Associate Professor Timo Lähivaara studies how physical models and artificial intelligence can support the assessment of groundwater resources. His professorship was established with the support of endowments from industry.
Timo Lähivaara, Associate Professor of Computational Engineering at the University of Eastern Finland, studies how accurate physical models can be solved using efficient computational methods and combined with AI for the analysis of complex systems. The applications are highly practical: for example, field measurements and modelling make it possible to assess groundwater volumes and the physical properties of aquifers. According to the United Nations, groundwater availability is a major global challenge.
“In addition to groundwater assessment, these methods are used in industrial measurement and monitoring systems in close collaboration with international partners and industry,” Lähivaara notes.
Groundwater‑related research relies, in practice, on high-performance computing employed to solve physical models, with model accuracy validated through field measurements. Mobile seismic instruments such as geophones are used in measurements and can be placed in sites where groundwater is being studied. Instruments are sourced from the mobile Finnish seismic instrument pool, FINNSIP, which offers a wide range of field instruments for rent.
Measurements are conducted in collaboration with several research institutes, including the Institute of Seismology at the University of Helsinki and the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK). This collaboration makes it possible to collect extensive datasets and validate models reliably.
Research setting for computational engineering and artificial intelligence
Lähivaara’s professorship is in the field of computational engineering, with a particular focus on applied artificial intelligence. He works at the Department of Technical Physics on the Kuopio Campus, where traditional physics research intersects with mathematical modelling and AI methods.
The department emphasises multidisciplinary collaboration and the importance of national and international networks, reflected in the diversity of research projects. The department’s strengths include advanced mathematical expertise, accurate physical models and computational techniques that utilise high‑performance computing, which make it possible to address varied research questions and generate knowledge that is of international relevance.
For Lähivaara, the University of Eastern Finland is a familiar research environment: he defended his doctoral dissertation in physics in 2010 and has since worked in the department’s Inverse Problems research group in research, teaching and supervisory roles. He also holds a title of docent at the University of Jyväskylä.
Lähivaara’s research is supported by the computational resources of CSC – IT Centre for Science, as well as software and measurement equipment developed by the research group. His research team consists of a multidisciplinary group of scientists that collaborate closely with other research institutes. This enables access to large datasets, model validation and finding solutions to complex geophysical challenges.
I became interested in this endowed professorship at the University of Eastern Finland because it provides an excellent setting for applying computational engineering and AI to questions that are socially and industrially significant.
Timo Lähivaara
Associate Professor
Professorship made possible by endowments
Lähivaara’s current professorship is closely linked to the launch of research and education in technology at the University of Eastern Finland.
Numerous companies and public organisations have given financial support for research and education in technology on the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses. Lähivaara’s professorship was made possible by endowments from OP Pohjois-Savo, LähiTapiola Savo, Savon Voima and Osuuskunta KPY.
“I became interested in this endowed professorship at the University of Eastern Finland because it provides an excellent setting for applying computational engineering and AI to questions that are socially and industrially significant,” Lähivaara says.
At the University of Eastern Finland, education in the field of technology was launched in autumn 2023 in three degree programmes: photonics and sustainable technologies on the Joensuu Campus and technical physics on the Kuopio Campus.
The latest expansion in the field, the degree programme in data engineering, will be launched in Joensuu and Kuopio in autumn 2026. The programme covers data science, statistics and software development as equally strong areas.
