Armatuuri ry is a student organization for energy technology students at LUT-university (former name: Lappeenranta University of Technology, LTY). It has been working for the Lappeenranta energy technology students since 1974 on university and student union issues and organized various leisure activities for its members.
The history of the guild’s birth dates to 1973, when a few students of power engineering at the then university had received the idea of setting up a guild at the end of dinner and refreshments in the Lappeenranta Student Housing Foundation (LOAS) Park’s staircase. And that decision began the development of the guild, which led to the approval of Power Technology Guild Armatuuri´s rules at the Lappeenranta University of Technology Student Union (LTKY) Representative Council meeting in December 1973. The name armatuuri comes from Latin (lat. Armatu’ra = armament) and refers to the machine, steam boiler, piping, etc. fixed metal equipment or, in electrical engineering, also lighting fixtures and line equipment, etc.
Over the years, the biggest and most prominent events of the guild were the excursions to various industrial facilities. In 1974, during the three-day excursion, six large power plants in Southern Finland were visited (Mussalo, Loviisa, Hanasaari, Inkoo, Naantali and Vanaja). The first foreign excursion was made in 1975 to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In 1979, the Gothenburg Energy Fair was visited, the 1980s the fourth-year students visited in the United States and in 1986 the destination of foreign excursion was China. In the 1980s the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant became a traditional freshman excursion destination where students from the first year visited each autumn until the early 2000s.
Armatuuri has been actively involved in national and international student cooperation in its field since the early years. The first relationships in the 1970s were created with the TKK, thermal power club (lämpövoimakerho). Guild members have participated in Electrical Co-operation Boards (SYK) meetings and in turn Armatuuri has also hosted the event. Contributions to current affairs have been made, among others to KTM for the construction of the Olkiluoto 3 unit.
Over the years, many students have worked as the Guild’s Board members and staff, others for a shorter time, and others for almost all their study time. Without their active contribution and action, the guild would not have such long traditions and history behind it as it currently has.
Today, the number of students in energy technology has fallen from the peak years of the 1980s and 1990s, with the differentiation of electrical engineering and environmental engineering as their own study paths on both sides of the millennium. At this time, the guilds of electrical engineering (1997) and environmental technology (2001) were also created, resulting in a significant decrease in the number of new students involved in guild.
For years, the meeting place for students have been Armatuuri´s guild room. In 2005, the Guild room was refurbished to increase comfort and improve the overall look, which means that today you can meet more and more members holding a coffee cup while studying in the Guild room.
26.3.2007 Risto Tapanen
(2.7.2019, Translated to English by Aleksi Kaksonen)