Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
Luxembourg Centre for European Law
Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems
The University of Luxembourg and ArcelorMittal Luxembourg are marking a significant milestone: fifteen years of continuous support of research, innovation and education in steel construction. What began in 2010 as a focused partnership has evolved into one of Luxembourg’s most enduring industry–academia alliances, shaping advances in engineering and strengthening the country’s research landscape. The partner have now extended the collaboration until 2030.
A signature ceremony was organised on 12 February 2026 with Prof. Christoph Odenbreit, holder of the ArcelorMittal Chair of Steel Construction, Michel Wurth, Chairman of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg and Jean-Luc Thirion, CEO of ArcelorMittal Global R&D.
Over the years, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg has become one of the University’s key partners for research in steel construction and civil engineering. This long-term commitment is reflected in substantial investment in the ArcelorMittal Chair of Steel Construction, enabling pioneering work on sustainability, circular economy principles, and reducing the carbon footprint on basis of steel structures.
The collaboration has been repeatedly renewed, underlining the strong results achieved and the shared ambition to push the boundaries of steel engineering. In 2024, Prof. Christoph Odenbreit and Dr. Alfredo Romero received the Innovation of the Year Award during the Constructsteel Annual Conference 2024 for their outstanding research work on wood-steel connections. In 2023, doctoral student Shahin Sayyareh got an award at the Eurosteel 2023 conference for his outstanding paper about Petite Maison, a circular economy project which was carried out in the framework of Esch 2022, European Capital of Culture.
‟ I am proud of our longstanding and trustful partnership with ArcelorMittal, whose generous support of the University has been instrumental in advancing our research on sustainability, circularity, and low‑carbon steel structures. With today’s signature, I am delighted that we can continue shaping pathways towards a sustainable and innovative future in construction.”
Full Professor in Steel and Composite Structures – ArcelorMittal Chair of Steel Construction
As the collaboration enters its fifteenth year, both partners emphasise continuity and future-oriented research. With global demand for sustainable construction solutions rising, the alliance between ArcelorMittal Luxembourg and the University of Luxembourg is poised to remain a cornerstone of innovation strengthening Luxembourg’s position as a hub for advanced steel technologies.
‟ ArcelorMittal Foundation Luxembourg and the University have built for 15 years an exemplary cooperation between the academic and business world. This partnership is a win-win for both parties and opens up a wide range of possibilities for imagining and realising the buildings of tomorrow. Circularity and sustainability are key for the construction sector and steel is a material of choice for it.”
Chairman of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg
The future research will focus on steel material science with a strong emphasis on circularity and the development of steel structures suitable for AI-driven and automated construction processes. The involvement of the Chair in technical committees will support the translation of the research outcomes into standards and design guidelines, ensuring impact across the construction sector.
From left: Capucine Lardinois, Pascal Bouvry, Jean-Luc Thirion, Simone Niclou, Michel Wurth, Christoph Odenbreit, Olivier Vassart, Damien Lenoble
Pictures ©Michel Brumat