In order to strengthen cooperation in studies and research, ensuring the training of specialists meeting the needs of the labour market and innovations for faster development of the railway sector, with special attention to the largest infrastructure project in the Baltics «Rail Baltica», Riga Technical University (RTU) hosted the heads of «Latvian Railway» and «European Rail Lines», as well as representatives of several Italian companies and a professor in transport at Sapienza University of Rome.
Emphasising that professionals with engineering, logistics and management skills are essential for the future development of the sector, the meeting was attended by Rinalds Pļavnieks, Chairman of the Board of «Latvian Railway», Kaspars Vingris, Chairman of the Board of «European Rail Lines», Andrea Laudanna, Chief Engineer, and Jānis Eiduks, Chief Technical Expert, Ezio Pedone from «Italferr», Roberto Liuzza from «Sintagma» and Professor Stefano Ricci from Sapienza University of Rome discussed the possibility to develop a joint study programme, to cooperate in knowledge transfer and in the long-term development of research and innovation, involving students in these activities.
Industry needs thousands of engineers, so RTU is a partner for growth - it has talented students, an established innovation ecosystem, world-class scientific expertise and high-quality equipment, support for prototyping and product development, and participation in international networks, said Liene Briede, RTU Vice-Rector for Innovation.
Meeting with representatives of Italian and Latvian companies, RTU introduced them to the University's development plans and various cooperation opportunities. Cooperation with local and global companies has always been one of the pillars of RTU's activities, and this area is currently being intensively developed to enable the university to respond more and more flexibly to the needs of the economy, confirms RTU Rector Tālis Juhna.
Visiting the laboratories of the Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering of RTU, the guests got acquainted with the latest innovations and technologies developed by RTU scientists and students. At the Institute of Transport Constructions, Viktors Kharitonovs, a senior researcher, introduced them to innovative road construction technologies and materials, while at the 3D Concrete Printing Research Laboratory, Māris Šinka, its head, demonstrated future construction technologies and innovative materials for concrete structures. The faculty also houses the most modern and best equipped geometric metrology laboratory in the Baltics, where guests, under the guidance of lead researcher Jānis Lungevičs, explored the latest «Mitutoyo» equipment for dimensional measurement and its wide range of applications. The laboratory cooperates with various companies as well as with the Latvian bobsleigh and skeleton teams to measure the geometry and hardness of sledge rails, helping athletes to better prepare for competitions. Digital twin and virtual reality technologies also have a wide range of applications, confirms Associate Professor Māris Kaļinka. RTU scientists have both created a «twin» of the Ķīpsala campus and carried out three-dimensional scanning of various objects and buildings, including cultural heritage sites. Digital twin technologies can also be used for national and civil protection purposes.
The cooperation was also discussed with the guests by Acting Vice-Rector of RTU Gatis Bažbauers, Dean of the Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering Līga Gaile and Vice-Deans Ivo Vaicis and Sandris Ručevskis, Associate Professors Ingūna Jurgelāne-Kaldava and Justīna Hudenko.
In celebration of the cooperation agreement signed a year ago between the University, Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas and the construction association «Bererix», the Dean and Vice-Deans of FCME also visited the construction site of the «Rail Baltica» Central Junction, where K.Vingris presented the progress of the project in Latvia, as well as reviewed the jointly implemented activities involving students - several engineers involved in the project have given guest lectures and hosted student groups at the construction sites of both international stations. Philippe Bidoli, construction manager, and Andrea Laudanna, chief engineer at «European Rail Lines», presented the construction process, the technologies used and the progress made on site.
The visit was organised by the RTU Latvian-Italian Cooperation Centre, with great support from the Italian Ambassador to Latvia Alessandro Monti.
Visit to «Rail Baltica» Central construction site.
