s level, metals play a relatively small role in the studies, but through my thesis I got to explore the metal industry and realized how central a role metals have in society. The field accounts for about ten percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, so efficient processes are crucial for building a cleaner future.”

The Bachelor’s thesis sparked an interest that led Mauri to continue his studies in the Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Master’s programme, majoring in Sustainable Metallurgical Engineering.

“Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and copper are needed in all renewable technologies, for example in wind turbines, solar cells and electric vehicle batteries. With new processes, we can ensure the availability of metals and reduce dependence on environmentally harmful mining.”

Into the world of chemical industry processes

In the future, Mauri is interested in designing and optimizing industrial processes, in other words, applying chemistry on a large scale. He believes that employment prospects in the metal processing industry are good.

During his summer job at a chemical factory, Mauri got hands-on experience with industrial processes.

“It was great to see how the equipment I had designed on a computer actually works in a real industrial environment. The work also made me think about the importance of safety in factory settings and how processes could still be made much more efficient.”

Mauri is now in the second year of his Master’s studies. His goal is to complete his courses by the end of the autumn term and start his Master’s thesis early next year. Mauri is particularly interested in the refining and recycling of battery materials, and he hopes to find a Master’s thesis topic in these areas, either in industry or through Aalto’s .

“Aalto is one of the world’s top universities in chemical engineering and metallurgy. It would be great to contribute to research that develops solutions to major challenges of the future.”

Recovering metals from a calculator in a course project

What fascinates Mauri about chemistry is its limitless possibilities and the fact that there are many ways to reach the same result. He enjoys solving problems and finds it rewarding to discover and justify the best solutions through learning and experimentation.

In the Sustainable Metallurgical Engineering major, the focus is on process simulation using various software tools. Although laboratory work plays a smaller role, it is an important part of the whole, as processes are tested in the laboratory before being implemented on an industrial scale.

The studies emphasise project-based learning and group problem-solving. In the Recycling Technologies course, students from different disciplines designed recycling solutions for a product of their choice.

“We investigated how to recover the metal and plastic parts from a pocket calculator. Although the project showed that recycling would not be economically viable, it was great to be able to theoretically develop a complete recycling process and present the work to others.”

Mauri encourages students to make the most of Aalto’s wide range of courses, even outside their own major. In his first Master’s year, he took part in Aalto Design Factory’s Product Development Project course, where interdisciplinary student teams develop solutions for real company needs.

“We developed measurement technology for wastewater treatment for Kemira. The nearly year-long project resulted in a functional solution that the company was happy with. It was truly rewarding to be involved in a product development project from start to finish.”

Text: Marjukka Puolakka