Wärtsilä will donate a total of EUR 1,300,000 to Finnish universities between 2016–2017. Wärtsilä wishes to support Finnish technology education and this way participate in promoting research in Finnish universities and strengthening Finland's global competitiveness, the company said in its press release.
Aalto University's schools of technology will receive a significant share of the donation. Aalto is a multidisciplinary university that offers studies in business and art in addition to technology.
Also University of Vaasa, University of Helsinki, Åbo Akademi and Hanken School of Economics are among the donation recipients.
Wärtsilä has invested in product development and research for long now. In 2015 Wärtsilä took a special interest in product and solution innovations, especially in efficiency development, fuel flexibility and lowering environmental impact. Research and product development costs amounted to a total of EUR 132 million, which is 2.6% of net sales. About 700 people are working with product development at Wärtsilä.
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.
In 2015, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5 billion with approximately 18,800 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.