Pentti Malaska Futures Award to TM System Finland Oy

The solution is the first industrial scale closed-loop re-circulation system to capture airborne emissions, gases, CO2, odor, and visible vapor from industrial process exhaust air. Zero-Ex® creates controlled circumstances in a closed process of air cleaning by separating emissions such as CO2, VOC's, odor and other particles from the exhaust air before releasing the exhaust air back to the process. It also collects harmful gases from exhaust air to be stored and utilized in a useful and sustainable way. Zero-Ex® is unique and patented technology.

In addition to solving industrial air pollution challenge by absorbing discharged airborne emissions down to zero, Zero-Ex® simultaneously provides remarkable energy capturing possibilities, water savings and environmental benefits. Zero-Ex® also recovers the heat in demanding conditions where traditional heat exchangers cannot be technically used. This is an important quality factor in the current industrial environment where the importance of emission control targets is equal to industrial energy-efficiency and water-efficiency targets.  The Zero-Ex® solution is applicable to all industries with exhaust air.

"The winning innovation will provide solutions to the global challenge of climate change. The award criteria state that the project promotes sustainable development goals and is based on multidisciplinary research cooperation. The solution also has great commercial potential and will play a very significant role in solving climate challenges in the future. The winner continues Professor Pentti Malaska’s interdisciplinary future philosophy by combining visionary thinking, innovative technology, and boundary-crossing collaboration for building a sustainable planetary future with radical solutions", says chair of the panel deciding the winner, Director Juha Kaskinen from the Finland Futures Research Centre of the University of Turku. 

The Pentti Malaska Futures Award was distributed at the international Empowering Futures – Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research conference on 14 June 2023 organised by the Finland Futures Research Centre at the University of Turku.

The members of the panel deciding the winner were Linda Fröberg-Niemi (Director, CleanTurku, Turku Business Region), Antti Salminen (Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Turku), Vesa Silfver (M.Sc.Eng., EMBA) and Satu Teerikangas (Professor, Management & Organisation, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku).

The next Pentti Malaska Futures Award will be distributed in 2025.

The Award honours Professor Pentti Malaska’s (1934–2012) lifework in futures research. Pentti Malaska was a professor of business mathematics and statistics at Turku School of Economics. He established the Finland Futures Research Centre in 1992. Malaska was a radical, visionary thinker whose research interests crossed a wide range of academic disciplines from mathematics and electrical engineering to philosophy, ecology and strategic management. His work boldly crossed sectoral boundaries between the academic world, business world and societal influencing. 

The Finland Futures Research Centre of the University of Turku founded in 1992 is a multidisciplinary research, education and development organisation. The Centre produces insightful futures knowledge to promote the transformation towards more ecologically balanced, economically sustainable, and socially and culturally equal futures. The Centre also aims to give tools for responsible decision-making and inspire public debate.