Congratulations, dear Tiit, on resuming your role as the leader of Estonia’s engineering thought and future technologies!

The story of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) is one of a few dynamic individuals establishing an institution meant to educate engineers—not just to repair but to build the future. At the time, it was an innovative plan. A newly independent Estonia, just a few months old, needed educated specialists to drive the country's development. They were the ones who built our bridges, planned our cities, and established our first industries. TalTech alumni kickstarted our e‑state in the 1990s and elevated Estonian engineering and technical science to the European top tier. Every Estonian start‑up, every scientific breakthrough, every innovation is, to some degree, connected to TalTech. 

Before us lie new challenges—the green transition, the digital revolution, and global crises. To solve these, we need a new generation of Estonian visionaries who will build new ideas. 

Dear Tiit, your second term begins at a time when technological advancement has again made a breakthrough but has also accelerated to a pace faster than any previous decade. Staying on that track requires extraordinary leadership skills. 

Your first term was like the first test drive of a car: learning to find the accelerator, use the brakes, and steer. Sometimes you might hit a curb, but most of the time you stay on course and within the lines. Tiit, you clearly succeeded, otherwise we wouldn’t be here today. 

You have steered that TalTech “car” through winding paths and even slowed the pace through roadworks. You brought the university to international prominence and solved problems none of us could have foreseen: managing a university of thousands of students during a pandemic, ensuring soaring electricity bills are paid, persuading students that education still matters—even if Mark Zuckerberg never finished university himself. 

Your second term, however, is like buying a second car. You already know what’s under the hood, you know the roads may be slippery, and you likely have something that occasionally needs repairing. Tiit, the new vehicle you are about to drive is faster, more unpredictable, with thousands of people and millions of ideas. It is, in fact, a ship that requires a captain skilled at navigating through storms and who knows that sometimes the solution lies in oars rather than sails. 

Therefore, Tiit, for your second term, I wish you, above all, clear direction! And lots and lots of calm nerves. The university and Estonia expect a great deal from you. Students expect responses to midnight emails; the School expects you to solve their complex research funding problems as intricate as quantum physics; the government expects you to train engineers for us like planks from Vändra. 

But most importantly—I wish you to enjoy the journey! Enjoy every moment when you watch talented young people grow, when new ideas are born, and when this university moves forward.

Thank you, and congratulations, Tiit! We look forward to your next great achievements. And I promise not to send you any more emails past midnight—hopefully.