News

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 we 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 candidates: 42 in total. It is truly great to see how many capable and enthusiastic students there are around us.

What was decisive in making the selection, and what would you recommend to students applying in the future?

The choice was genuinely very difficult because, as mentioned earlier, there were many strong candidates. This time, we made the selection internally in two rounds, based on which we chose the three best candidates and conducted interviews with them. Based on the interviews, we then selected the winner. The deciding factors were:

• The ability to respond to the essay topic we had set in a concise and meaningful way.
• Positive recommendation letters certainly also played a role.
• Written expression 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, as Kristjan was taking part in the Kevadtorm exercise during the formal ceremony. At the Bidfood site, we were welcomed by site manager Marko Salumaa, who spoke to Kristjan about practical life on a large construction site. Kristjan also shared his thoughts with us:

Kristjan, you are finishing your fourth year. Have you applied for scholarships before, and what is the student’s perspective on such competitions?

I have applied for scholarships from the TalTech Development Fund almost every semester. In addition, I have also applied for support from several other scholarship funds. In general, scholarships are seen as an opportunity to earn extra money. That is why I have also applied wherever possible — you have to try.

In the case of the Development Fund, in addition to financial support, I also see it as an opportunity to compete with other students. As you mentioned, there were 42 candidates. Even from a sporting point of view, it is exciting to take part in such a competition. Applying for scholarships on a regular basis has, over time, developed my ability to write better and more meaningful motivation letters and essays. My CV has also improved significantly over the years thanks to feedback.

When there is an opportunity to reach the interview round, it is very exciting to speak with professionals in the field about specialist topics and shared interests. I can honestly say that applying for scholarships has given me a great deal of valuable experience.

You also said that the scholarship helps you focus on your studies and thesis. Tell us briefly what your thesis topic 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 Ehitus for awarding the scholarship, and I hope that it will continue in the future as well.