Aalto University: Flagship Project in Higher Education Reform

On 8 October 2008, Professor Yrjo Sotamaa, former Rector of the University of Art and Design Helsinki (TaiK), gave a speech at a Turkish-Finnish Business Forum on the occasion of the state visit to Finland by President of the Republic of Turkey.

"Finland has grown from an importer of technology to a global exporter of high tech," stated Sotamaa.

"The mobile communication giant Nokia is the flagship of this amazing story.

It is a combination of visionary thinking, advanced technology, cutting edge design and excellent business strategy.

The new strategy aims at strengthening the core competencies of Finland through a radical university reform.

And it is turning innovation thinking 180 degrees around to human-centric thinking.

It does not lessen the importance of technology and business know-how, but in the future the innovation drivers are stronger tied to the needs of users and the opportunities on the market.

The shift to user-driven innovation highlights the importance of design.

Design has a huge and very new potential for innovation."

Aalto University, scheduled to officially open its doors in Autumn 2009, is a new university being created through a merge between the Helsinki School of Economics, the University or Art and Design Helsinki and the Helsinki University of Technology.

The merge between the three universities will create a new science and art community from the three universities of technology, business studies and art and design and provide possibilities for multidisciplinary and strong education and research.