This spring, for the first time, Maru Ehitus AS awarded a scholarship through the TalTech Development Fund to students in the field of construction at the School of Engineering. CEO Margo Dengo explains the background.
Why did Maru Ehitus decide to award this scholarship right now?
Working in the construction sector every day, we see that the shortage of good engineers is becoming more and more challenging year by year. Therefore, we want to contribute to the next generation of engineers. As several scholarship candidates wrote to us, the scholarship allows them to focus more on their studies and thesis – and that is exactly what should be done during university years. It is unfortunate when, for financial reasons, students have to choose work, and sometimes end up leaving their studies unfinished altogether.
To answer the question of why we launched the scholarship now, and not earlier or later, I will borrow the first lines from Artur Alliksaar’s poem “Time”:
There are no better or worse times.
There is only the moment in which we are now.
It seems that, for us, the time has now become right, and we plan to continue awarding the scholarship in the future as well.
How did this year’s scholarship competition turn out?
Since we also gave first-year students the opportunity to apply, we received a large number of applicants: 42 in total. It’s wonderful to see how many hardworking and bright-eyed students we have around us.
What was the deciding factor in your decision, and what advice would you give to students for future applications?
The selection process was truly very difficult because, as mentioned earlier, there were so many excellent candidates. This time, we made the selection internally in two rounds, based on which we selected the three best candidates to interview. And based on those interviews, we chose the winner. The deciding factors were:
- The ability to respond to the essay topic we had set in a concise and meaningful way.
- Positive letters of recommendation certainly played a role as well.
- Written communication skills and the visual presentation of the essay: in addition to what you say, how you say it is also important.
Congratulations to this year’s scholarship winner, Kristjan Tomson, to whom we presented the certificate at our Bidfood construction site, since Kristjan was participating in the Kevadtorm military exercise during the formal ceremony. At the Bidfood site, we were greeted by site manager Marko Salumaa, who spoke to Kristjan about the practical realities of working on a large construction site. Kristjan also shared his thoughts with us:
Kristjan, you’re finishing your fourth year. Have you applied for scholarships before, and what is a student’s perspective on these types of competitions?
I have applied for scholarships from the Tallinn University of Technology Development Fund almost every semester. In addition, I have also applied for grants from several other scholarship funds. Generally speaking, scholarships are seen as an opportunity to earn extra money. That’s why I’ve applied everywhere I possibly could – you’ve got to give it a try.
In addition to the financial support, I see the Development Fund as an opportunity to compete with other students. As you mentioned, there were 42 candidates. Just for the thrill of the competition, it’s exciting to take part in something like this. Constantly applying for scholarships has, over time, helped me develop my ability to write better and more substantive letters of motivation and essays. My resume has also improved significantly over the years based on the feedback I’ve received.
When there is an opportunity to advance to the interview round, it is very exciting to talk with other professionals in my field about specialised topics and shared interests. I dare say that applying for these scholarships has given me a great deal of valuable experience.
You also said that the scholarship helps you focus on your studies and your thesis. Could you briefly tell us what the topic of your thesis is and what problem you are examining?
In my thesis, I am studying the strength properties of densely finger-jointed glued laminated timber. The main objective of the work is to determine whether factory waste generated during the production of glued laminated timber could be used to manufacture new glued laminated timber. The initial tests have been promising.
Based on the test results, I also want to create a computational FEM model. I am doing this primarily out of personal interest, in order to program a more comprehensive model, but it could also make it possible to study the behaviour of wood with different strength properties. For example, it could be analysed whether, similarly to factory waste, there is also potential to use recycled timber in production.
I will certainly also examine whether the production of densely finger-jointed glued laminated timber is reasonable from an economic and environmental point of view. Although this approach allows wood to be used more efficiently, it must be taken into account that producing finger joints requires more time and resources, including glue, tools, and electricity.
I would like to thank Maru Ehitust for awarding the scholarship, and I hope that this program will continue in the future.