Projects

The main scope of the activities to be undertaken during the project covers capacity-building initiatives in selected higher education institutions with the main goal to improve and harmonize understanding as well as practice of entrepreneurial mindset, innovative talent and high-impact expertise.

The purpose of the work was to test and experiment with the Emtel EN-7.1k-48-1C-x-x-x-PIB_1V0-GEN1 energy storage device. During the testing, the full cycle of charging and discharging the storage device was measured and documented. In addition, the self-discharge of the storage device within 24 h was evaluated.

The project “Feasibility Study on the Mechanical Recycling of Wind Turbine Blades” addresses the growing environmental and technological challenge related to the increasing volume of end-of-life wind turbine blades. The objective of the project is to study these complex fibre-reinforced composite materials (primarily glass fibres and epoxy resins, as well as metallic fasteners, sensors, and other components) and to assess the feasibility of their mechanical processing and selective separation. The study is primarily focused on demonstrating the fundamental feasibility (proof-of-concept) of mechanical recycling, identifying whether and in which direction further technological development is justified. The project evaluates the applicability of different mechanical treatment and separation methods and establishes an initial methodological basis for future development. The work builds on existing laboratory experience and aims to identify general processing principles and technological potential rather than to develop a final industrial solution. The obtained results will provide guidance for further research and enable the initiation of larger-scale R&D projects aimed at developing integrated recycling technologies and their commercialisation. In the long term, the project contributes to the development of resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable recycling solutions, supporting circular economy principles, creating new value chains, and reducing landfill disposal of composite materials.

Development of sensor technology for women’s health.

Bone loading is the stress on bones during physical activity. It affects bone health and current wearable devices cannot measure it accurately. OsteoSense uses minature biosensors to capture human motion and machine learning to estimate bone loading, providing feedback and expert guidance directly on your smart phone. The system will be tested by leading experts in Estonia and professional football and racing teams in the UK, providing a world-class solution for indoor and outdoor human motion capture and bone loading reporting.

The proposed experimental research is part of the EU project Co-Udlabs, one of whose partners is the field laboratory of Aalborg University in Frejlev. The air and water stratified-flow pipe at the Frejlev research station will be reconstructed in order to examine the ventilation conditions of the water collection system.

The existing solid face fermentation systems do not ensure the optimal oxygen supply, nor temperature, high microbial contamination risk is also common for those systems. The aim of current project is to develop a simple and cheap system for cultivation of fungi or mycelium equipped with oxygen and temperature control. That improves the growth rate and yield of fungal biomass. System is universal, in addition to cultivation of fungi it enables to carry out high temperature composting. We use 20 - 200 L polypropylene bags as cultivation vessels, that are equipped with process control head. This cultivation vessel enables sterilization, aseptic inoculation, aeration and cooling of growth substrate. Cultivation vessel is connected to control system for oxygen and temperature monitoring and process control at least in 4 individual cultivation vessels.

"Pitt-Hopkins syndrome is a cognitive functional disorder, caused by a de novo genetic mutation of one allele of the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) gene. It has been reported that postnatal restoration of TCF functions in Pitt-Hopkins syndrome animal model (partially) rescues the phenotype, indicating that therapeutic approaches increasing TCF4 levels or activity might also help patients. It has also been reported that inhibiting histone deacetylase activity increases TCF4 transcriptional activity and rescues memory deficiencies associated with TCF4 haploinsufficiency in a mouse model. These effects are likely conveyed by some TCF4 co-repressor, such as ETO/RUNX1T1 recruiting HDACs. However, HDAC inhibitors have a very broad effect on the cellular transcription and can cause various side-effects. Here, we hypothesize that by modulating the activity of specific TCF4 co-activators or co-repressors or their interaction with TCF4 could increase TCF4-dependent transcription, thus alleviating the symptoms of Pitt-Hopkins syndrome and have less side effects for the patients. To this end, we pursue to thoroughly identify the co-regulators participating in TCF4-dependent transcription, and to find means to modulate their activity. The specific aims are as follows: (1) Identify the co-regulatory proteins of different TCF4 protein isoforms. (2) Determine the mechanism of action and the interacting regions between TCF4 and co-regulatory proteins. (3) Develop means to modulate the transcriptional activity or binding of the TCF4 co-regulatory proteins."

Copper-related compounds were identified in human serum albumin samples with the aim of improving the quality of these products.

The aim of the study is to determine the chemical composition of 30 propolis samples collected from different counties of Estonia and to study their antioxidant and antibacterial effects.

Monitoring, recording and analysis of the correct parameters of production equipment at the prototype level using AI.

New methods for producing mat type material from wood springs will be developed based on current equipment and by complementing this with collaborative robot. Possibilities to form the wood spring mat with suitable gripping method will be researched to find an optimal solution to produce this type of packaging material. The found trajectories and kinematics by using the collaborative robot (Omron) will be later used as input for developing next generation of production machine. The generated trajectories and kinematics information from robot programs can be also optimized by using AI tools (Machine Learning) to find more optimized solutions (for trajectory and weaving) considering production speed, travelled trajectories, movement dynamics, created mat density etc. as an input parameters.

The aim of the project is to update the existing subject "Production Digitalization" (6 ECTS), modernize the content of the subject according to the latest rapid developments in the field. New development tools based on virtual (VR) and augmented (AR) reality are introduced on a significant scale, and applications based on them in the areas of processing and production.