Visitors from the Basque country

Ms Helena Franco and Ms Miren Maite from Business School of the University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián visited TAMK last week. They lectured for three evenings about the economic development of the Basque country from various view points: they spoke about the recent evolution of the Spanish economy, main characteristics and trends of the economy of the BAC, ethical issues in economics and the role of cities in regional development.

Walking on ice at Naistenlahti was quite frightening in the beginning, but turned out to be a delightful experience for Helena Franco and Miren Maite

Unique Trans Atlantic Cooperation in Paper Science Education

TAMK University of Applied Sciences together with other European and US partner universities got EU-US Atlantis funding for 2008-2012 to implement a Trans Atlantic Paper Science (TAPS) dual undergraduate degree. This project gives students and faculty members a unique opportunity to study global paper science through international collaboration. US, German and Finnish students will travel to partner universities for an academic study and addition to this they will do an internship abroad. Total duration of an exchange is one year. A dual Bachelor of Science degree, emphasis in Paper Science, will be awarded after completion of TAPS requirements.

The coordinating university in TAPS program in Europe is Munich University of Applied Sciences in Germany and the coordinating university in the United States is University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (UWSP). Partner universities in this project are North Carolina State University (NCSU) / US, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Jyväskylä / Finland and TAMK.

Head of Paper, Textile and Chemical Engineering Degree Programme Ulla Häggblom-Ahnger and International Coordinator Kirsi Tolvanen from TAMK traveled to Wisconsin (Stevens Point) and North Carolina (Raleigh) 27.3.-4.4.2009 for TAPS project meetings. The main purpose of these meetings at UWSP and NCSU was to agree on Paper Science Engineering Requirements and General Education Program Requirements (GEP) to fulfill the total requirements needed for a dual degree. Ulla and Kirsi also had a change to meet many US students who are interested in TAPS program and tell about studying opportunities at TAMK.

In University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and in North Carolina State University the European visitors from Munich, Jyväskylä and Tampere had a tour in paper laboratory. In addition to this in Stevens Point there was a mill tour in New Page Mill hosted by famous paper pioneer George Mead.

During academic year 2009-10 altogether four TAMK students will start their TAPS exchange. Also a student from the US and from Germany will come to TAMK under this program during next year. Ideal situation would be that by the end of this project in 2012 eight TAMK paper engineering students have finished TAPS program and got their dual degree from the US. During the project there will be also excellent exchange opportunities for TAMK faculty members to do a teacher exchange in the US or Germany.

Score Teams Successfull in Imagine Cup

Two teams from Game Development Club Score have advanced to the second round of Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition! Thousands of competition entries were submitted from all around the globe to the competition, but only 150 teams continued to fight for the grand prize. Teams have now two months time to finish and polish their games before the second deadline in May. We wish great success for the Score teams and hope to see them in the finals in Egypt in July!

Did you know...

Score is a game development club founded in 2007 by interactive media students at TAMK School of Art and Media. Their goal is to promote Finnish game industry and helping students who hope to build career in games but don't know how. There are currently around 65 members in the club, mostly students from Tampere region. Score has also involved in organizing workshops with subjects like work flow in teams and agile development.

Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition is an annual global event in which competitors are required to create innovative prototypes. This year's theme is to promote the eight UN Millennium Development Goals, create potential solutions that address the toughest problems facing our world today.

There are many contest categories to choose between, robotics and algorithms for example. The Score teams are battling in game development category. The grand prize is 25 000 US$ divided between the members of the team, in addition to various development kits.

The successful games:
Unity
Villa Penguila

Ruffian Games Gareth Noyse comments the games

Imagine Cup
Imagine Cup Game Development competition
Score
UN Millennium Development Goals

You can try out these + other games and meet Score members in Demola during our Tampere Art Factory festival May 15-16.
Tampere Art Factory
Demola

Picture: Screenshot from Unity

Read about other activities of the School of Art and Media to promote the Millennium Development Goals

Dreamjobs for Students at Demola Innosummer

You will work for a real company as part of a project team. You will develop something that you have always wanted to:
a new UI for a computer game, machinima, or storytelling in Mixed Reality.

You will get paid for the job and learn something totally new. R&D specialists from the enabling companies will guide your work.

Act now! Application deadline is 15.4.2009.

There are numerous projects available in Demola Innosummer. See the listing below and choose 1 to 3 project topics that interest you. You are the person we need for the project if:

a) You are interested in the topic and have good, innovative ideas for it
b) You have skills and interest related to one or more project goals

The point is: You do not have to know about all the topics or goals listed under the project. The teams will be multidisciplinary, composed of people with different kinds of skills. The company that has set the project will provide the technological know how.

1. Play a game hands-free - A thought- controlled UI
2. New ways for mobile video recording, editing and event casting
3. Share your audiovisual experiences
4. A new, digital dimension to Guided Tours for tourists
5. Get a mobile connection to your virtual community
6. Machinima – storytelling in mixed reality; game, theatre, movie
7. 3D landscape as a mobile phone UI
8. Gesture controlled 3D characters in a computer game

Demola
All details about Demola Innosummer (pdf)
More stories about Demola (TAMK School of Art and Media Blog)

Demola is an open innovation environment for university students and ICT and media companies operating in the Tampere Region. It is a service provided jointly by TAMK University of Applied Sciences, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere University and Technology Centre Hermia Ltd.

Logistics study trip to Europe 8th – 14th March 2009

As a part of the Logistics module studies, nine of the students from International Business programme had the opportunity to take a study trip to Europe. During the thrilling trip we visited three EU countries; The Netherlands, Belgium and France and a number of companies operating in the field of logistics within those countries.

The highlight of the trip was the visit to Scania Parts Logistics. It was eye-opening from many aspects, not only because it was a grand scale warehouse where we were able to identify all of the different warehousing activities, but because all we saw made a logical connection to our studies of warehousing theory. We had also a privilege to take a tour in Port of Rotterdam. It is not certainly the idyllic fish port of a small village but in fact the third largest sea-port in the world (in terms of cargo volume). The size of port is really something incomprehensible. The tour took half a day by bus, but still we saw only a fraction of the port. Something that rolled our eyes were the automatically guided vehicles that carry containers to cranes, which then load them to the vessel. No driver or rails existed to keep it on track, the wheels just turned spookily.

Talking about the theory meeting practice, some of us got a chance to cruise around with a forklift. This took place in a warehouse training centre of Logis in Hasselt, Belgium.

Lastly spending a week together, from which two days in a freezing ten bed dormitory room, unified us as a group. We certainly got to learn more about our colleagues and also our teacher.

Overall, the trip was a perfect way to summarize our logistics studies. Most importantly it bolstered our confidence in what we have learned, and opened our eyes to the vast employment possibilities in the field we have chosen. It showed us that the world is a beautiful place and that we could work anywhere because our skills are needed anywhere. We built confidence, since we know what it is expected from us now, and we are eager to get to work. It was an amazing experience that helped us grow personally and professionally.

And finally we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful people that made this possible, all the companies that we visited, the four teachers that made it possible: Dr. Anasse Bouhlal, Mr. Jeroen Visser, Mr. Tony Fonteyn and Mr. Stephane Betschitch, and last but not least, our main sponsor, the IB programme of TAMK, lead by Mr. Janne Hopeela. We recommend this sort of study trip to all future generations.