Kaplaaki is a guild for IEM students and it has brought together students of Industrial Engineering since 1974. Student associations in engineering are called guilds Kaplaaki’s colorful history is dating back further than any other student organisation in LUT University. In over forty years Kaplaaki has grown to be one of the biggest Industrial Management guilds in Northern Europe. Each year the guild associates with over 100 new freshmen.

Main tasks of Kaplaaki are supervision of the interest of its members and lobbying. In order to complete these tasks Kaplaaki participates in different kinds of working groups and meetings. Kaplaaki also organizes leisure time activities to balance the academic and student life. To contribute lobbying and supervising the interests of its members Kaplaaki provides information for its members by communicating actively between the faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Student Union (LTKY) and other student associations. The leisure time activities include company visits, excursions and different kinds of events and student parties. Kaplaaki also maintains the guild room for its members at the campus area providing a relaxed atmosphere and coffee. One important task of Kaplaaki is also introducing the typical Finnish and especially Karelian technical student culture to the freshmen.

Joining the guild costs 20 euros and the membership is valid until your graduation. As a member you can join guild’s activities, meetings and events which are targeted strictly for the members. And of course you will be able get the most visible symbol of membership; Kaplaaki’s blue overalls. The guild also offers services for its members such as lobbying for the progress of your studies and is taking care of communication between University, Student Union and other guilds via mailing lists, internet and bulletin boards. If you have questions about the membership please contact the our chairperson.

One of the fundamental values of academic student organisation is the review of the education and the actions made by the University. The object of improvement must take into the attention of the personnel of the University. The voice of a big group weighs more than a single student’s voice. That is why lobbying is one of the most important activities of Kaplaaki. From Kaplaaki’s board the president and the responsible of academic affairs are actively taking part in several subjects and task groups. The information gathered from there will be then communicated to the members using different channels mentioned above. The communication is active between our faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, other guilds and Student Union (LTKY). Therefore Kaplaaki has a straight influence on approximately 800 students and multi-impacting effect even for a wider scale, approximately 7000 students.

We also to recommend you to join a mailing list from which you will get a weekly newsletter from our Officer of International Relations. The newsletter contains information about Kaplaaki’s upcoming events, ESTIEM events, vacancies and other current matters. Your tutors will tell you during the orientation how to join the mailing list.