Wärtsilä Opens New University R&D Facility

The new Wärtsilä Innovation Node is situated at the heart of the Aalto University campus in Espoo, Finland.

 Wärtsilä' recently opened Innovation Node brings business experts, students and researchers to the same venue to stimulate creativity and boost effectiveness as well as the cross-disciplinary nature of Wärtsilä’s research and innovation activities.

“It is hard to interact in physically separate venues. We want to encourage creativity by uniting the brain power of business professionals, researchers and young talent in the same space,” says Ilari Kallio, Director of Research and Innovation Management, whose desk among a few others is now located on the first floor of the Open Innovation House.

Wärtsilä Innovation Node will be used in cooperation projects for example in the fields of automation and control engineering, industrial design, and combustion engine technology and user experience.

Wärtsilä has a long history of cooperation with universities across the globe and the company has been very active in involving students in business life, for example, by continuous thesis commissions. One of the latest course cooperation projects with Aalto University – called Augmented Reality – engaged students to explore new innovative ways to improve safety and maneuverability of vessels at sea.

Wärtsilä is one of the leaders in research and product development in its industry with 13 R&D centres and over 700 specialists.