Prof. Dr. Torbjörn Netland
Prof. Dr. Torbjörn Netland
Full Professor at the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics
Additional information
Research area
Netland's research expertise is in the fields of production and operations management, industrial engineering, and process innovation. He is especially interested in methods and technologies for productivity improvement in manufacturing industries and the related management of productivity improvement programs in multinational companies. His research is carried out in cooperation with leading companies and draws on empirical methods such as econometrics, case studies, applied machine learning, action research, and field experiments.
Under Netland's leadership, the Chair of Production and Operations Management (POM) conducts innovative and relevant operations management research. The Chair of POM focuses on smart manufacturing, global operations, operational excellence, and sustainable manufacturing.
Prof. Dr. Torbjørn H. Netland is Full Professor and the Head of Chair of Production and Operations Management (POM) at ETH Zurich.
Before taking a position at ETH, he was an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a Senior Researcher at SINTEF Technology and Society in Trondheim, Norway. He has been a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for International Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, UK, and a Fulbright Visiting Research Fellow at McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA.
He is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains, a Fellow of the European Academy for Industrial Management, President of the POMS College of Operational Excellence, and a Fellow of the European Academy for Industrial Management. He has served on the Board of the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA).
Membership
| Since | Membership |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Fellow of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Production |
Honours
| Year | Distinction |
|---|---|
| 2023 | POMS Excellence in Industry Engagement Award 2023 Honorable Mention |
| 2023 | Journal of Operations Management 2022 Jack Meredith Best Paper Award |
| 2022 | Golden Owl of the VSETH |
| 2022 | Dandelion Entrepreneurship Award |
| 2022 | KITE Award finalist |
| 2021 | ALEA Award Runner-up |
| 2021 | Nigel Slack Teaching Innovation Award Winner |
| 2020 | Wharton-QS Reimagine Education 2020 VR/AR Bronze Award |
| 2020 | Shingo Research Award |
| 2018 | Gianluca Spina Award for Teaching Excellence and Innovation |
| 2018 | Nigel Slack Teaching Innovation Award |
| 2017 | Golden Owl of the VSETH |
| 2017 | Shingo Research Award |
| 2017 | IJPR Best Paper Award 2018 |
Additional information
Netland's award-winning research on production improvement is performed in close cooperation with global companies. It appears in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Management Science, Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, and the International Journal of Production Research, among others. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Operations Management.
Netland is the co-author of the 800-page textbook “Introduction to Manufacturing: An Industrial Engineering and Management Perspective” (Routledge, 2022).
He is the recipient of two prestigious Shingo Research Awards, the 2023 Jack Meredith Best Paper Award of the Journal of Operations Management, POMS Excellence in Industry Engagement Award 2023 (honorable mention), and numerous teaching awards, including two VSETH Golden Owls. He has also been awarded for his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit. Netland is co-founder of EthonAI (www.ethon.ai)—a startup offering state-of-the-art AI solutions for quality management.
Being a dedicated research communicator, Netland blogs at www.better-operations.com and tweets as @tnetland. He is a repeatedly invited Key Note speaker in international seminars and conferences.
Course Catalogue
Spring Semester 2025
| Number | Unit |
|---|---|
| 363-0768-00L | Industrial Perspectives on Operations Management |
| 364-1197-00L | Empirical Research in Operations and Supply Chain Management |
| 367-0013-00L | Next Operating Models |