How can TalTech be shaped over the next decade into a driving force that cultivates engineers, generates technologies, and connects science with entrepreneurship? This question was tackled during the TalTech development strategy discussion “TalTech 2035 – Estonia’s Growth Platform of the Future?” by Vice-Rector for Entrepreneurship Erik Puura, Tehnopol CEO Agnes Roos, Head of the Innovation and Technology Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications Sigrid Rajalo, and TalTech Council member and CFO of the tech company Helmes, Madis Margus.
The panel discussion at the university's health and food technology focus center’s specialty day showed that while Estonia’s vision is clear and effective solutions already exist, the sector still faces various obstacles such as bureaucracy, labor shortages, and fragmentation – there is a lack of a cooperation mechanism that would lead problems swiftly to solutions.
Favorable winds are blowing across the entrepreneurial landscape of Estonia’s only university of technology: the state is placing greater emphasis on science-based business. Caroline Rute, the new head of the university’s entrepreneurship department, calls it a “positive problem” – there is more interest and support than before, and now it’s time to turn those opportunities into tangible results.
Europe needs more courage, structure, and collaboration for science to generate new companies, emphasised Stefan Drüssler, CEO of UnternehmerTUM, Munich’s centre for business development, at the university’s engineering academy conference.
C2Grid, a spin-off company that emerged from TalTech's research activities, is developing digital twins based on drone videos, enabling the practice of crisis response and the planning of battlefield operations. Less than a year after its founding, the company has secured its first investment and is preparing to enter the market.
TalTech is preparing a new development plan that will define the university’s direction for the next decade. In an interview with Trialoog, Vice-Rector for Entrepreneurship Erik Puura says the university must be guided both by instinct and by a clear strategy.
Enefit Green CEO and TalTech alumnus Juhan Aguraiuja told the Energy Technology Institute’s Department Day that true leadership is achieved not only through education, but also through life experience. “No job is beneath you – everything must be done with complete seriousness and respect,” he said, emphasising that a good leader understands both the system and the people.
TalTech spin-off SafePas recently received a €2.5 million grant from the Enterprise and Innovation Foundation to further develop Drug Hunter – a portable analyser capable of detecting the composition and quantity of illegal substances from a saliva sample in just a few minutes.
In September, three Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace near the island of Vaindloo to test NATO’s response capabilities. Holger Mölder analyzes how the unresolved Estonia-Russia border treaty and the weakening of international law have created fertile ground for Russia’s hybrid attacks.
TalTech’s biotechnology spin-off ÄIO has reached a major milestone. In September, the company completed its first full-scale production batch, resulting in a ton of yeast-based alternative oil.