Pho­to­nics and forest bio­eco­no­my pro­fes­sio­nals 

Various paths lead to the field of foresty and photonics

Joen­suu is an inter­na­tio­nal­ly sig­ni­ficant player in both pho­to­nics and forest bio­eco­no­my. The pho­to­nics field is growing rapid­ly around the world, and Joen­suu is recog­ni­sed as one of its hubs.

The­re are more than 350 pho­to­nics pro­fes­sio­nals wor­king in the city, and that num­ber is cons­tant­ly inc­rea­sing. Joen­suu is also the lar­gest pro­vi­der of pho­to­nics educa­tion in Fin­land.

In Joen­suu, the forest bio­eco­no­my field emplo­ys more than 6,000 people, of which 600 are in expert and deve­lop­ment posi­tions. Experts in the field gra­dua­te with almost 20 dif­fe­rent degrees. 

Let’s meet some people wor­king in forest bio­eco­no­my and pho­to­nics. 

Mar­kus Soik­ke­li, Qua­li­ty Tech­nician, Nanocomp Oy 

Mar­kus Soik­ke­li, who works at Nanocomp, recom­mends pho­to­nics as a field to any­one.

‘I’m actual­ly a good example of how people from many dif­fe­rent backgrounds can end up in the pho­to­nics field. I ori­gi­nal­ly gra­dua­ted as a car pain­ter and had time to try seve­ral pro­fes­sions befo­re fin­ding my way to Nanocomp four years ago. 

Nanocomp manu­fac­tu­res nano-optical com­po­nents used in, for example, mobi­le device displays and pat­tern recog­ni­tion. 

I star­ted as a Pro­duc­tion Qua­li­ty Ins­pec­tor and have since beco­me a Qua­li­ty Tech­nician. Among other things, I am res­pon­sible for pro­gram­ming 3D mea­su­ring devices and sup­por­ting pro­duc­tion. 

The varia­bi­li­ty and deve­lop­ment of work are the best parts of the field, and I recom­mend pho­to­nics as a field to any­one. This is a cons­tant­ly evol­ving setcor, and I am cer­tain the­re will always be work in it, as long as elect­ro­nics and LED lights exist!’ 

Rau­no Tans­ka­nen, Fores­ter, City of Joen­suu 

In addi­tion to ver­sa­ti­li­ty, Rau­no Tans­ka­nen values ​​free­dom and the out­doors in his work.

‘Because I grew up in the count­ry­si­de, the forest has always been a fami­liar envi­ron­ment for me. As a litt­le boy, I drea­med of beco­ming a police officer or wor­king in con­struc­tion, but I ended up wor­king in fore­stry.  

After gra­dua­ting as a fore­stry engi­neer, I star­ted wor­king as a Fores­ter for the City of Joen­suu in 2012. I got a per­ma­nent posi­tion in 2017. I have been wor­king the same job since then. 

The duties of a Fores­ter wor­king for the city are diver­se and varied. In addi­tion to fore­stry, they inclu­de plan­ting, clea­ring and comple­ting special tasks in park areas. I’ve even wor­ked in clea­ring snow, and right now, I’m wor­king on new posts for put­ting up name pla­tes for Joen­suu’s wood­land park. 

I apprecia­te the free­dom and fresh air that my work offers. I also don’t need to go to the gym, because my days are spent doing phy­sical labour. 

The job is tru­ly varied that gives you a lot of res­pon­si­bi­li­ty and free­dom whi­le plan­ning your work.’ 

Anni Leh­mus­ke­ro, Senior Optics Specia­list, Entangly / Pro­fes­sor of Prac­tice, UEF  

Anni Leh­mus­ke­ro emp­ha­sizes the ver­sa­ti­li­ty of the industry.

‘I got exci­ted about pho­to­nics alrea­dy in upper secon­da­ry school, and the field is still as pro­mi­sing as it was then. 

I wro­te my doc­to­ral dis­ser­ta­tion on pho­to­nics. After that, I have wor­ked abroad as a researc­her and later moved on to the industrial side of optical design and pro­duct deve­lop­ment. 

Cur­rent­ly, I work for the Entangly con­sul­ting com­pa­ny, whe­re I par­tici­pa­te in e.g. optics design, mea­su­ring and sales work. In Joen­suu, I am in char­ge of deve­lo­ping the recent­ly ope­ned branch. At the same time, I am a Pro­fes­sor of Prac­tice at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Eas­tern Fin­land, whe­re I pro­mo­te pho­to­nics educa­tion and coo­pe­ra­tion between the uni­ver­si­ty and busi­nes­ses. 

Pho­to­nics offers exten­si­ve oppor­tu­ni­ties for tho­se inte­res­ted in engi­nee­ring, and the stu­dies com­bi­ne many dif­fe­rent areas, such as phy­sics, mat­he­ma­tics and com­pu­ting.’ 

Johan­na Rou­ta, Research Mana­ger, LUKE

Fami­ly brought Johan­na Rou­ta to stu­dy forest sciences in Joen­suu.

‘In a way, what lead me to forest research was paragli­ding. My hus­band and I ran a busi­ness that impor­ted paragli­ders and rela­ted equip­ment. Later, after our children were born, I star­ted thin­king about chan­ging my career. I ended up stu­dying forest science at the uni­ver­si­ty in Joen­suu. 

The forest was the first thing that came to mind. Natu­ral­ly, my deci­sion was also influenced by the fact that, as the mot­her of a lar­ge fami­ly, I nee­ded to find a place to stu­dy in Joen­suu. 

I work at the Natu­ral Resources Ins­ti­tu­te Fin­land (LUKE), whe­re I lead research pro­jects, such as the REpower EU pro­ject, which focuses on impro­ving ener­gy secu­ri­ty. The research area covers the opti­mi­sa­tion of bio­ener­gy and wood fuels. As a research mana­ger, I am res­pon­sible for a wide ran­ge of fore­stry, inven­to­ry, forest plan­ning and forest cul­ti­va­tion pro­jects. 

At LUKE, we do work that is mea­ning­ful and pro­duce researc­hed infor­ma­tion to sup­port deci­sion-making. The impor­tance of forests is only inc­rea­sing, and the need for researc­hed infor­ma­tion is beco­ming more pro­nounced.’ 

Eli­na Kois­ti­nen, Execu­ti­ve Direc­tor, Euro­pean Optical Socie­ty (EOS)  

Eli­na Kons­ti­nen recom­mends pho­to­nics as a field, emp­ha­sizing the industry’s inter­na­tio­na­li­ty and career oppor­tu­ni­ties.

‘I am the Execu­ti­ve Direc­tor of the Euro­pean Optical Socie­ty (EOS), and I’m res­pon­sible for the acti­vi­ties, event pro­duc­tion and pro­jects of an orga­ni­sa­tion with over 4,000 mem­bers. 

EOS is an umbrel­la orga­ni­sa­tion for Euro­pean optics and pho­to­nics experts and natio­nal associa­tions in the field, and it pro­mo­tes research, educa­tion and industrial deve­lop­ment in the field.’ EOS orga­ni­ses inter­na­tio­nal con­fe­rences and works­hops, publis­hes scien­ti­fic articles and pro­vi­des networ­king oppor­tu­ni­ties for researc­hers, stu­dents and busi­nes­ses. 

‘To keep growing, the field needs more experts and fun­ding.’ Accor­ding to Kois­ti­nen, Joen­suu in par­ticu­lar is an exempla­ry cent­re for pho­to­nics educa­tion and research. 

‘Pho­to­nics offers huge career oppor­tu­ni­ties, and the field is very inter­na­tio­nal. This is a great choice for stu­dents who want to find emplo­y­ment in tech­no­lo­gy,’ Kois­ti­nen says. 

‘Joen­suu offers first-rate educa­tion in the field. The city is Finland’s lea­ding pho­to­nics educa­tor, and seve­ral com­pa­nies in the field are loca­ted in the area!’ 

This mate­rial was pro­duced as part of the acti­vi­ties of the City of Joen­suu Inno­va­tion Eco­sys­tem Agree­ment (ERDF), co-fun­ded by the Euro­pean Union and the city of Joen­suu.

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