GEOSUMAT Seminar and consortium meeting in Narvik

Project Geosumat started in June 2022 and partners first met in Cracow at the kick-off meeting hosted by Cracow University of Technology. Since then, all eight partners started to intensively search for potential precursors and other input materials to prepare environmentally friendly material, geopolymer. Each partner had a different expertise level, and thanks to cooperation in the GEOSUMAT project, the less experienced partners quickly gained needed knowledge. Furthermore, industrial partner ReforceTech AS provided basalt composite fibres, Minibars, to all research partners who had already made the first attempt of fiber reinforced geopolymer.

All the gained knowledge was disseminated throughout GEOSUMAT online seminar broadcasted from UiT, Narvik, where all partners met in person for the second time. Each partner prepared a 15-minute-long presentation containing their latest achievements. A total of 47 participants from 7 countries registered. 62 % of the participants were from industry (Skanska Czech Republic, Saferock in Norway, Betolar from Finland and others) and 38 % from research institutes (the University of Oulu, Aalto University in Finland, Sintef in Norway and others). Many participants came from Finland and Norway, but there were also participants from Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic and Taiwan.

Partners meeting in Norway started with the visit of ReforceTech AS, composite basalt fibers (Minibars) producer situated close to Oslo. Len Miller, CTO at ReforceTech, GEOSUMAT consortium member, showed their production to all participants and discussed Minibars potential and obstacles when utilised in geopolymer. After the excursion, all participants moved to Narvik, where the online GEOSUMAT Seminar and technical coordination team meeting took place, along with scientific discussions.

All partners enjoyed their stay in Narvik during the local festival "Vinterfestuka "and tasted traditional rallar dishes in a restaurant. Everyone was enthusiastic about the project's progress, and a strong bond between partners was established thanks to the extraordinary moments of the meeting.