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Outotec granted Technology Awards for significant technological innovations

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OUTOTEC OYJ PRESS RELEASE, March 8, 2011 AT 4:00 PM EET

Outotec granted Technology Awards for significant technological innovations

Outotec granted 25 employees a Technology Award at the Outotec Technology Day on March 7, 2011. Technology Awards are granted to encourage Outotec's employees to create new inventions and innovations and to reward individuals or teams for their significant contributions to Outotec and the industry in general. The awards totaled EUR 110 000.

"Outotec is the leader in many technology areas. The leading position is based on our core capabilities, including a strong technology portfolio, expertise, and innovative people. In order to be successful in the technology business, we need to have the best and forefront technologies in Outotec's portfolio. Therefore, leadership in technology and innovativeness deserve a special attention as today when granting of the Technology Awards", stated Outotec CEO Pertti Korhonen at the Technology Award Ceremony.

In-house R&D and proprietary technologies are an essential part of Outotec business and the company is known for its sustainable minerals and metals processing technologies. The company systematically strengthens its technology portfolio and holds an extensive IPR portfolio with over 4,700 national patents or applications. Outotec aims to apply its minerals and metals technologies in adjacent industries such as energy industry and industrial water treatment for ever more comprehensive life-cycle solutions.

Senior Awards for numerous significant contributions to Outotec over a long career was granted to:

  • Peter Bourke for commercialization of a number of flotation technologies such as a flotation unit utilized in the grinding stage to minimize overgrinding, improve recovery and increase mill throughput. He has submitted 14 invention notices and he is the inventor of 8 patents.
  • Hannu Kemppinen for his significant role as design director and as highly valued chief metallurgist in several concentrator projects around the world. A number of innovative technology solutions have been derived from his work.
  • Markku Kytö for his contribution in development and commercialization of several technologies. Moreover, he has participated as a technological expert in many acquisitions, which have significantly expanded Outotec's technology portfolio and business.
  • Dr. Maija-Leena Metsärinta for her expertise and long career at Outotec research center in Pori. She has been involved in over 50 large pilot campaigns as project engineer and project manager. She has contributed to 33 invention notices and she is the inventor of 11 patents.
  • Richard Triglavcanin for his contribution to thickener development and commercialization. He has been the initiator and driver of Vane Feedwell(TM), which is the first major thickener feed well innovation on the market for 15 years and the one that has brought clear competitive edge for Outotec.

 

Junior Awards for exceptional innovativeness and commitment to Outotec as a junior employee was granted to:

  • Peter Blanz for his significant contribution to modeling and simulating grinding mill particle behavior. The work has been recognized as state-of-the-art in the field.
  • Martti Larinkari for his development and innovation of the new application area of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for automation and machine vision-based quality control systems.
  • Dr. Michael Missalla for his innovations significantly reducing energy consumption during calcination, which has translated into considerable carbon dioxide emission reductions, too. He is the co-inventor of 28 invention notices and 20 filed patent applications or patents.
  • Dr. Ville Nieminen for his expertise in the electrorefining of copper and electrowinning of copper and nickel. He is the co-inventor of 10 invention notices and 5 patents or patent applications.

Team Awards for a team whose joint effort has resulted in a significant technological contribution was granted to three teams:

  • Jeff Belke, Oskar Gustavsson, Eddie Jamieson, Peter Nilsson, Knut Vaage, and Kjell Winther for Solid and Lined Stainless Steel Grinding Mills for Highly Acidic Conditions. The new mill type is able to grind in acidic conditions, which has opened a new frontier in mining. The stainless steel lining allows improvement in processing efficiency, longer equipment life and makes it feasible to process complex resources.
  • Dr. Nikola Anastasijevic, Steffen Dietzig, Dr. Martin Hirsch, Dr. Ilkka Kojo, Mathias Noll, and Dr. Andreas Orth as Enefit Winning Team that successfully worked to find a new application and business for fluidized bed technology in a totally new industry branch - that of shale oil production from oil shale. The team developed together with Eesti Energia a superior fit between Outotec's CFB technology and Eesti Energia's Enefit technology.
  • Dr. Rodrigo Grau, Dr. Gennady Mashevsky, Alexsandr Petrov, and Pentti Sotka for a New Beneficiation Method for Copper Molybdenum Ore. The developed technology gives significantly higher recoveries for molybdenum compared with the conventional solution. The process will give totally new opportunities for Outotec's concentrator business in treating copper-molybdenum ores.

For further information please contact:

OUTOTEC

Dr. Kari Knuutila, Chief Technology Officer
Tel. +358 20 529 2009, mobile +358 40 779 9566
kari.knuutila@outotec.com

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