AIRE Club #35 Focused on the Role of Engineering in the Defense Industry

AIRE Club #35 took place on February 12 at the Estonian University of Life Sciences’ technical building as part of Engineers’ Day and carried the subtitle “The Role of Engineering in the Defense Industry.” A total of 120 participants attended the event, including representatives from industrial companies, universities, and other organizations.

In the keynote presentation, Margus Sammelsaar, a military drone developer and the recipient of the 2024 Presidential Young Engineer Award, presented the application of low-tech solutions in the defense industry, citing Ukraine as an example. He emphasized that while our future lies in high technology, low technology should not be forgotten, as it forms the foundation of all engineering. Additionally, low-tech solutions can be crucial in situations where high-tech resources are unavailable.

Marten Madissoo provided an overview of AIRE’s activities, and Pearu Orusalu from Protolab OÜ presented a joint demonstration project between the Estonian University of Life Sciences, the University of Tartu, and Protolab titled “AI-based Quality Assurance System for Enhancing a Coordinate Measuring Machine with Machine Vision.”

During a panel discussion, Kalev Koidumäe (Estonian Defense and Space Industry Association), Margus Sammelsaar (Atalanta Systems), Pearu Orusalu (Protolab), Jüri Olt, and Marten Madissoo (Estonian University of Life Sciences) discussed the shortage of engineers in the defense industry and the differences between military and civilian engineers. They also explored how engineering education should be improved and whether Estonia needs a dedicated curriculum for training military engineers.