Helsinki University of Technology
| TKK logo | |
| Motto | Labor et scientia latin: Work and science |
|---|---|
| Type | Public state university |
| Established | 1849 |
| Rector | Matti Pursula |
| Students | 15000 |
| Location | , |
| Campus | Otaniemi |
| Funding | €225 million per year [1] |
| Website | tkk.fi |
Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) (Finnish: Teknillinen korkeakoulu; Swedish: Tekniska högskolan) is the premier technical university in Finland and the largest in the Nordic Countries with over 15000 students. It is located in Otaniemi, Espoo in Greater Helsinki.
Helsinki University of Technology was founded in 1849 and received university status in 1908. It moved from Helsinki to Otaniemi campus area in 1966.
The university has 246 professors and some 15 000 students in twelve faculties and 19 degree programmes. As per definition of a technical university in Finland, TKK only gives education leading to the Master's level degree, and higher. The following degrees are available: an engineer's degree (diplomi-insinööri, or DI), architect, landscape architect, Licenciate of Technology, and Doctor of Technology. For the education available, see reference [1]
TKK is known, among other things, for its Low Temperature Lab, which has set the world record for the lowest temperature, and has had several other notable scientific successes. TKK's mobile communications research and teaching is considered to be among the best in the world and TKK is also one of the leading universities in the world when it comes to the chemical technology involved in wood processing. The first commercialized total synthesis, the synthesis of camphor, was invented by Gustaf Komppa, the first professor of chemistry at TKK [2]. Also, Nobel laureate Artturi Virtanen has held a position as professor at the chemistry department. The aim of TKK is to rank among the top ten universities of technology in Europe.
Much of the Otaniemi campus is designed by the world-renowned architect Alvar Aalto.
History
TKK was established in Helsinki by an imperial order of the Grand Duke of Finland as a "manufacture and handiwork school", with the name Helsingin teknillinen reaalikoulu, along with two other similar schools, situated in Vaasa and Turku. In 1872, the school's name was changed to Polyteknillinen koulu (Polytechnical School and in [1878]], to Polyteknillinen opisto (Polytechnical Institute), while the two other manufacture and handiwork schools were demoted to institutions of lower level. As the proportion of matriculation diploma holders in the student intake gradually increased, the school gained more social respectability. In 1908, TKK was given university status along with its present name, thus becoming the second university to be founded in Finland. In 1955, building of the new campus area started with the housing village. In 1966, TKK moved from Helsinki to the new campus in Otaniemi, Espoo.
TKK was also known under the abbreviations HUT and TH from its English language and Swedish language names, but in 2005 a decision was made to officially solely use the abbreviation TKK for branding reasons.
Research and Teaching
List of degree programmes
All programmes lead to the "university engineer" degree, a Master's level degree taking six years to complete (as a median). From 2005, according to the Bologna process, all students must also complete an intermediate degree (tekniikan kandidaatti, TkK) before the DI or architect degree. This degree enables enrollment in foreign universities where a Bachelor degree is required. TKK does not offer Bachelor-level programs; a student may only be accepted to study for the Master's level degree.
- Architecture
- Automation and Systems Technology
- Bioinformation Technology (not available for international students)
- Chemical Technology
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Communications Engineering
- Electronics and Electrical Engineering
- Engineering Physics and Mathematics
- Energy and HVAC-Technology
- Forest Products Technology
- Geomatics
- Industrial Engineering and Management
- Information Networks (separate admission, only in Finnish/Swedish)
- Landscape Architecture
- Mechanical Engineering
- Materials Science
- Real Estate Economics
- Structural Engineering and Building Technology
- Transportation and Environmental Engineering
Mobile Communications and Electrical Engineering
TKK is known for its state-of-the-art research in mobile communication. With a close collaboration with Nokia (headquarters 1.8 km from TKK) and Ericsson, TKK is currently playing an active role in determining of the future of mobile communication. This research and other related work is carried out under the patronage of Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering. The Department consists of different laboratories and Centres of Excellence.
Centres of Excellence
A Centre of Excellence (huippuyksikkö) is selected by the Academy of Finland to represent the top research in the country, and receives separate, fixed-period funding from the Academy. Currently, the following units are designated Centres of Excellence:
- Smart and Novel Radios Research Unit, SMARAD (2002-2007)
- Bio- and Nanopolymers Research Group (2002-2007)
- Adaptive Informatics Research (2006-2011)
- Computational Complex Systems Research (2006-2011)
- Computational Nanoscience (2006-2011)
- Low Temperature Quantum Phenomena and Devices (2006-2011)
- Systems Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Research (2006-2011)
- From Data to Knowledge Research Unit (2002-2007, with University of Helsinki)
- Helsinki Brain Research Centre or HBRC (2002-07, with University of Helsinki and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa)
- Applied Electronics Laboratory, as a part of Helsinki Brain Research Centre, HBRC (2002-2007)
- Inverse Problems (2006-2011, with University of Helsinki, Helsinki School of Economics, University of Oulu, and Lappeenranta University of Technology)
International Master's Programmes
Apart from numerous programs in Finnish language, the following Programs are exclusively for studies in English:
- Master's Programme in Communications Engineering
- Master's Programme in Mobile Computing - Services and Security
- Master's Programme in Electrical Engineering
- Master's Programme in Micro- and Nanotechnology
- Master's Programme in Forest Products Technology
- M.Sc. in Process Systems Engineering
- Master's Degree Programme in Real Estate Investment and Finance
- Master's Programme in Bioinformatics
Culture and student life
TKK is known to have an active student community and technology students (teekkaris) are highly noticeable, as they wear a distinctive hat and often brightly colored overalls to many of their happenings. The community has also organized important charity events and a term of their invention, tempaus, has entered common language. TKK students are also famous for, and Finland's leading practitioners of, student pranks (similar to MIT hacks). Their most widely publicized stunt took place in 1961, when a team of students smuggled a statue of Paavo Nurmi onto the 300-year-old wreck of Regalskeppet Vasa just days before its lifting from the bottom of the sea[3].
The area is known as the only actual campus in Finland, where student housing is immediately adjacent to the university buildings. The housing area, known as Teekkarikylä (technology student village), is owned mostly by the Student Union and partly by HOAS (Helsinki Student Housing Fund). The housing is characterized by the presence of foreign students of many nationalities.
See also
Reference
- ^ Education available at TKK
- ^ Kemia-lehti. http://www.kemia-lehti.fi/pdf/gustafkomppa.pdf
- ^ Ilta-Sanomat 5 July 1961 "Vasan veijarit", scan available at archive.org dump of ttky.fi.