Ville-Valtteri Visuri

Ville-Valtteri Visuri is an associate professor (tenure track) and leader of the Primary Metallurgy Research Group in the Process Metallurgy Research Unit at the University of Oulu. He serves also as an Academy Research Fellow funded by the Research Council of Finland, as the Deputy Head of the Process Metallurgy Research Unit and as the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Centre for Advanced Steels Research (CASR).

Visuri's research focuses on chemical kinetics and transport phenomena in the primary metallurgy of steelmaking. His main research interests are related to the following unit processes:

• hot metal desulfurisation (HMD),
• electric arc furnace (EAF),
• electric smelters (SAF, OSBF),
• hydrogen plasma smelting reduction (HPSR),
• basic oxygen furnace (BOF),
• argon-oxygen decarburisation (AOD), and
• reheating and annealing furnaces.

The research methods employed cover both computational methods (e.g., dynamic mathematical modelling and computational thermodynamics) and experimental methods (e.g., crucible experiments and thermogravimetry). The research is tightly connected with the process development of the steel industry and thereby contributes to the larger societal aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. He is currently a project manager or principal investigator in the following projects:

• Carbon-free steelmaking by hydrogen use (H2IRON)
  Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation
• Digital twins for green hydrogen transition in steel industry (TWINGHY)
  European Union
• K1-MET Competence Center of Sustainable Digitalized Metallurgy for a Climate Neutral and Resource Efficient Planet (K1-MET SusMet4Planet)
  Austrian Research Promotion Agency
• Mathematical Modelling of Hydrogen Plasma Smelting Reduction
  Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation
• Towards Carbon Neutral Metals 2 (TOCANEM 2)
  Business Finland
• Towards CO2-lean electric arc furnace steelmaking through fundamental and data-driven mathematical modeling (LEAF)
  Research Council of Finland

Besides his primary occupation, Visuri also serves as a board member of the Finnish Association of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, a member of the management board of the University of Oulu Chapter within the Finnish Union of University Professors, and the vice-chairman of the University of Oulu Association's Board. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Materia journal.

Previously, Visuri worked as an R&D Manager at Outokumpu Stainless Oy, as a Senior Research Fellow, Postdoctoral Researcher, Doctoral Researcher, and Research Assistant at the University of Oulu, and twice as a visiting researcher at the RWTH Aachen University. He holds the Title of Docent in Process Metallurgy, a doctorate in Process Engineering, as well as master's and bachelor's degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management; all from the University of Oulu. He is also qualified as a European Engineer by FEANI and holds the Goethe-Zertifikat C2: Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom from Goethe-Institut Düsseldorf.