Day 4 – The EAGLE goes studying

We started off the day with a race for the shower. After finishing our breakfast, we set off for the bus station to take the bus to the Technological University of Tallinn (TalTech). Roel immediately found the hidden stairs that led to a secret location. Here the Vice Dean of the School of Engineering welcomed us and gave us a tour around the buildings. He showed us a model made for the Tallinn Song Festival Hall after which we continued. He mentioned that they had their own Walhalla at the campus as well and showed that they were installing 5G across the entire campus for their autonomous vehicles. He then gave a presentation of the structure of the university and their studies, and he told us he knew Lex Lemmens, the Dean Bachelor College from the TU/e.

After the presentation, we got a tour around some research labs. The first lab we were shown could simulate the entire power grid of Estonia. The second lab could simulate transformers and a power station. These labs allowed students to practice in a safe environment before getting into a company. It turned out that the lecture schedule for the master students was redesigned to make sure that these students could attend lectures while working at the same time, since nearly all of them have a full time job next to their university studies. They also had labs to check light and power quality and an electric machines lab which was recognized by us all from our own Electromechanics course.
We were then shown a couple of robotics labs, and the prototyping lab, where they have the ability to 3D print with quite an impressive range of materials, from simple plastics to metal composites.

At the end of the tour, we got a chance to look at the autonomous buses that drive around on the TalTech campus.

After a failed attempt to have pancakes for lunch, we walked towards the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tallinn. Here the ambassador herself gave us a presentation about Estonia and its history, and the role of the Dutch embassy in the country. The embassy was located on top of a hill, possibly higher than the highest point of the Netherlands, right in front of the working place of the Estonian Prime Minister. Surprisingly, the ambassador and the intern turned out to be the only Dutch employees at the embassy.

In the evening we went to have dinner in the street recommended to us by the ambassador: Telliskivi!

Jos and Daan