Last week we spent a nice morning on the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FAMENA) in Zagreb, more specifically on its spin-off company CTT d.o.o. (Center for Transfer of Technology). Within CTT it is being worked on different innovative projects, company networking and internationalization. Find out in the post below how our speaker Lovro got to his position within CTT and what he loves about his job!
1. Can you tell us more about your education and how it led you to your current work position?
I enrolled into the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture because I was always interested in mathematics and physics. My course of choice was related to process and energy engineering, while later on i specialized in energetics. After I defended my Master thesis I wanted to remain in the environment of the university, so I accepted the position of a researcher on the ZEVinnovation project, which is has CTT as its main coordinating partner.
2. What first sparked the interest for innovation and sustainability in you?
During my studies I started being interested for innovation and sustainability. My wish was to broaden my knowledge within these segments. The ZEVinnovation project was an opportunity and it's the reason why today I know how to coordinate and lead EU projects. Additionally, I learned which processes take for an innovation to be sustainable. One of the goals of ZEVinnovation is to find companies within Croatia and Poland and offer them support in their innovation process and development. Innovative products are often the result of a complex development process for which a lot of time, money and multidisciplinary knowledge are required. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with companies within the marine industry through ZEVinnovation and to offer them support so their innovations could be placed in the market. Moreover, this project allows me to carry out scientific research which has a big impact on the marine industry in my opinion.
3. What do you think is the main enabler of your business?
The main enabler of CTT's work is the collaboration with FAMENA, since our company is founded by and in the ownership of the faculty. However, CTT actively works on EU project application and implementation, seminar organization and various incubators for both students and private sector companies. The main goal of the student incubator is to prepare the students to work in an entrepreneurial surrounding and securing the conditions to develop projects based on knowledge and contemporary technologies, while connecting with the regional economy. The student incubator will offer different educational programs, primarily for proactive and entrepreneurial students of FAMENA who want to apply their university knowledge on practical examples within the industry. The coordinated collaboration between CTT and companies tries to create a synergy between development and application of innovative technologies, with the goal of solving project problems.
4. What would you state as a main benefit of working with the marine industry and blue economy?
Nowadays you can see in different industries the emerging of innovations and tech solutions which make our daily life and work easier. The main advantage of working with the marine industry and blue economy is the lack of research in decarboinzation of the industry, lack of software and similar modern tech solutions. Investing into research and development of new and alterantive technologies is an important segment of the marine industry, since it is boosting its sustainable development.
5. How does networking benefit your work?
Developing long term relationships with the industry is of extreme importance for the ZEVinnovation project, because one of the goals is to develop an active digital platform which will gather innovators, SMEs, scientist and other stakeholders interested in the electrification of the marine industry. Networking and the development of a good social network within the marine industry is important for ZEVinnovation. That is why we are actively taking part in different networking events, seminars, conferences, boat shows and other events related to the marine industry.
6. Would you give young people the advice of taking your path or would you change something? What's your main motivator?
I would advise young people to work on projects if they want to have a multidisciplinary experience. Projects require different skills, from report writing, organizing networking events, developing a digital platform to international collaboration. At this moment, my main motivator is to successfully execute the ZEVinnovation project and to offer support to companies and innovators in the marine industry through the project.
Lovro and his colleague Karlo are the new members of our club of young people in the marine industry. If you still didn't apply, you can do that on the following link!