TTU Virumaa Kolledz

As a structural unit of TUT, VC is in close co-operation with the University, its divisions, departments and support offices. In the context of the Production Engineering and Entrepreneurship and Automatic Control Systems curriculum, our major partners are the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Information Technology and Power Engineering. In co-operation with the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the Estonian University of Life Sciences we optimise the use of laboratory equipment and exchange of teaching aids. We have used the teaching staff and teaching aids of the Tallinn College of Engineering in the subject of Programming of Numerically Controlled Machines. Partners for the joint use or laboratories and workshops of vocational schools are the Ida-Virumaa Center of Professional Education and the Narva Vocational Training Centre.

In autumn 2002 the TUT Oil Shale Institute moved to the basement floor of the old College building at 35 Järveküla tee Street. The rooms were renovated and furnished with equipment with the financing of TUT and PHARE 2000. It is one of the leading institutes for scientific research into oil shale in the world and its active research work has been going on for 45 years. Therefore this field may be called a national field of research. In the recent years the interest in the use of oil shale has dramatically increased in the world, the USA has financed a joint project with 1 million dollars and is interested in further co-operation. It has co-operation relations with researchers from China, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Jordania and other countries. According to the recommendation of the Research and Development Council of the Republic of Estonia it pursues the aim of creating a centre of excellence in the field of research into oil shale, power engineering and environmental studies. The Department of Northeast Estonia of the Institute of Ecology of the Tallinn University is in Jõhvi. Researchers of the former branch of the Skochinski Mining Institute (in Russia), which was in operation until the 1990s, perform the necessary applied research as a laboratory of AS Eesti Põlevkivi, researchers of the branch of the Krzizanovski Power Engineering Institute (in Russia) have set up a successful engineering company. Therefore the region has a strong academic potential. The College has close relations and co-operation with all the above-mentioned institutions, until now mainly through projects, which support business activities and innovation.

Cooperation with representatives of employers

In the course of seven years the College has developed very close co-operation with AS Eesti Põlevkivi, AS Viru Keemia Grupp, AS Balti ES, AS Nitrofert, AS Eesti Energia and other enterprises. The enterprises ensure well-paid practical training positions for all students of the speciality of production engineering and industrial entrepreneurship and automatic control systems who do not want to look for a practical training position on their own. In comparison with other universities, students and specialities are not paid for practical training there. Students have selected subjects of projects and diploma papers according to the interests of enterprises.

The interest of enterprises towards specialists with applied higher education is growing every year. Industrial enterprises are facing rapid technical development and implementation on the basis of new technologies. The introduction of new technologies, in its turn, implies the staff of highly qualified specialists with contemporary technical knowledge. At the same time, the new generation is persistently coming up, therefore it is the aim of both the college and local industrial enterprises to train educated middle-management specialists.

The interest towards College students can also be seen in the record number of scholarships distributed in spring 2007 by enterprises. All in all, there were 34 students who received scholarships from nine enterprises and two municipalities, with the gross value of 285,000 kroons. Viru Keemia Grupp AS distributed ten, Kiviõli Oil Shale Processing & Chemicals Plant OÜ five and Eesti Põlevkivi AS distributed two scholarships among College students (see Appendix 15: List of vocational and other relevant organizations).

Cooperation with enterprises

The market of business training and legal training in the region is over saturated, but in engineering subjects only universities are capable of conducting training on the level of engineering studies in Estonia. Due to the small number and narrow specialisation of the teaching staff of the College it can mediate the conduction of courses requested by enterprises of the region with the assistance of the teaching staff of the Tallinn University of Technology. The largest number of further training courses conducted by the teaching staff of the College have been in the area of Computer Aided Design both in Ida-Virumaa and in South Estonia in Tartu for mechanical and civil engineers, teaching staff, real estate specialists, IT students of private universities, students of the Academy of Arts, etc. A block of topical subjects: legal protection of intellectual property rights, product development, materials engineering, ordered by AS Eesti Põlevkivi, has not been completed yet. The College offers in-service training courses in Electrical Pneumoautomatics and Logic Programmable Controllers, which are highly demanded nowadays by local industrial enterprises. The largest order by number of students is for the course for basic and advanced users of software adjusted to the work environment of an enterprise (Excel, Word, Visio, AutoCad etc.). The last training course in AutoCad was also participated by workers of the Finnish company Master House. Some members of alumni have been involved in conducting continuing education courses.

Within the framework of the project “Curriculum Development for Vocational Training Centres”, measure 1.1 of European Social Fund (ESF), academic staff of the speciality Automatic Control Systems took part in the development of two study programmes – electrician (approved in 2005) and operator of heating equipment (approved in 2006).

At the same time, from September till December 2006, academic staff took part in the workshop at the Foundation of Professional Qualification Authority, which resulted in the development of professional qualification for the operator of heating equipment.

The academic staff of both Production Engineering and Entrepreneurship as well as Automatic Control Systems, in cooperation with Pärnu Vocational Training Centre, take part in the project “The Development and Application of Study Programme for the Author of Electronic Equipment” (length of the project: 01.11.2005-31.03.2008), measure 1.1 of European Social Fund (ESF).

Every year, the academic staff of Automatic Control Systems participate in the work of Admission Board for the professional examination “Automatic Equipment I”.

The College has a Resource Centre for foreign language teachers (since 1995) and for teachers of Estonian as a second language (since 2000), functioning in the premises of the College. The Centre organises courses for teachers and houses a library. Once a month seminars and workshops are conducted for language teachers. Summer schools are organized for Ida-Virumaa teachers of Estonian as a second language. The number of participants varies from 30 to 80. During the last five years, 1713 teachers have participated in various courses run by the Centre. Courses for assisting high school graduates in entering universities are conducted every spring.

The College has issued about 400 certificates of the Open University of the Tallinn University of Technology since 2000 to persons who passed longer further training courses in engineering subjects.

International Cooperation

College has been engaged as a partner to the following projects:

• Estonian Regional Innovation Strategy, which has activities in three regions. College will be responsible for Virumaa.
• INNOMET II (follow-up project 2005-2006) under Measure 1.1 of the EU Structural Funds. Applicant: Federation of Estonian Engineering Industry.
• INNOACT ESF under Measure 1.3 of the EU Structural Funds. Applicant: Tallinn Enterprise Board.
• INNOMET-EST (follow-up project 2007-2008) under Measure 1.1 of the EU Structural Funds. Applicant: Federation of Estonian Engineering Industry. The general aim of the project is to develop human capital and increase competitiveness by improving the in-service training system and developing practical opportunities of life-long learning in the chosen business sectors.
• INTERREG IIIA Programme Supports Co-operation between Southern Finland and Estonia. The overall aim of the Interreg Community Initiative is that national borders should not be a barrier to the balanced development and integration of the European territory. Co-operation is co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Interreg IIIA programmes support cross-border cooperation between neighbouring regions. There are a total of six such EU programmes in Finland together with Estonia, Sweden, Norway and Russia. Estonia has two cross-border co-operation programmes: the one together with Southern Finland, and the other with Latvia and Russia.
• ERASMUS Programme, which provides for the college students 3-12 months of training or practice in the university or enterprise of some European country. Two students of Virumaa College of TUT are going to study at a foreign university in autumn 2007. For the year 2010, the college Strategic Plan is aimed at enabling up to 20 students per year to study abroad.
• Project “The Development and Application of Study Programme for the Author of Electronic Equipment”, measure 1.1 of RAK 2005-2008.
• Project “The Establishment of Individual Development System for the Academic Staff of Estonian Universities”, measure 1.1 of RAK 2004-2006.

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