- Major companies support strongly the new degree programmes of the University of Turku
- Meyer, Elomatic and Cadmatic donate the university two professorships
- Donations deepen the close collaboration with the companies in the Turku Business Region
Major companies in the Turku region, Meyer, Elomatic, and Cadmatic support developing the new degree programmes in technology of the University of Turku by donating two professorships. The companies’ donated professorships are directed at mechanical engineering and material technology, in which the University will start the new degree programmes in autumn next year. The other five-year professorship is donated by Meyer, and the other by Elomatic together with Cadmatic under the same group. The monetary value of the donated professorships is approximately €1.2 million.
– It’s very important for us to maintain our competitive edge in technology and we see this close collaboration with the University of Turku as one of the means to do so. We want to build Finland to be one of the leading innovation and science centres of the industry in the world. We are also very keen on a high-level engineering education, because it’s the ingenuity of our people to design our ships and find creative solutions for production optimisations, that makes us stronger, CEO of Meyer Turku Jan Meyer says.
– We want to take corporate social responsibility and invest in developing the region’s well-being. Elomatic celebrates its 50 years of operations next year, and developing the degree programmes in technology in Turku is a marvellous way to celebrate our successful long-term operations. At the same time, we congratulate the University of Turku celebrating its centenary next year, says CEO of Elomatic Patrik Rautaheimo.
– Cadmatic is an international player as is the University of Turku. Strengthening the region’s international competitiveness is important, and a dynamic university plays an essential role in this. By donating, we want to support and further develop education and accessibility on competitive competence, says CEO of Cadmatic Jukka Rantala.
Close collaboration with companies
The Rector of the University of Turku Jukka Kola is happy for the donations and emphasises that the support from the region’s companies is vital for the development of the education.
– The University of Turku is an Entrepreneurial University and operates in close collaboration with the companies in the region. Together we can make sure that the region’s positive economic development continues also in the future, says Kola.
Director of the Technology Campus Turku, Professor Mika Hannula is the chair of the working group responsible for the planning of the technology education. The companies have participated in planning the contents of the degree programmes from the start.
– The prerequisite for high-quality technology research and education is long-term collaboration with companies. Our goal is that our technology students will get to interact with companies already at a very early phase of their studies. In practice, this means course work and projects carried out with the companies, and summer as well as diploma work opportunities, says Hannula.
In July 2019, the Ministry of Education and Culture granted the University of Turku educational responsibility in mechanical engineering and material technology. In August, the University started the reform of its entire technology education. The intake of students for the four degree programmes in technology in 2020 is 273. Next year, 100 students will be accepted for the new degree programmes in mechanical engineering and material technology. In addition, the University increases the intake of students of the already running degree programmes in biotechnology and information technology.