During the visit, the Ambassador met with KU Vice-Rector for Research and Arts Rita Vaičekauskaitė, Dean of the Faculty of Marine Technologies and Natural Sciences Rima Mickevičienė, and the academic staff of the Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal Engineering study programme. The meeting was also attended by the KU Open Access Centre for Marine Research director Viktorija Vaitkevičienė, heads of the labs of the Centre and its researchers, and representatives of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Cluster and the Competence Centre.
The meeting focused on the development of the LNG study and research infrastructure. Klaipėda University is interested in collaboration with the universities and research centres of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with the aim of developing LNG innovations, increasing the efficiency of different LNG systems, and looking for new business models and technologies that would enable the expansion of the LNG market in Europe. Dean of KU Faculty of Marine Engineering and Natural Sciences Rima Mickevičienė has already established contacts with the researchers of the Eindhoven University of Technology. Currently possible forms of cooperation have been considered and international project applications for partnership expansion were developed. The collaboration of universities has been supported by the Ambassador: “It is good to hear that Klaipėda University positions itself as an LNG cluster knowledge centre”, said the Ambassador. He emphasised the bright prospects for LNG specialists prepared at KU. KU-prepared technology experts and Dutch marketing specialists are expected to collaborate seeking to create higher added value in the use of LNG.
After the discussion with the Ambassador, Dean R. Mickevičienė shared the idea of the development of a common European LNG specialist training standard in collaboration with the experts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and other LNG countries. “Such a standard would guarantee a high level of competences acquired by LNG professionals,” said Dr. Mickevičienė.
The activity carried out in the labs of the Open Access Centre for Marine Research – the nucleus of the Marine Valley – is relevant to the LNG research progress. The Director of the Centre V. Vaitkevičienė introduced the Ambassador to the structure and the research fields of the division. The Heads of five laboratories discussed both the scientific research opportunities and the services provided to business, the prospects of the development, and major presently developed international projects, with emphasis placed on those in which research institutions of the Netherlands participated as partners.
During the meeting, Klaipėda Science and Technology Park communication manager Andrius Sutnikas presented to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Gijsbert Hendrik Christiaan van der Lingen the developed activities of the LNG cluster. The organisation currently has as many as 10 members who seek to strengthen the LNG human potential and to improve the infrastructure, as well as to create conditions for the research internships of the staff in the most advanced labs.
After the disussion of all the planned issues, in the summary of the meeting results, the Ambassador expressed satisfaction with the progress made and the ambitious plans and took his leave until the 3rd LNG Forum, annually held in Vilnius by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
