Experts of Tomorrow Innovation Race – Meet jury member André Asp

André Asp is the head of a division within Sigma Industry Development in Stockholm, where he and his team develop custom-designed machines and tools for the industry – including lifting tools, fixtures, test rigs, robotic cells, and leak-testing machines.

With a Master of Science in Industrial Design Engineering from Luleå University of Technology, André has combined mechanical engineering with a focus on product design and usability. His career took off with a thesis project in Gothenburg, where he developed the interior of a concept vehicle. Since 2012, he has worked with special machinery at various companies, and today he is a division manager at Sigma.

For André, the Experts of Tomorrow Innovation Race was a natural initiative:

“When I first heard about the competition, I felt proud to be part of an organisation that arranges this. At the same time, I wished there had been something like it when I was in school. If we can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and inventors, then we’ve contributed to something truly important and positive!”

Above all, he hopes that the competition will spark joy for problem-solving:

“I hope that the participants will experience the joy of solving problems and that the competition itself will ignite a spark in tomorrow’s innovators.”

When asked about innovations that have meant a great deal to him, he highlights one in particular:

“As a species, we would never have reached where we are today without the ability to turn our thoughts into writing. Through writing, ideas have been able to travel through time and evolve across generations. The slightly more boring answer is antibiotics – without them, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

But what is it really like to work on creating special machines? André shares an insight that offers a glimpse into his daily life:

“I’ve probably had more creative thoughts about how to ‘standardise the unique’ than a poet has had about rhymes – and yet the end result is always something unique.”

Do you have a child in middle school? Encourage them to sign up with their class for the Experts of Tomorrow Innovation Race at sigma.se/innovation-race