This study is a part of WP5 “Planning and piloting the joint cross-border multi-disciplinary curricula in the automotive and motorsport industry”. The context is European, as it is impossible to plan Finnish-Russian cross-broder curricula due to the current political and academic restrictions. It is done in accordance with the internal and external project instructions, in close cooperation with XAMK project team.

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This study is part of “WP2 Benchmark study, motorsport” that was conducted by EduKo.

The main principle of Historic racing is to nurture the cultural heritage of old cars, both history and sports. Historic cars can be enjoyed and competed in many different sports, the most common of which are rally, track driving, rally sprint and hill races. Historic rally sports do not appear as glamorous to the average consumer as, for example, the World Rally Championship run by WRC factory teams.
This thesis mainly focuses on rally competition.

Observations made during the Midnattssolsrally 2022 competition have been used for the analysis and comparison, which have been compared to the corresponding domestic event in the field, the Lahti Historic Rally to the EC competition.

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This study is a part of WP2 “Benchmark study in the EU context”. It was made based on the WP2 “Benchmarking of the automotive and motorsport ecosystem in the European context” work trip in Barcelona, Spain in May 2022 together with our Race4Scale project team in XAMK – Mr. Jarmo Kujanpää, Mr. Jan Kettula, Mr. Mikhail Nemilentsev.

Professional training in the world of motorsport and automotives takes place at all levels of education in Spain. Barcelona and the Catalonia region as a whole were chosen as an example. The reasons were the proximity of sports car tracks, the international position of the city of Barcelona, the great influence of border states France, Italy and Portugal, and the accessibility of Barcelona International Airport for international events and competitions.

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This report describes the Futures Labs from the project Race4Scale – Development of the Multidisciplinary Educational, Business and RDI Opportunities for the Finnish-Russian Automotive and Motorsport Industry Ecosystem. The primary aim of the work package was to create new cross-border curricula and the Futures Lab is one part of the whole curricula.

The designed and implemented Futures Labs offered a participatory channel for multidisciplinary interaction for tackling future uncertainties and identifying opportunities collaboratively across different fields of study and industries.

The Futures Lab was implemented twice online during the academic term 2021-2022. First during Autumn, and then during Spring.

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This trip was related to the Race4Scale project workpackage (WP) number 2. The content of WP2 is defined in the project plan as a trip to a European destination and three separate studies on the delivery of the trip.

• WP2 Bench marking of the automotive and motors port ecosystem in the European context
• WP Benchmark study in the EU context.

Xamk’s project staff took part in this trip: Mikhail Nemilentsev, Jan Kettula, Jarmo Kujanpää. Xamk will conduct related research on the collaboration of educational institutions with the ecosystems of motor sport and the automotive industry. It will be completed in the fall of 2022. EduKo will make a similar trip to Sweden on July 4-9, 2022, with the topic of the automotive industry and motor sports, and two studies on these topics.
The following describes the program and key findings of the Barcelona WP2 trip in chronological order from 18 to 25 May 2022.

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Formula 1 race on the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, post-competition round of honor. 22.5.2022. (Video)

Automotive Innovation Camp (AIC) includes the planning and organizing a unique multidisciplinary innovation four-day experience for the student teacher-industry interaction in the cross-border context. Focus is on the weak signals and disruptive technologies in the cross-border automotive and motosport industry. Solving multidisciplinary challenges of the automotive and motorsport industry by the students from the secondary and tertiary partner educational institutions organized in the Finnish-Russian multicultural and multidisciplinary groups. Teachers of the educational partners and members of the Finnish-Russian business community work as coaches and facilitators of the event. Students are expected to generate product/service innovative solutions to respond to the current and future industry needs in the cross-border context.

This study is part of the work package 4 of the project.

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The aim of this pre-study is to explore the concept of simulation and how simulation-based learning can strengthen the development of the students’ skills and how it can be used in the ensemble of various pedagogical methods in vocational education. It can be said that vocational education is one of the environments that has been most disrupted and changed due to the extraordinary circumstances during the Covid19-pandemic. To the vocational education provider Adult Education Taitaja this challenge was the catalyst for change and strongly boosted the use of digital learning and VR-technology.

This study is part of the work package 2 of the project.

Arola Tuija
PhD., Development Director, Branch Manager, Adult Education Taitaja

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Mobility is under transition. We can see much evidence for this in our everyday life and surroundings. Vehicle charging facilities are building up, electric scooter services are popping up in many cities, cycling is becoming a true alternative for many and is being promoted by cities building new and enhanced cycle paths.

In the larger view, we see that sustainability is driving much of the transition. Car manufacturers are facing strict regulation in several markets, which puts stress on achieve low levels of CO2 emissions. Electro-mobility is a relevant option for different types of vehicles and mobility needs, from small and short range (e.g., electric assist bicycles, urban distribution vans and trucks) to larger and longer range (buses, heavy goods vehicles). Reaching road transport with zero exhaust emissions requires a system-level change and renewal of the whole mobility ecosystem. As passenger cars are the dominant mode of transport in many countries, including Finland, the sustainability transition can be considered as a game changer for the industry.

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The automotive industries in the Russian Federation and in Finland are experiencing some similar trends such as the demand for innovative solutions, further staff training and lifelong learning, as well as the growing share of local suppliers. Cross-border ecosystems in the European Union can act as a cooperation reference point, which will help to build effective communication and interaction between the members of the automotive cluster. The territorial proximity of Finland and Saint Petersburg, as well as well-developed logistical and information infrastructures of both regions are the precursors for a cross-border ecosystem aimed at best practice exchange and innovative product development. In creating such an ecosystem, regulated travel, labor mobility and other cooperation permeability will be of particular importance.

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The purpose of the research is conducting multidisciplinary applied research of the current and future (development) needs and the future professions in the automotive industry to develop educational and innovation opportunities focused on three age categories: children, students and teachers, representatives of the “third” age. Also the identification of weak market signals for a technological breakthrough and expanding the range of opportunities for international cooperation in business and education.

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The aim of the thesis was to create the customer profiles of the race track users for KymiRing. The company of KymiRing is a new motorsport and driving training center located in Iitti, in southeastern Finland. KymiRing is the only international level race track in Finland and the leading race track in northern Europe.

The research process of the thesis focused on the collection and analysis of diverse user data. In this thesis were used qualitative research methods. The thesis process is utilized design thinking and service design methods. The benchmarking, observation, semi-structured interviews and an expert interview were selected as research methods. The collected research material was compiled into a matrix, which was analyzed using a similarity diagram into a clearer whole. Based on this, targeted interviews were conducted with targeted customer groups to gather additional information. Based on the research material and targeted customer group interviews, material was compiled, based on which the mapping of customer profiles started.

The thesis is productive and resulted in customer profiles and the visualizations formed from them. Based on the collected research data, five different customer profiles were eventually created. The race track user cards were visualized using a personas tool of the five generated customer profiles of the race track users. The race track user cards summarize the characteristics, needs and motives of all user profiles as well as the needs of the services. This thesis and customer profiles, as well as the race track user cards created as a result, will be handed over to KymiRing Oy to support the development of their customer understanding on the way to a more productive business.

Read here (in Finnish)