Professor Jarmo Suominen speaks at the award ceremony. [photo/saefa.gov.cn]

Jarmo Suominen, vice director of FabLab-Shanghai at Tongji University, recently won three innovation awards in Finland, namely the Quality Innovation Award of 2016, the 2016 Mayors Innovation award of Espoo, and the Espoo Award and Medal for the City of Espoo. An award ceremony was held in FabLab-Shanghai for professor Suominen on December 9.

Professor Jarmo Suominen receives award at the ceremony. [photo/safea.gov.cn]

The Quality Innovation Award is a national level award in Finland that recognizes the providers of the most innovative solutions in national scientific research education fields. Jan Wahlberg, Consul-General of the Finnish Embassy, presented the award to Suominen.

Professor Jarmo Suominen(2nd Left) at the award ceremony. [photo/safea.gov.cn]

Suominen won the awards for his idea of “School as a Service”. The idea coordinates different societal bodies, such as government, schools, and communities, to promote cooperation between education, technology, and social services.

Suominen outlined the content and background of the idea, and thanked all those who have supported him.

Wahlberg said that presenting the award means that Finland values social innovation, which will become a development field for innovation in Finland in the future. Yu Xuemei, director of the International Cooperation Office at Tongji University, said that Suominen has been promoting cooperation between Tongji University and Aalto University in Finland, and the awards reflect the international cooperation between the two universities.