Construction entrepreneurs and researchers considered opportunities for joint collaboration
- 04. March 2017
- Articel
On February 22nd a practical seminar that this time focused on topics associated with construction and real estate development was held by the collaboration platform ADAPTER, which was created by the joint initiative of six universities.
In the seminar, researchers from different universities presented their research topics and practical examples on how entrepreneurs could use the opportunities that the universities offer to both their and their customers’ advantage.
According to the construction entrepreneurs, ADAPTER is a very valuable tool that will benefit everyone. Erkki Suurorg, Board Member of Nordecon, said that construction engineering is a very conservative profession where innovativeness has yet uncovered potential. The collaboration between entrepreneurs and researchers could fill this gap. “Very good results can be achieved when lecturers, students and company representatives collaborate. Even if only some innovative parts of the project arise instead of whole projects, the benefits are already significant,” Suurorg said.
Linking research and practical work was also considered important. Keit Paal, who is the Chairman of the Management Board of Merko Ehitus proposed that researchers and lecturers should visit construction sites more often to see the actual ongoing work. “Companies and construction sites are visited by universities a couple of times a year but in my opinion, they should pay visits more frequently,” Paal explained.
Erkki Suurorg mentioned that the universities contribute significantly to the development of the sector by the popularisation of the specialty. “Universities should have lecturers who young people want to listen to and who increase student enrolment. If interest in a specialty increases, both the entrepreneurs and the whole sector benefit from it,” Suurorg said.
During the seminar organised by the Open Academy, Targo Kalamees from the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at Tallinn University of Technology introduced complete renovation techniques with modular wood panels, Renee Puusepp from the Faculty of Architecture at the Estonian Academy of Arts talked about the mass customisation of buildings and introduced new solutions for real estate design, marketing and sales. Rein Koch from the Institute of Physics at Tartu University talked about the radon content studies and Hannes Tõnisson from the School of Natural Sciences and Health at Tallinn University introduced the possibility of using ground-penetrating radar (Georadar) in the real estate industry. Siim Maasikamäe from the Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering at Estonian University of Life Sciences presented real estate development and land-use planning topics.
At the end of the seminar, both the researchers and entrepreneurs recognised that the beneficial collaboration must be long-term and planned long in advance.
The seminar “What opportunities arise from the ADAPTER project for real estate and construction entrepreneurs?” was held as a part of the Open Academy seminar series F2F at Tallinn University.