Newsmail #27, 2022-05-10

Dear all,

A genuine Machine Designer has left us. Priidu Pukk, born 1943, passed away on April 29. Priidu worked his entire life at KTH teaching Machine Design. Priidu retired almost 15 years ago but used to show up at our MMK holiday celebrations up until just before the pandemic.

Priidu was born in Estonia and moved to Sweden (fled) with his family in 1944. Priidu was one of a group of teaching staff with degrees both in engineering and education, and, in that role, was one of the key people creating the teaching culture we now have at MMK, with balance between theory and practice, problem-based, applied, industry-related project courses etc. In the beginning of my student career at KTH, Priidu was one of the teachers who made an impression with his engineering capabilities, his humor and care for students. As a new teacher at KTH, Priidu taught me many tricks. Some day, I’ll tell you about them.

In 2006, Priidu was awarded an honorary doctorate at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, a sign of a greatness that went far beyond the corridors of MMK.

Best,

Martin