The conference shared experiences, trends and the latest solutions to develope factories. A panel discussion on "Engineers as a scarce resource for smart industry and economic growth in Estonia - how to solve the problem?" focused on how to alleviate the engineer drought and allocate the available resource so that strategic industries would not suffer. Devid Liik, Chief Technology Officer at Milrem, and Madis Unt, Head of Repligen Estonia, discussed the topic In addition to Fjodor Sergejev.

Estonia has many good engineers

Milrem's Chief Technology Officer Devid Liik said there are many good engineers in Estonia, but looking to the future, the next generation of engineers needs to be secured. "We need fewer and fewer people who only write code. An engineer needs to be technically strong, but he or she also needs to be a smart leader at different levels," Liik said. He added that smart people don't want to do dumb jobs, the brightest minds will leave when they are bored.

According to Madis Unt, head of Repligen Estonia, you can't expect a young person with a bachelor's or master's degree to start designing automated machines on their first day on the job. It is the responsibility of companies to train these people and thus offer them practical experience. In addition to their technical knowledge, engineers need to have a wide range of skills, one of the most important of which is communication. "It's an outdated image that an engineer is alone somewhere, because in reality he is usually the leader of a team," Fjodor Sergejev added. 

The importance of engineering education

Businesses expect the state and society to value education. The popularisation of STEM education and science should be encouraged, and steps should be taken to so that young people would prefer studying engineering. In addition, Estonia should consider setting up scholarships and funds to enable students to complete their studies successfully.

Working students are one of the biggest problems in Estonian higher education, and this is what sets us apart from top European universities. According to Fjodor Sergejev, 92% of engineering postgraduate students work, 70% of them full-time. In most cases, students are working in their field, but studying full time and working full time is not sustainable in a long run. The university, in cooperation with companies, needs to find a way to make better use of work experience in their studies.  

Practical skills in addition to theory

How can we provide practical skills in addition to theoretical education? All panellists highlighted the importance of student education programmes. Ventures such as the Student Formula and Solaride introduce engineers end-to-end problem-solving skills, just like in a real company. The experience ranges from funding and sponsorship to design and competition. Such programmes produce very good engineers. Milrem, for example, has recruited more than 25 employees who have gained invaluable hands-on experience  in the Student Formula project during their studies.

Sergejev also noted that the Engineering Academy has been set up to coordinate cooperation between companies and the university. As an example, he cited the opportunity to propose real-life problems to the university that students can solve as part of problem-based and project-based learning, and thus gain practical experience alongside theoretical knowledge. Aigar Vaigu, a science communicator who moderated the panel discussion, added that Metrosert offered three ideas to Tallinn University of Technology robotics students to solve and all of them were implemented. 

What makes a very good engineer?

Aigar Vaigu asked the participants what makes a very good engineer. Devid Liik pointed out that the best keyword to describe a good engineer is "hungry", for example for knowledge. Fjodor Sergejev also said that a very good engineer is curious, looking for challenges, courageous and not afraid to take responsibility. It was also noted that a good engineer completes the tasks what they set out to do.

According to Madis Unt, interest in the world around us and in knowledge, and the desire to resolve it, is crucial. "An engineer is a creator - if you can't create something new, you're not a strong creator," said Unt, adding that he calls his engineering team "respected artists".

You can listen to the discussion on  Äriripäev radio programme „Tööstusuudised eetris“.