Rate My Professor Iiro Harjunkoski

Professor Iiro Harjunkoski serves as Full Professor in the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Aalto University, leading the Process Systems Engineering research group. He was appointed to this permanent position effective 1 September 2024, following his role as Adjunct Professor at Aalto University. Previously, he worked as a Research Fellow at Hitachi Energy Research in Mannheim, Germany, researcher at ABB Corporate Research in Ladenburg, Germany, researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA, and researcher at Åbo Akademi University, where he obtained his doctorate in 1997. Since 1 September 2025, he has also been appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering until 31 December 2026. His academic career bridges academia and industry, with extensive experience in process optimization applied to real-world industrial challenges.

Harjunkoski's research centers on Process Systems Engineering, integrating chemical engineering, operations research, and computer science. Key areas include production planning and scheduling, waste supply chain management, applications of mixed integer linear and non-linear programming methods, hybrid algorithms combined with data analytics, process and operational optimization, process electrification amid fluctuating electricity markets and energy storage, and sustainable supply chains for material recycling and reuse. He has earned the Computers and Chemical Engineering Best Paper Award 2014 for collaborative work on production scheduling models and solution methods, alongside the Computing Practice Award 2024. His highly cited publications demonstrate significant influence in the field, including 'State-of-the-art review of optimization methods for short-term scheduling of batch processes' (2006, Méndez et al., 1134 citations), 'Scope for industrial applications of production scheduling models and solution methods' (2014, Harjunkoski et al., 671 citations), 'A decomposition approach for the scheduling of a steel plant production' (2001, Harjunkoski and Grossmann, 339 citations), 'Integrated production scheduling and process control: A systematic review' (2014, Baldea and Harjunkoski, 308 citations), and recent contributions such as 'Circular supply chains for sustainable use of biomass' (2026, Mohammadi and Harjunkoski) and 'Demand-Side Opportunities for Process Industry Participation in Electricity Markets' (2025, Harjunkoski and Vaara). These works advance optimization techniques for process industries, enhancing sustainability, profitability, and operability.