RoboAI is a significant employer of engineering students from Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in the Satakunta region. Last summer, eight students worked at the RoboAI shared-use laboratory, while this summer the number is six. Throughout the summer, the students work on ongoing projects, and their contribution enables the projects to be implemented on a broader scale.
Helmi Berglund is working this summer on the Ratakelaus project, where her tasks include developing a resistance training sled for wheelchair racing. She has studied at the RoboAI Academy for a year and praises the study model. – Through project-based learning, you gain practical experience in project planning and teamwork, and it also allows flexible self-paced studying, says Berglund.
– In the current challenging employment situation, it is great that we can offer students summer jobs in their own field, where they can gain genuine and valuable work experience. Their contribution is also important to us: they are highly motivated and bring fresh perspectives alongside the experts carrying out year-round research work, says RoboAI Research Manager Johanna Lainio.
Lainio says she is especially grateful to all RoboAI project managers who have committed to hiring summer employees during the holiday season. This requires readiness for onboarding, supervision, and resource planning.
Project experience gives students a head start in working life
All the young people working in the laboratory this summer are students of the RoboAI Academy. Their advantage is existing project experience and familiarity with laboratory work. This year, one third of the summer employees are international students. As employment opportunities for international students are often more challenging, RoboAI wants to invest in improving them. The benefits of employing students have also been recognised more broadly.
– Projects in other research centers also often require expertise in artificial intelligence and robotics, and we have been able to ‘loan’ students to another center for summer work, for example to build AI applications. Arrangements like these have also led to more permanent employment opportunities, Lainio explains.
Slow recruitment produces committed experts
The RoboAI Academy is an excellent channel for “slow recruitment”, both internally and externally. The skills of students working on company projects are recognised from the very first project onwards, and their development is usually remarkable. Several students have already been recruited by technology companies before graduation, and in recent years the RoboAI Research Center has also hired many of them from summer jobs into longer-term positions.
– I would also like to challenge other SAMK research centers, and why not companies across Satakunta as well, to hire SAMK students for summer jobs and set an example. The students’ expertise is of a very high standard, and we gain a great deal from them. Especially at a time like this, work experience in one’s own field is extremely important, says Johanna Lainio.
– Getting a summer job is important in this challenging labour market situation. It is great that RoboAI offers students the opportunity to find employment and develop their skills through interesting projects, says Syrjälä.
The further development of the wheelchair racing measurement and training system is supported by the Huittisten Säästöpankkisäätiö.
The TATTI – Artificial intelligence and automated technologies for improved occupational safety project is an ERDF-funded project financed by the Regional Council of Satakunta.