Tampere Universities give out first-ever Innovation Culture Awards
Nominees were openly sought for the Innovation Culture Awards, and the winners were selected by a jury representing multiple disciplines and areas of expertise. The main criteria were that the act, service or efforts help reshape existing practices and strive to make the world a better place. Innovation Culture Awards were granted to the following teams:
• ‘Ylätaso’ discussion series: students Anna-Kaisa Hokkanen, Anette Mansikka-Aho and Sara Komulainen
The Ylätaso (High Level) discussion series brings together students and staff in the field of education. The goal is to foster open discussion and exchange of ideas and provide a forum for inspirational and high-level discussions on topical themes.
• Innovations in medicine, technology and educational technology: Professor of Vascular Surgery Niku Oksala & his team
Niku Oksala and his team have developed new cross-disciplinary innovations in the fields of medicine, technology and educational technology and promoted a culture of innovation that places a special emphasis on addressing practical problems using agile methods.
• Saleshacker teaching concept: Lecturers Mika Jokinen and Minna Heikinheimo (TAMK)
Saleshackers is a modern sales competition that combines digital and conventional sales expertise. The contest pits students against each other to sell a real product to real customers on behalf of a real company.
“Our higher education community contributes to the renewal of society in numerous ways and is a source of a wide variety of innovations. As the nominations we received perfectly illustrated this diversity, we decided to grant Innovation Culture Awards to multiple recipients,” says Director, Innovations Taru Pilvi of Tampere University
“The Innovation Culture Award highlights and acknowledges the valuable work that the members of our higher education community are doing to promote a culture of innovation. This year the recipients represented social innovations (discussion series), multidisciplinary technological innovations (Niku Oksala and his team) and innovation in teaching and learning (Saleshacker).”
The awards were given you at a gala following the InnoEvent Tampere innovation festival on 8 November. The weeklong festival brought together students and companies with multidisciplinary teams generating new ideas and solutions to real-life company challenges. This year the overarching theme of the festival was circular economy.
Inquiries:
Director, Innovations Taru Pilvi, Tampere University, taru.pilvi [at] tuni.fi, tel. +358 50 384 2966
Photograph: Petro Salminen
