ASSOCIATION OF
ESTONIAN BOATYARDS

THEIR strenght
is in THEIR
SHIPS
(Livonian Rhymed Chronicle 1180 – 1290)

On the eve of Northern Crusades, the Oeselians were summarized in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle thus: "The Oeselians, neighbors to the Kurs (Curonians), are surrounded by the sea and never fear strong armies as their strength is in their ships."

BOATS
PLASTIC
METAL
WOOD

Proud member of


Supported by

Main activities:

Developing new generation of boatbuiders

Developing expertise in R&D: Competence Centre for Small Craft Engineering

Developing new generation of boatbuiders

Kuressaare Regional Training Centre (RTC) is an educational institution, located also on the island of Saaremaa. RTC is the only vocational school in Estonia training boat builders. It has opened a three-year vocational training programme in Small Vessel Building for basic-school graduates. The studies and training include 60 weeks of special training modules, 20 weeks of industrial placement, and 40 weeks of general secondary education courses. The graduates wishing to obtain higher education can continue their studies at Kuressaare College of Tallinn University of Technology.

Kuressaare College of Tallinn University of Technology

Geographically, Kuressaare College, founded on the island of Saaremaa (Ösel) in 1999, is the remotest and smallest of the four colleges of Tallinn University of Technology. The predecessor of the college was the Institute for Islands Development, founded in January 1991. Kuressaare College has been an integrated part of Tallinn University of Technology with its own board, curricula and students for 10 years. The College has about 170 undergraduate students and a staff of 13 people.

The mission of the College is to train specialists in the fields needed first of all on Estonian islands: Small Business Management, Tourism and Catering Management, Engineering including Electronic Systems and IT. In 2009 the College opened a new pilot curriculum – Small Craft Building and is now the only applied higher educational institution offering such training in Estonia.

After 3-4 years of studies the graduates get the diploma of Tallinn University of Technology. The modern learning environment and new opportunities have brought here young people from all over Estonia.

Small Craft Building Programme at Kuressaare College In September 2009 Kuressaare College of Tallinn University of Technology in co-operation with Estonian Maritime Academy opened a pilot course in Small Craft Building for a group of 20 people working in the sector in order to test a new curriculum and prepare the opening of a regular programme (duration of studies 4 years, 240 ETCs) in the autumn of 2010.

Curriculum Objectives:

to create prerequisites for obtaining professional qualification level 6 in European Qualifications Framework in Small Craft Building;
to inculcate future Small Craft Building engineers with understanding the role and importance of education in the rapidly changing social and economic environment;
to equip students with knowledge and skills required for being able to design and build modern yachts, launches and other types of small craft (with a max. length of 24 m) made of wood, plastic or metal that meet the requirements of marine safety;
to equip students with skills required for application of the fundamentals and know-how of science and materials science, design, organisation of production, and economics towards creation and management of environmentally sustainable technological solutions in small craft building;
to inculcate and develop systemic understanding of the fundamentals of shipbuilding, of the methods for analysis, synthesis and problem-solving applied in field-related design and engineering activities as well as purposes of application;
to provide broad and varied knowledge and skills (inc. computer literacy and communication skills) creating a basis towards becoming a qualified professional engineer and enabling them to meet the professional requirements set for small craft building engineers at present and in the future, as well as making it possible to respond flexibly and adequately to the technological changes and needs in the small craft building sector as well as in the society;
to guide and support independent learning and experimenting of students; to encourage their strive for a continuous professional development;
to stimulate the creativity, ability to critically assess their work and to inculcate cooperation and teamwork skills through varied teaching methods and assignments:
to ensure that the knowledge and skills obtained prepare students for working as a process manager, production manager and/or a designer in a water craft manufacture plant.

Curriculum modules:

General studies/ Languages
Social sciences
Fundamentals of Technological Sciences
Information & Communication Technology and Electronics
Materials
Production
Business Management
Power Devices
Practical Small Craft Building
Practical Training in Small Craft Building Industry
Small Craft Design
Small Craft Theory and Technology
Graduation Thesis

Developing expertise in R&D: Competence Centre for Small Craft Engineering

The Competence Centre is aimed at facilitating the development of an internationally recognised and competitive small craft cluster.

The main function of the Competence Centre is bringing and accumulating professional engineering know-how in small craft engineering. Next to the small craft design and optimisation, these measures also include application of electronic systems and material technologies, training engineers, encouraging inter-sectoral and international cooperation and implementing a variety of soft development activities.

The Small Craft Competence Centre is attached to Kuressaare College of Tallinn University of Technology (TUT), which forms the core of the centre, leading and coordinating its work. The establishment of the Centre is co-funded from the European Regional Development Fund and involves several partners, who work closely together with College: Kuressaare Regional Training Centre, Association of Estonian Boatyards, Estonian Maritime Academy, Kuressaare City Government, Association of Saaremaa Municipalities and Saaremaa Business Developing Foundation.

Research interests

The two main R&D headings of the Centre are visioned as sustainability of the environment (e.g. application of organic composite materials; control systems for optimising use of energy etc.) and intelligent control systems (e.g. integration of control devices; embedded systems etc.).
Linking expertise in material technology and electronic systems with product development in small craft engineering creates a potential for emerging new products, involving intelligent, sustainable and energy-efficient control systems.
In material-development, the focus is on the application of natural materials in lamination technology, which can result in producing and usage of fully recoverable plastic materials in small craft engineering as well as in other sectors.

Facilities

The laboratory facilities of the Competence Centre have been planned so that to allow their inter-related usage focused on small craft, but exploitable in several areas. The laboratories are to support the capacities of each other.

The premises include the following labs:

training workshop facilities for small craft engineering, including small craft specific library;
software lab for small craft design and software-based testing;
56 m long towing tank, allowing to run tests for boats of 30m length, 8m width, 2,5m depth, speed <35 kn
technology lab for boat model production and testing new technologies;
material lab specialised in testing the resistance to maritime climate and non-destructive quality control;
electronics test-production laboratory.

People and services

The kick-off team of Small Craft Competence Centre consists of about 10 people, including the experts on small draft design and hydrodynamics, material technologies, electronics. Under different R&D projects external experts are involved from Tallinn University of Technology and international cooperation partners as Southampton University, Zagreb University, Brodarski Institute etc.

In its full capacity, the Centre will offer and facilitate the following services:

model production and model testing of small craft stability, seakeeping and resistance;
optimisation and improvement of small craft;
material testing for resistance to hydrothermal ageing in seawater environment;
application of NDT (non-destructive testing) methods in quality control and failure testing (portative x-ray and UH);
design and pilot-production of electronics;
electronic equipment measurements;
hosting product development teams and researchers.

Time schedule

The process of equipping the labs goes on until the beginning of 2014. The material and technology labs will be launched in autumn 2012 as well as the facilities for software-based services. The Centre will reach its full capacity in 2014.