“Our students are solving real practical problems, as they are being appointed the research tasks from our international projects”, says Elena Jasiūnienė, researcher at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Ultrasound Research Institute. Jasiūnienė, masters and PhD students’ supervisor, is convinced that hands-on research experience at KTU’s Santaka Valley labs, which are among the best equipped in the Eastern Europe, offers a huge advantage for KTU students.
KTU’s Science and Technology Centre and Technological Business Incubator, which is a part of Santaka Valley, accommodates six research institutes. The adjacent office building offers space and services of the largest innovation support infrastructure in the Baltics – Kaunas Science and Technology park. The total cost of the research equipment at KTU’s Santaka Valley reaches 26 million euros and the research space takes up to 9 thousand square meters.
Many projects, which are paving the way to the innovation economy in Lithuania, are being conceived in the open-access KTU’s Santaka Valley labs. By the way, the “open-access” is not just a term: the state-of-the-art laboratories are open for researchers, business representatives and students alike.
Researchers Are Not from Mars
“We are willing to take on motivated and dutiful students”, says professor Sigitas Tamulevičius, Head of KTU’s Materials Science Institute. According to him, the only predicament for the students, willing to undertake their research at the bright modern KTU Santaka Valley labs, is a wish to experience creative research work.
Mindaugas Bistrickas, who has just finished his second year undergraduate studies in applied chemistry, says that his “journey to the Valley” began with a simple enquiry: Mindaugas wanted to enhance his knowledge and skills on organic synthesis and approached his professor with this question.
“I did not expect that the enquiry will lead me to the brand new laboratories of Synthetic Chemistry Institute at KTU Santaka Valley. At the first day the director of the Institute showed us around and the appointed research supervisor introduced the basics of the work at a chemistry lab”, says Bistrickas.
KTU chemistry undergraduate believes that the practical research work is valuable not only for knowledge, skills and experience, but also for having the opportunity to observe researchers at work.
Mindaugas smiles while talking about his experience: “I used to think that the distance between me and the ‘grown-up’ researchers equals the distance from the Earth to the Mars. However, during the months spent at the laboratories working together I realised that they are friendly, open-minded and always willing to help”.
Students’ Research Outcomes Have Practical Applications
According to Jasiūnienė, masters and PhD measurement engineering students are being appointed the actual tasks of the projects KTU’s Ultrasound Research Institute is participating in.
“We receive samplings of actual problems, cases, that need to be solved, such as detection of microscopic defects using ultrasonic methods. For detection of these flaws new methods need to be created and new technologies developed, which are later being applied world-wide”, says the researcher.
State-of-the-art ultrasound research equipment is open for use for KTU students’ experiments: “In the labs we have the unique in the Baltic region research-devoted computed tomography scanner, the acoustic microscope and other modern research devices which allow to investigate objects of various sizes – from very small, such as human cells to very large, such as a rail track sections”.
At KTU’s Santaka Valley Ultrasound Research Institute students operate the equipment, similar to that used in industry. Jasiūnienė is convinced that this experience renders KTU graduates considerable advantage in job market.
Research Which Saves Lives
Kristina Andrėkutė, a measurement engineering PhD student, thinks that being a researcher is personally rewarding: “Being a researcher means that you find out new things daily. I think people can never grow old, if they keep themselves interested in new things”.
Kristina’s research at Ultrasound Research Institute focuses on development of new ultrasound technologies which will assist medical professionals in melanoma diagnosis. The young researcher is thrilled by the opportunity to participate in research, which can help people and save their lives.
“The prospective outcome of our research is diagnosing melanoma by ultrasound only, without surgical invasion or histological analysis. Ultrasonic examination is not expensive, nor invasive or painful. High precision technology can detect very small – up to 1 mm – tumours. At this stage they are less dangerous”, says Andrėkutė.
Masters student Audrius Valavičius, who is undertaking practical research work at the Institute of Materials Science, believes in the global significance of his work on nitriding of surfaces: new technologies and discoveries in this field of research are being done all over the world.
“Nitrided surfaces have corrosive protection, and nitriding enhances biological compatibility, therefore these surfaces can be used for implants”, Valavičius is excited by the diversity of practical applications of his research.
According to him, knowledge acquired through studies helps to understand the world better. The heavier the luggage, the easier the ride – says the student.
