As drones become an increasingly common sight in urban airspace, what role do cities play in managing and scaling their operations? In this episode of TalTech's "Innovation and Governance" podcast, we turn our attention to the skies above our cities – spaces that are rapidly becoming populated with drones.
innovation
The hydrodynamics laboratory at Kuressaare College Marine Technology competence centre houses the only specialised model testing basin in the Baltic region, with impressive dimensions: 60 metres long, five metres wide, and three metres deep.
We live in an era where people are living longer, but with this comes an increase in the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases – such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Current treatments only provide temporary relief and do not reach the root cause of the disease.
Until 8 May, applications are open for the European Space Agency’s business incubator in Estonia – ESA BIC Estonia. The programme welcomes startups that are using or developing space technology – or discovering that their solution might work beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
When exploring what exciting work TalTech has done in the space sector, the usual response is always the satellites Koit and Hämarik. However, the work with Koit and Hämarik is by no means the only space-related project at the university.
An idea born in the lab can change the world – but only if it makes it out of the lab. Mart Maasik, a TalTech alumnus, partner at Nordic Science Investments and an experienced developer of science-based entrepreneurship, knows just how challenging that journey can be.
“It was a complete shock,” recalled Tanel Alumäe, head of TalTech's Laboratory of Language Technology, when he first experienced the astonishing ability of large language models to understand and generate language.
Olesja Bondarenko, co-founder and CEO of the Estonian startup Nanordica Medical and a TalTech alumna, won second place in the European Union Women Innovators Competition in the Women Leaders category, organised by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). She was awarded for her special therapeutic wound dressing.
At the Smart City Exchange Forum, hundreds of city visionaries gathered to discuss how data, artificial intelligence, and collaboration could transform cities in Estonia and Europe into human-centered and sustainable environments.
In the global push toward sustainability, one of the most promising yet underutilized natural resources is lignin. Traditionally regarded as a low-value byproduct of the pulp and paper industry, lignin is now at the forefront of innovative research aimed at transforming it into high-value products.