Mantas Petrauskas
Author
2026-05-15 13:48 • 3 min read
Lithuanian First Lady Diana Nausėdienė and Finnish First Lady Suzanne Elizabeth Innes-Stubb visited the Industrial Robotics Laboratory at Vilnius Gedimino Technical University (Vilnius Tech) on Friday. The visit focused on initiatives designed to increase the involvement of girls and young women in engineering, technology construction, and management activities.
During the visit, the First Ladies were introduced to the university’s efforts to integrate youth into the academic environment. These programs aim to demonstrate the importance of engineering to modern society and help students make informed career choices regardless of their social background or location.
A central part of the presentation was the “Future Engineering” (Ateities inžinerija) remote learning platform. This program allows students in grades 7–12 to engage in integrated project work within STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) fields.
Participants work on practical solutions to real-world environmental and community problems. Vilnius Tech supports these students by providing methodological materials, IT tools, and direct consultations with university faculty. The program also includes creative workshops held both in schools and at the university’s specialized laboratories.
First Lady Diana Nausėdienė emphasized the strategic importance of early technical education. Citing research, she noted that approximately 15% of children possess a natural “engineering mindset”—a specific set of analytical and problem-solving traits.
“If noticed and encouraged in time, these children can grow into the brilliant technology creators of the future,” Nausėdienė said. she praised the university for establishing a tradition of opening its doors to school-age children and providing teachers with access to professional laboratory resources, a model now being adopted by other higher education institutions in Lithuania.
The First Ladies met with students from the Vilnius Tech Engineering Lyceum, a specialized secondary school, who demonstrated their skills in controlling and programming mobile robots.
The guests were also shown “Lituanica X,” a robot designed by a student team that competed in the Lithuanian Robot Combat Championship. The visit concluded with the affirmation that engineering education remains a strategic national interest for ensuring technological progress and societal well-being.
What is the ‘Future Engineering’ program?
It is a remote learning platform by Vilnius Tech for students in grades 7-12, focusing on STEAM projects and real-world problem solving.
Who participated in the robotics demonstration?
Students from the Vilnius Tech Engineering Lyceum demonstrated mobile robot programming and presented the combat robot ‘Lituanica X’.
Diana NausėdienėSuzanne Elizabeth Innes-Stubb