I earned a doctorate in technology from LUT University in 2018, and after spending about ten years working at LUT, I was offered a position in industry. In autumn 2022, I started at The Switch as a thermal design specialist. Today, I work as a project manager for research and development at the company.
Since joining The Switch, I’ve been involved in various forms of collaboration with the university. Last academic year, I participated in teaching through project work and guest lectures, which I’ll describe in more detail in this blog. Over the years, I’ve also supervised bachelor’s and master’s theses, worked in steering groups, and engaged in research collaboration.
Given my background, current role, and established connections, I’m naturally drawn to toward different forms of university collaboration. New partnerships also help me expand my networks, learn new things, and expose students to the professional world. When I was studying, the most motivating assignments were real research cases from industry, and that’s why I want to give students the same experiences. Being involved in early-stage research can lead to future projects and sales for the company as well.
Every spring, I give a lecture to master’s students in energy technology for the Design of Fluid Machinery course, focusing on my area of expertise: compressor design. When I worked at LUT, I was responsible for this course, and since then, Petri Sallinen has taken over as the course instructor.
After the lecture, we hold a tutorial where I guide students through a homework assignment and a more extensive exercise, while Petri handles the assessment and other course content.
In my experience, international students are often the most active participants in my lectures.
Over the years, I’ve met many students through this course and noticed how student groups have become increasingly international. In my experience, international students are often the most active participants in my lectures. In addition to the topic, they’re also interested in the company and the career opportunities it offers.
At The Switch, like at many other companies, interesting development ideas and research topics often emerge but tend to get pushed aside by more urgent tasks. Project collaboration with the university is a great way to bring these ideas to life while they’re still current.
Sometimes, development ideas require expertise that isn’t available within the company. Luckily, LUT is training future top professionals in the field, and their skills can be utilized through educational collaboration.
Project collaboration with the university is a great way to bring these ideas to life while they’re still current.
For example, we’ve had student groups work on project assignments for two academic years in the Inventive Product Design course for industrial engineering master’s students, led by Leonid Chechurin. In 2024, the assignment dealt with utilizing waste heat on ships, and in 2025, measuring the temperature of a high-speed machine rotor.
Earlier this year, in the Capstone Project for Software and Systems Engineering course taught by Maria Paasivaara, my colleague and I also presented students with a project assignment requiring software design. In that course, student groups choose from a variety of interesting project assignments offered by different companies.
We always start project assignments with a company visit so that students can better understand the topic, the need, and the goals. It also makes supervision easier when both sides are familiar with each other.
Offering a project assignment for a course does require some preparation. The topic needs to be defined, and the goals must be clearly outlined. I’ve learned that it’s important to justify the need and objectives so that students stay motivated and understand the impact of their work. Once the instructions are written down, it’s also easier to guide the work and answer questions, even if the project runs several periods.
It’s important to justify the need and objectives so that students stay motivated and understand the impact of their work.
Student groups bring together diverse experiences, skill sets, and interests. This way, a project or literature review gains a much broader perspective than if done alone. Students have been highly motivated to work on tasks that have a real impact in industry.
They also have access to the latest knowledge and a wide range of publications and other information sources. In addition, the course instructor supports the students throughout the course and helps steer them in the right direction from both an academic and an industry perspective.
Engage students as problem-solvers for focused, practical assignments. Project assignments provide students with expertise in applying classroom learning to real-world situations.
If your company has topics that our students could explore, please take a look at the courses that welcome external assignments.
