Strengthening ties with schools

Collaboration between universities and schools is crucial to solving societal challenges.

According to Tekniikan akateemiset TEK, Finland will require around 4 000 more engineer full-time equivalents (FTE) every year to achieve the green transition. This represents a 50% increase to the approximately 8 000 engineers graduated each year from universities and universities of applied sciences across the country. Therefore, it is our role at the university to support schools and help them spark pupils’ and students’ interest in science and technology.

In this context, Prof. Wallace Moreira Bessa talked about Smart Systems for upper secondary school teachers at the Tauno Nurmela lecture hall on October 14, 2022. He highlighted the importance of teaching the basics of robotics, coding and AI, not only to encourage children and teens to pursue engineering careers, but also to allow them to have a better understanding of the concepts behind these topics. As AI and Robotics are already an intrinsic part of our lives, our society will be able to make better decisions and appropriate choices if its citizens are also technologically literate.

Photo by Mikael Nyberg.