Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management
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Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management

Cooperation with industry

Cooperation with industry

RTU FEEM has been cooperating successfully with companies, sectoral associations and public organisations for a long time. Every year, the dialog is expanding, strengthening, and new forms of cooperation are emerging, with a growing mutual interest in delivering a successful outcome of cooperation. In each FEEM institute, a significant cooperation partner (partners) with whom there is a long-term and mutual trust-based cooperation can be identified.

Active cooperation is with the FEEM Advisory Board. The Advisory Board consults with the Faculty administration, provides opinions to the Faculty Council and Dean on matters of the Faculty development strategy, provides budget planning advice, and evaluates the Faculty’s activities at least once a year, providing opinions and proposals on the Faculty’s and RTU’s overall development, improvement of the study process, planned financial investments, changes in the management model, and other relevant issues of the Faculty. The Advisory Board has 11 members – specialists of the national economy. Participants come from a variety of sectors, both public and private. 

The main areas of dialogue with industry
  • providing internship and professional development of students by offering places of internship and jobs;
  • managing and reviewing study and graduation papers, offering topics of graduation papers (formulating problems to be solved in companies so that students can develop economically sound solutions);
  • ordered research and approbation of the results of scientific studies, company, process improvement and optimisation tasks for students;
  • involvement of professionals (company specialists) in the study process and in the state examination board;
  • organisation and implementation of other, extracurricular, activities, including company scholarships and support for students;
  • representation of the interests of the University and industry in governmental and international organisations;
  • juries of different contests (for example, Idea Cup), investment raising events (Cambridge Venture Camp), evaluation of ideas for new products (e.g., Demola, etc.) 

 

In order to strengthen and promote cooperation with industry, several representatives of the academic staff of the Faculty participate in important sectoral commissions and activities, in sectoral expert councils of national importance
  • Associate professor Ingūna Jurgelāne-Kaldava is deputy chair of the Sectoral Expert Council for Transport and Logistics of the Sectoral Expert Council for Transport and Logistics;
  • Professor Inga Lapiņa is the deputy chair of the Sectoral Expert Council “Business, finances, accounting, administration (wholesale, retail and commerce)”;
  • Professor Ineta Geipele is participating in the Sectoral Expert Council for Construction;
  • RTU is a member of Latvian Employers’ Confederation (LDDK) and FEEM professor Inga Lapiņa is nominated to work in Tripartite Cooperation Sub-Council for Vocational Education and Employment (PINSTA) from LDDK. PINSTA is a part of the institutional system of the National Tripartite Cooperation Council (NTSC), which includes representatives of the government, LDDK and the Latvian Free Trade Union Confederation (LBAS).
  • Professor Nataļja Lāce is a member of the Scientific Council on the Latvian Productivity, Efficiency, Development and Competitiveness Forum.
  • Liene Briede, Director of the Science and Innovation Center of RTU and doctoral student of FEEM, is the first representative of Latvia on the Board of the European Innovation Council (EIC).
  • FEEM associated professor Anita Straujuma is a director of the RTU Development fund, and forms various connections with industry by attracting both financial resources and strengthening cooperation with professionals, she is also vice chair of RTU Council.
  • Since autumn of 2020, FEEM professor Inga Lapiņa and associated professor Artūrs Zeps take active part in Education, Culture and Science Commission of Latvian Saeima (Parliament) as experts in legislative initiatives. Currently, the entire concept of higher education in Latvia is being improved and transformed, which includes the establishment of a system of professional qualifications.