Otaniemi.fi Blog

(Writen by Vice Rector of Helsinki University of Technology originally for TKK news)

As the summer draws to a close, and we get ready to launch into the new academic year, the words of an unknown thinker written a long ago on a wall in Kruunuhaka come to mind: ‘Why the rush?’ I certainly do not have an answer to that one, but the question itself is very thought-provoking. Despite the rush, hopefully all of you will have a nice and peaceful autumn.

Early in the summer, the National Union of University Students in Finland published its most recent report on the Finnish universities as seen through the eyes of the students (In Finnish, ‘Opiskelijan yliopisto 2008’, available in Finnish at www.syl.fi, under asiakirjat – julkaisut). In the very near future, we will go through the report together with the faculties and students as usual.

The report ranked TKK rather low: we were awarded an average grade for many areas and rated above average in others. The poorest areas included, for instance, guiding international students and collecting of feedback from them, recognising previous studies, evaluating study attainments and our dedication to teaching. Granted, all universities have some – and often similar – aspects that need improvement, but I would still rather see TKK ranked high by students, too.

On a related note, I attended the annual SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education) conference in Aalborg, Denmark this summer. The themes addressed by the guest keynote speakers and discussed in the parallel sessions and workshops can by summarised as follows: it is worth doing research on engineering education in order to find out how we can best reach learning objectives, broaden the students’ expertise and give them the skills and knowledge they need as professionals.

In the sessions, we discussed problem- and project-based teaching as well as the organisation of multidisciplinary cooperation. Those interested in the development of teaching would probably like to read the conference programme at www.sefi.be and also to know that the following conference will take place in Rotterdam on 1 to 4 July 2009.

For a variety of reasons, the poor coping of new students has raised concerns at TKK. For instance, they have earned credits at a much slower pace than we had hoped. Furthermore, when problems accumulate, the general wellbeing of the students is suddenly at risk.

To ease the situation, the Rector and the TKK committee on academic affairs have allocated additional resources for projects focused on problems arising during the first years of studies. So far, changes have been made to the teaching methods used for courses of mathematics and computer science, but we will see similar projects launched by other departments in the future. While some of the planned improvements will be implemented later and take effect in the long run, we aim to notably improve many areas as early as during this autumn.

In addition to these measures, it is also important to simply care about the new students. I am sure all of us commit to our work and feel well, provided we understand the nature and purpose of our work and feel that our contribution is respected by the rest of the community. All in all, we want to have a sense of being in control of our lives. Dear teacher colleagues and others, in the spirit of the University of Love and Education (* enjoy life, constantly learn new things and work hard to care about others, like they care about you.

Eetu

*) A name that was suggested for the new university but did not get selected..

With  dark clouds hovering across the skies of economies all across the western world the search for new ways to generate economic growth is on. In many cases the solutions have been looked for in tax cuts and infrastructural improvements, but in the probably the most hard hit country in western world, the U.S., a question about the whether innovation could be at the heart of economic growth has been rased.

Rob Atkinson, the president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation is certain that the way for turbocharged growth is in “innovation economics”. “Innovation is what is driving growth, and there a policies one could employ to support innovation” Atkinson says. According to Atkinson the US should use tax incentives and spending on R&D, patent generation and increase the number of science and engineering graduates. There is also data to support these claims, from 1980 to 2001, all net growth in the U.S. came from firms 5 years old or less, while older companies actually lost jobs.

Lower taxes, new infrastructure and balancing the budget might be a way to wrestle the beast of trade depression, but according to Atkinson you would have go all twelve rounds instead of going for a KO in the first. To upgrade living standards government must support technological innovation. For example, government spending led to the invention of the internet, says Atkinson.

“The way you drive innovation is when the public and private sectors work together,” he said. “An R&D tax credit does distort the economy, but the growth vastly outweighs the costs.”

Why this matters in Finland is because the future of our economy is no longer local, but global and at the heart of Finland’s keys to success today and in the future is in R&D and innovation done in the 23 science parks in Finland, the largest being Otaniemi.

The formation on the Aalto University is a clear step toward an approach to create a platform for future innovation. A collision of future technology engineers, designers and economist could be the hotspot for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. With world class research in nanotechnology, wireless technologies and mobile technology among others, Finland has the opportunity to be an “innovation economy” and generate new growth in the economy with a star trekkian approach to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Pekka Front, Otaniemi Marketing

(Source: statesman.com: Innovation is key to economic growth, analyst argues by Marilyn Geewax)