The Estlander Prize and Medal are a distinction instituted by the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design / Design Forum Finland in recognition of significant achievement on behalf of Finnish design. They are named after the Society’s founder, Professor Carl Gustaf Estlander (1834–1910), and are awarded in the spirit of his life’s work and Finnish design.

Reasons for the Silver Medals were:
“Operating in an open-minded manner that stands out from academic traditions, the recipients of the Silver Medal have implemented a cross-disciplinary program for the encounters of discourses of various disciplines to provide opportunities for a new kind of creativity. Over the course of a dec­ade, modes of operation and realization have been shaped and continue to be, thus establishing new conditions for learning in this field. The awardees have been actively involved in creating a system combining expertise across disciplinary boundaries and significantly influencing the creation of Aalto University.

Professor Kalevi Ekman is director of the Design Factory of Aalto University. He has been successfully involved in developing several cross-disciplinary programmes aimed at bringing studies closer to the business community. Ekman was also one of the main architects of Aalto University.

Professor Raimo Nikkanen has taught for many years at the Aalto University School of Art and Design and its predecessor, training and inspiring students of industrial design to become professionals in their field. Nikkanen has a broad international network, within which he has also promoted the inter­nationalization of the School. He is an internationally popular lecturer who has supervised students in Europe, Asia and North America.

Professor Markku Salimäki is head of the International Design Business Management programme of the Aalto University School of Economics. Since the mid-1990s he has constructed a multidiscipli­nary research and learning environment intensifying cooperation between design, technology and the economy, while training skilled actors for key positions in international business.”

More information from Design Forum Finland.

Timo Löyttyniemi is an important player in the Finnish economy and in this role he has significantly contributed to the interaction between Aalto University and the business world. 

- I’m really delighted for the award. After all, internationally, the School of Economics is a top-ranking unit in economics and business administration. The School is of great importance for the Finnish business life and I'm proud to be able to be a member of this community. Both the business world and the School of Economics benefit from this active cooperation, concludes Löyttyniemi.

Timo Löyttyniemi graduated as Doctor of Science (Econ.) in 1992, writing his thesis about national economics.
He has worked for the HSE Executive Education (now Aalto University Executive Education), both as a trainer and a board member.
Löyttyniemi joined the School of Economics Alumni Board in 1993 and served as its chairman in 2007 - 2010.

He has also been a member of the fundraising campaign working group and taken part in the EQUIS and FINHEEC evaluations carried out at the School of Economics. He has also given lectures as part of his own lecture series and written a book about the reward system of top executives. The book, published in 2003, was a joint project between Löyttyniemi and the professors of the School of Economics.

Timo Löyttyniemi is currently a member of Aalto University’s advisory investment committee and he has also contributed to many other aspects of Aalto University (for example, as member of the committee choosing the name for it).

Löyttyniemi has served as the Managing Director of the State Pension Fund since 2003. Before that he worked as Capital Markets Director at Mandatum & Co Ltd and Managing Director of Norvestia Oyj. He is also a board member of a number of companies, including Itella and INREV.

The selection of the Alumnus of the Year was announced at the Aalto University School of Economics in connection with the Jaakko Honko Lecture on January 23th, 2012.

Further information: Timo Löyttyniemi, tel. 050 336 2094, timo.loyttyniemi@ver.fi

Jaakko Honko medals were awarded

Also Jaakko Honko medals were awarded at the lecture to persons who have significantly influenced promoting research in business and economics. Medals are granted by the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, Aalto University School of Economics and HSE Foundation.

Jaakko Honko medals were awarded to:
Per-Jonas Eliaeson, Professor Emeritus, Handelshögskolan
Kari Jordan, President and CEO of the Metsäliitto Group
Petteri Karttunen, CEO, SEB Gyllenberg Asset Management Ab
Marja Makarow, Chief Executive, European Science Foundation, ESF
Lasse Männistö, Parliamentary Representative, M.Sc.
Arja Talma, CEO of Rautakesko

Basis and justification for Jaakko Honko medals.

The Infosys Science Foundation announced in November 16, 2011 the winners of the Infosys Prize 2011, recognizing outstanding contributions across five categories of scientific research - Engineering and Computer Science, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

The Prize for Engineering and Computer Science

The Prize for Engineering and Computer Science is awarded to Professor Kalyanmoy Deb for his contributions to the emerging field of Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO). That has led to advances in non-linear constraints, decision uncertainty, programming and numerical methods, computational efficiency of large-scale problems and optimization algorithms.

Prof. Deb holds an Adjunct Professor position at the Department of Information and Service Economy at Aalto University School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland. In addition, he is a Velux Foundation Guest Professor at the Technical University of Denmark. Prof. Kalyanmoy Deb received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1985, and his PhD in Engineering from the University of Alabama. He is the author of more than 280 research papers, two textbooks and 17 edited books.

The award ceremony for the Infosys Prize 2011 will be held on January 9, 2012 in Bangalore, India. 

The Infosys Science Foundation is a not-for-profit trust set up in February 2009 by the management of Infosys. The Infosys Prize, awarded under the aegis of the Foundation, honors outstanding achievements of researchers and scientists across five categories of scientific research. Each award carries a cash prize of INR 50 Lakh (72 275 €), a 22 karat gold medallion and a citation certificate. The Infosys Prize is amongst the highest in terms of prize money for any award in India. The laureates of the Infosys Prize are chosen by individual jury panels, comprising international jurors who evaluate the candidates against international research.

Lisätietoja:
Professori Kalyanmoy Deb
Aalto University School of Economics
kdeb@egr.msu.edu
tel. +358 40 353 8002

More about the Infosys Prize laureates (infosys-science-foundation.com)

The Infosys Science Foundation announced in November 16, 2011 the winners of the Infosys Prize 2011, recognizing outstanding contributions across five categories of scientific research - Engineering and Computer Science, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

The Prize for Engineering and Computer Science

The Prize for Engineering and Computer Science is awarded to Professor Kalyanmoy Deb for his contributions to the emerging field of Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO). That has led to advances in non-linear constraints, decision uncertainty, programming and numerical methods, computational efficiency of large-scale problems and optimization algorithms.

Prof. Deb holds an Adjunct Professor position at the Department of Information and Service Economy at Aalto University School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland. In addition, he is a Velux Foundation Guest Professor at the Technical University of Denmark. Prof. Kalyanmoy Deb received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1985, and his PhD in Engineering from the University of Alabama. He is the author of more than 280 research papers, two textbooks and 17 edited books.

The award ceremony for the Infosys Prize 2011 will be held on January 9, 2012 in Bangalore, India. 

The Infosys Science Foundation is a not-for-profit trust set up in February 2009 by the management of Infosys. The Infosys Prize, awarded under the aegis of the Foundation, honors outstanding achievements of researchers and scientists across five categories of scientific research. Each award carries a cash prize of INR 50 Lakh (72 275 €), a 22 karat gold medallion and a citation certificate. The Infosys Prize is amongst the highest in terms of prize money for any award in India. The laureates of the Infosys Prize are chosen by individual jury panels, comprising international jurors who evaluate the candidates against international research.

Lisätietoja:
Professori Kalyanmoy Deb
Aalto University School of Economics
kdeb@egr.msu.edu
tel. +358 40 353 8002

More about the Infosys Prize laureates

Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking 2011 results were published on Monday September 24, 2011. Aalto Executive MBA (Aalto EMBA) Program offered by Aalto University Executive Education (Aalto EE) was awarded with an excellent result and claimed a position as the number one EMBA Program in the Nordic Countries. For the first time Aalto EMBA Program left clearly behind the two traditional Scandinavian business schools, Stockholm School of Economics (founded in 1909) and Copenhagen Business School (founded in 1917). In FT’s global ranking Aalto EMBA Program is now ranked 53rd which is 9 places higher than previous year.

− Aalto EE’s carefully built position as the bridge between East and West is now beginning to bear fruit. We are humbly proud of our success in this prestigious ranking with our global Aalto Executive MBA Program which is currently offered in Finland, Poland, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Next year we will launch operations in Indonesia and build foundations for entry to Malaysia, says Dr Pekka Mattila, Group Managing Director, Aalto EE and Visiting Professor, Aalto University School of Economics. In 2011 Aalto EE has also relaunched its operations in Mainland China.

− The advancement is also thanks to the new Aalto model. True multidisciplinary thinking, international presence and the mere scale of Aalto’s operations are indisputable assets for us, says Dr Mattila.

Among all the variables of the Financial Times’ ranking Aalto EMBA Program performed best in participants’ career progress and the diversity of the program contents, participants and professors. For example gender equality was emphasized in the ranking.

− The result of the ranking indicates that our EMBA programs both in Europe and Asia encourage women to enter international executive careers. We have a considerable number of female executives in our programs and the share of female professors in our programs is above the average, says Dr Minna Hiillos, Head and Associate Dean of Degree Programs, Aalto EE.

Financial Times ranks annually the best Executive MBA programs in the world. This year the list comprised the 100 best EMBA programs globally. Aalto Executive MBA Program took part in the ranking by the name Aalto Executive MBA / Aalto University School of Economics.

For further information:

Dr Pekka Mattila,
Group Managing Director and Associate Dean, Executive Education
Aalto University Executive Education
pekka.mattila@aaltoee.fi
Mobile +358 40 738 7221

www.aaltoee.fi
www.facebook.com/aaltoee
www.twitter.com/aaltoee
http://aaltoeeblogs.blogspot.com/

Dr. Mikko Möttönen and his team aim to build a detector for single microwave photons. If the task is successful, a super-fast problem solver – a quantum computer – is one step closer to reality.

− The ERC Starting Grant is the largest grant an individual young researcher can receive and I am delighted over the funding,  Mikko Möttönen comments.

With the grant, two new researchers will strengthen Dr. Möttönen’s Quantum Computing and Devices (QCD) group. If the research is progressing as planned, the group will demonstrate a quantum gate for single microwave photons in 2016. It is a basic component for photonic quantum computers, the equivalent to logic gates in traditional computing.

The grant enables Möttönen and his team to acquire important equipment. One important investment has been a new cryostat.

− Soon helium flows into new cryostat which can be cooled to temperatures less than one-hundredth of a Kelvin, Dr. Möttönen explains the meaning of the funding to his research.

For certain problems, a functional quantum computer would be exponentially faster than its classical counterpart with respect to the size of the problem. Database searches, modelling complex molecules and their chemical reactions, and decryption are examples of tasks quantum algorithms could solve efficiently. The classic computer we are using today stores information on silicon transistors as “bits”, which are in either a 0 or a 1 state. Optical quantum computers use individual photons as quantum bits, or “qubits” for short. A single qubit can represent a one, a zero, or (crucially) any quantum superposition of ones and zeros.

Single microwave photons may be used to carry information between qubits , or they may function as qubits by themselves.

− For microwave frequencies, qubits interact with each other more easily than for visible light frequencies. This is very useful in developing a quantum computer, Dr. Möttönen says.

The main goal in the ERC grant is to build a single-photon detector for microwaves. At higher frequencies, detectors are already in everyday use, e.g., a Geiger counter is a photon detector for gamma radiation. Compared to gamma radiation, low-energy microwave photons are very hard to detect.

− No detectors can yet resolve single-microwave photon events in a single shot, Dr. Möttönen says.

Aalto University's research group has a good chance to succeed. Dr. Möttönen has just filed a patent on the new finding.
− We have a great new idea for the detector, he reveals.

If researchers succeed in building the detector, it will be a scientific breakthrough.

− It would be great to build a working microwave photon detector, a photon source, and circuit elements to manipulate the photons. But this is a high-risk investment,  Dr. Möttönen says.

ERC Starting Grants aim to support up-and-coming research leaders who are about to establish or consolidate a proper research team and start conducting independent research.

Further information
Dr. Mikko Möttönen
Aalto University
Department of Applied Physics
tel. +358 50 594 0950
mikko.mottonen@aalto.fi

Quantum Computing and Devices (QCD) group: http://tfy.tkk.fi/qcd/

Mikko Möttönen's Publications: http://tfy.tkk.fi/personnel/pubs.php?id=252

The Research and Innovation Council advises the Government and Ministries in matters related to the direction, follow-up, evaluation and co-ordination of science, technology and innovation policy

When selecting the members of the Research and Innovation Council the Ministry of Education and Culture heard from non-government affiliated parties and asked them to appoint member candidates.  The composition of the Council is based on the government decree issued on the Council, the Council’s tasks and suggestions by different interested parties.

Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen was appointed Chairman of the Council, and Minister of Education and Science Jukka Gustafsson and Minister of Economic Affairs Jyri Häkämies as its Deputy Chairmen. The Council's ministerial members are Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen, Minister of Culture and Sport Paavo Arhinmäki, Minister of Health and Social Services Maria Guzenina-Richardson, Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö, Minister of the Interior Päivi Räsänen, Minister of Public Administration and Local Government Henna Virkkunen and Minister of Defence Stefan Wallin.

The other members appointed to the Council are Rector Kaija Holli (University of Tampere), CEO Risto Lammintausta (Hormos-Medical Oy), President and CEO Erkki Leppävuori (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland), President and CEO Pekka Lundmark (Konecranes Oyj), President Markku Mattila (The Academy of Finland), Professor Arto Mustajoki (University of Helsinki), Rector Anneli Pirttilä (Saimaa University of Applied Sciences), Director General Veli-Pekka Saarnivaara (Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation), Education Policy Adviser Saana Siekkinen (Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, SAK ry) and Professor Päivi Törmä (Aalto University).

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture Press Releas

The Magnolia Award is conferred to foreign citizens who have contributed to Shanghai’s cooperation with other countries as well as to its economic and social development

Professor Sotamaa worked as President of the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 1986-2008. He serves on the Board of the Sino-Finnish Centre established together by Aalto University and Tongji University in Shanghai.

While the Magnolia Award is a personal honorary award to Professor Sotamaa, it also gives stature to Finnish design and collaboration between institutions of higher education that he has commendably promoted in China. The award will help to increase the visibility of the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 project in China in 2012 and to expand the cooperation between the countries in developing innovative design that creates better life.

Further information
Professor Yrjö Sotamaa
puh. 0500 503 868
yrjo.sotamaa@taik.fi

Tapio Lokki has been involved in many invention disclosures and has also been a decisive actor in setting up a research-based enterprise that has achieved excellent results in accumulating capital. Founded at the end of 2010, Blaast is a cloud-based software enterprise that has made it possible for owners of cheaper mobile phone models around the world to access applications comparable to those available to smart phone owners.

Blaast, which at the moment employs about 40 people, has solid investors and an international clientele. The company has also received considerable funding from Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.

The enterprise started up in autumn 2008, when ACE (Aalto Center for Entrepreneurship) Innovation Services started to work with a research team from the Media Technology Department on user interfaces. The research was headed by Academy Research Fellow Tapio Lokki. Aalto University School of Economics alumnus Joonas Hjelt, School of Science alumnus and researcher Raine Kajastila and alumni Vesa Kemppainen and Tuomas Ranta also made a significant input to the commercialisation process.

Aalto University awards the Initiative of the Year prize to a student, academic or other actor from the University. The prize is awarded for an initiative that has contributed to promoting the values of Aalto University and the University’s strategic goals, as well as strengthening the will to work together as a team. Anyone in the University’s organisation can make proposals for possible recipients of the award. The prize is awarded by the University’s President and it is now being awarded for the second time. 

Last year the prize went to student Mikko Ikola, who organised the Aalto on Tracks campaign. The award was at that time called the Student Initiative of the Year Award.

Further information:
Hannu Seristö, Aalto University
Vice President, Knowledge Networks and Outreach
hannu.seristo@aalto.fi
tel. 050 383 2478

The new Academy Professors will start their five-term on the 1st of January 2012. They represent a wide range of research fields: biological and soft matter physics, medical engineering, and systematic and cognitive neuroscience.

An Academy Professor is a person who demonstrated his/her skills and competencies in research and can be regarded as contributing to the progress of research within his/her own field. Academy Professors are in an employment relationship with the universities where they work. The newly appointed Academy Professors are leading-edge researchers in their own fields, both in Finland and internationally.

Research on strong natural materials

Olli Ikkala’s (b. 1953) research approach is considered highly innovative in the field of materials science. In the future it is expected that his work will pave the way to the manufacture of completely new type of biomimetic materials

Professor Ikkala’s research interests are in self-organised biological nanometre scale structures and functions. His aim is to create new biomimetic materials and to integrate new functionalities into materials, including electroactive, magnetic, absorption and even biological properties.

During his Academy Professorship, Olli Ikkala plans initially to start researching strong natural materials, such as silk and mother-of-pearl. These materials have application in data communications technology, human spare parts and energy-saving vehicles. Added to this, the focus switches to mimicking and utilising biological processes, such as membrane selectivity that can be used in ‘soft machines’, for example.

Another area of interest in Professor Ikkala’s project is to investigate the possibility of manufacturing these materials on a large scale.

New brain imaging methods

Risto Ilmoniemi (b. 1954) is Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science. He is also one of the world’s leading experts in MEG and TMS techniques. During his term as Academy Professor, Professor Ilmoniemi will set out to develop completely new brain imaging methods, the most ambitious of which is simultaneous MEG and MRI. The new methods can be used, for example, for bloodless brain surgery.

Ilmoniemi’s project for his forthcoming term as Academy Professor is described as pioneering, innovative, multidisciplinary and scientifically highly challenging. It will pave the way to new, highly effective methods in the diagnosis and treatment of several serious diseases, including neoplasms, stroke, epilepsy etc.

Ilmoniemi’s research also has industrial value since its ultimate goal is to develop new instruments with commercial application. The project has the backing of SalWe Ltd., the Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation in Health and Well-being.

Research on systemic and cognitive neuroscience

Riitta Salmelin (b. 1961) conducts research in the field of systemic and cognitive neuroscience. She is also an expert in the world-famous MEG imaging method which is a non-invasive imaging technique that can be used to analyse both healthy and diseased brain function in various processes and circumstances.

Professor Salmelin’s interdisciplinary research plan represents the absolute cutting edge in the field of cognitive neuroscience and will generate critical new information that will have wide application in both language research and many other fields related to brain research.

Professor Riitta Salmelin is Vice Director of the Centre of Excellence in Systems Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Research. Her research project also comes under the auspices of the Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation in Health and Well-being.

More information about all the selected Academy Professors can be found in  www.aka.fi

Text: Terhi Arvela  

Source material: Press Release of the Academy of Finland

The new CoEs will be conducting research in a wide spectrum of research fields, ranging from the interaction between cells and intercellular substance, molecular systems immunology and physiology and Russia’s modernisation to the history of the structures of Finnish society.

Aalto University is home to three new Centres of Excellence (director and unit): Nieminen, Risto: Finnish Centre of Excellence in Computational Nanoscience; Oja, Erkki: Finnish Centre of Excellence in Computational Inference Research and Pekola, Jukka: Finnish Centre of Excellence in Low Temperature Quantum Phenomena and Devices.

The CoE call attracted a total of 135 letters of intent, of which the Academy’s Board selected 36 to submit full applications. These applications were reviewed by international expert panels. The panels also interviewed unit representatives at meetings organised by the Academy.

In their review, the panels paid special attention to the scientific quality and innovativeness of the research plan. Centres of Excellence in Research are at the cutting edge of research in their respective fields.

Half of the selected units are new CoEs and half involve research teams from previous CoE programmes.

Third term as Centre of Excellence for Nanoscience

The research unit of Professor Risto Nieminen was now granted a third term as a Centre of Excellence. The Centre of Excellence for Nanoscience has about 70 employees consisting of 30 doctoral students, 10 Aalto University professors and senior researchers and more than 20 young international postdoc researchers and visitors. The unit has international researchers from for instance USA, Australia, Korea, China; Europe is represented by researchers from e.g. Italy, France Sweden and Germany.  

The Centre of Excellence focuses on theoretical and computational materials research on nanoscience and technology.  Topical issues include graphene, ferroelectric nanostructures, semiconductor quantum dots, atomic phenomena at interfaces, and quantum information.  Many research projects are carried out in close contact with experimental work, either at Aalto or in cooperation with international groups. COMP also collaborates with various companies and invests in the development of theory and computational methodology.

The Centre of Excellence has also functioned as an important graduate school and mentoring place, educating several professors for both Finnish and foreign universities during the previous Centre of Excellence terms.

Four terms as Centre of Excellence in computational inference

Professor Erkki Oja directs the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Computational Inference for a third term. The predecessor of the unit was first selected as a Centre of Excellence in 1995 when it was directed by Professor Teuvo Kohonen. Erkki Oja has directed the Centre of Excellence since 2000; the names and research fields of the unit have varied over the years.

In the starting term, the unit will focus on statistical inference and efficient computational methods. Its new partner is the mathematics research group of the University of Helsinki. In all, the unit consists of seven research groups which annually employ altogether around 70 people. Each group has 5–10 researchers and doctoral students.  There are also foreign sub-projects involved. The research group is well-known internationally among the researchers of the field.

The unit works in close cooperation with, for instance, climate research, as well as with neurosciences and in humanities, with the field of computational history. It also cooperates actively with industry. The flagship projects of the unit are intelligent information search or how people seek information using the electronic media, and computational biology or how genes affect people’s health, for instance, in the treatment of cancer.

Low temperature Centres of Excellence since 1994

The Centre of Excellence directed by Jukka Pekola for low temperature quantum phenomena and devices has had predecessors in the Low Temperature Laboratory ever since 1994, when it was directed by Academician Olli V. Lounasmaa and later by Professor Mikko Paalanen. The Centre of Excellence starting in 2012 will involve researchers not only from the research groups of the Low Temperature Laboratory but also from the Aalto University Department of Applied Physics and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

The Centre of Excellence for quantum phenomena and devices studies quantum phenomena both in continuous media as well as in nanoscale structures fabricated using new methods. The aim of the unit’s research is to investigate the quantum nature of matter and to produce novel electric and mechanical components. Based on quantum phenomena, the group has realized for instance, highly sensitive radiation detectors and magnetic-field sensors for measurements of brain activity.

The research has also given rise to the launch of several companies in cryo- and nanotechnology. Working in the research unit gives its researchers good opportunities to find employment in the R&D activity in industry as well as to find successful academic careers in an international environment. The unit produces young physicists with a versatile doctoral training needed for international careers.

Text Terhi Arvela

At the conferment ceremony, the university will confer degrees on Masters of Science (Economics and Business Administration), Doctors of Science (Economics and Business Administration) and Doctors of Philosophy who have graduated after 2006. Additionally, former students who took part in the conferment ceremony of 1961 will be awarded the title ‘riemumaisteri’. This title can be granted to students who have graduated and taken part in a conferment ceremony 50 years ago.

Honorary doctorates will be conferred on distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to science, business or society.

An honorary doctorate is the highest honor that the university can award.

In 2011, the Aalto University School of Economics will award the following distinguished individuals with an honorary doctorate:

Former CEO Arto Hiltunen, SOK
Mr Hiltunen began his career at S Group in 1980. Most recently, he was the CEO of SOK between 2007 and 2010. Hiltunen is a board member in several Finnish companies and in 2011 he was elected Chairman of Itella’s Board of Directors.

Governor Erkki Liikanen, Bank of Finland
Mr Liikanen is the Governor of the Bank of Finland. He is also a member of the Governing Council of the ECB (2004–) and a member of the IMF Board of Governors (2004–).

Mayor Jussi Pajunen, City of Helsinki
Mr Pajunen is the ninth and current mayor of the City of Helsinki. He was elected as mayor on June 1, 2005 for a term of seven years. The President of the Republic granted Pajunen the honorary title of Lord Mayor in 2006.

Councillor of Commerce, Mr Heikki Timonen, Machinery Oy
Mr Timonen is the Chairman of the Board of Machinery Oy. Before his duties as the Chairman of the Board, Timonen was the Managing Director of the family business that celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

Councillor of Mining, Mrs Maarit Toivanen-Koivisto, Onvest Oy
Ms Toivanen-Koivisto is the President and CEO of Onvest Oy since 2000 and the Chairman of the Board of Onninen Oy. Toivanen-Koivisto became the President & CEO pro tem of Onninen Oy in August 2010.

Professor Dong-Sung Cho, Soul National University
Mr Cho is a dean and a professor at the College of Business Administration, Seoul National University. He was a visiting professor at the Helsinki School of Economics in 1991-2000.

Professor Yves Doz, INSEAD
Mr Doz is a professor of technological innovation at INSEAD and a visiting professor at the Aalto University School of Economics.

Professor Mark Grinblatt, UCLA
Mr  Grinblatt is a professor of finance at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he has been working since 1981.

Professor Sirkka Järvenpää, University of Texas, Austin
Ms Järvenpää has for long been one of the top international researchers in information systems science. As a researcher of e-commerce, virtual organizations and team work, in particular, she represents the absolute cutting edge of international research.

Professor Torsten Persson, Stockholm University
Mr Persson is a Swedish economist and a professor of economics at the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm University.

Media representatives are welcome to follow the Conferment of Degrees. Additionally they have a possibility to interview honorary doctors as well as Conferrer, Dean Jyrki Wallenius and Master of Ceremonies, Professor Rebecca Piekkari. The interviews are booked individually.

Signing up for the Conferment of Degrees, interview and photo requests:viestinta-econ@aalto.fi

More information:
econ.aalto.fi/promootio
Communications Manager Ms Lotta Knuutinen, tel. +358 50 349 1263 and Communications Officer Ms Terhi Ollikainen, tel. +358 50 566 5673
viestinta-econ@aalto.fi

Ms Hämäläinen was elected by the Alumni Board as a recognition of the influential role she has played in the economic sector, where she has given prominence to the School and promoted interaction between business life and the university.

Sirkka Hämäläinen wrote her dissertation on national economics in 1981 and was an Adjunct Professor in 1990-2004. She has also been a European Central Bank Board member as well as Governor and Board Chairperson of the Bank of Finland. Currently, she is a Board member in Sanoma Oyj, Investor AB and Kone Oyj, in addition to being Chairperson of the Finnish National Opera Foundation.

For several years, Hämäläinen was following the progress of LTT-Tutkimus Oy with interest as a HSE Holding Board member. She was a member and also Chairperson of the Helsinki School of Economics Advisory Board from 2005 until it was discontinued in 2009. In recent years, she has chaired the working group on fund-raising at the School of Economics at Aalto University.

Hämäläinen is the Chairperson of Aalto University's advisory investment committee. She was also involved in nominating candidates for new members of Aalto University’s Board elected by the Academic Affairs Committee.

Hämäläinen has been very involved in the alumni activities, after taking part in their launching in the early 1990’s. Her own year is one of the most active ones in the School of Economics, thanks to Professor Asko Korpela, who has been maintaining a dedicated website for them for 15 years. On 13 September this year, there will be a dinner for the students in Ms Hämäläinen’s year to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of their graduation.

 Hämäläinen sees alumni relations as an important form of cooperation and contact between graduates and the University. In her opinion, the alumni relations represent a two-way flow of information which benefits both the University and those employed in business and society.

 - I would like to see the alumni also involved in such as giving grants or colleting capital, for example currently in connection with the university reform, even if we will never have the same culture of alumni donations as in the American society, Hämäläinen points out.

 Sirkka Hämäläinen, the Alumna of 2011, hopes that Aalto University will have an open mind and genuine willingness for change and cooperation, as these are the only virtues that will help both Aalto University and the Finnish economy and society to success.

Link to the picture:
http://media.digtator.fi/digtator/tmp/7e04a0f3c32c0ad8e5fa6bc4398866c9/preview.html 

Link available untill 8.5.2011.

Caption:
Sirkka Hämäläinen, D. Sc. (Econ.) was named the Alumna of the Year at Aalto University's donor meeting on 7 April 2011.

For more information:
Susanna Ritala, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu,
Tel. +358 50 547 2168, susanna.ritala(at)aalto.fi

The Bridge Award is for an individual who has promoted an environment of enterprise and innovation in a university or public research institute.

Ovaska is founder of Aalto’s Venture Garage, which has given rise to 50 campus start-ups. He also launched a bootcamp program for entrepreneurs attracting and mentoring teams from across the Baltic Rim and sending winners to Silicon Valley and Isreal. Ovaska also co-founded the Aalto Entrepreneurship Society (Aaltoes) in 2008 and became its first chairman, attracting over 5,000 members. His many initiatives have created a dynamic entrepreneurial hub on campus, connected the university to the international community of serial entrepreneurs, business angels and venture investors and provoked a rethinking of policies to support entrepreneurship in Finland. The judges noted that student-driven entrepreneurship initiatives are a vital component to driving innovation and technology transfer.

The ACES is a pan-European competition among companies spun out from universities – to recognize the best academic entrepreneurs from across all technology disciplines. The judges' decision took into account the creativity shown in encouraging collaboration and entrepreneurship, and the success of those policies.

More infomation on the award:

http://aces.sciencebusiness.net/aces/bridgeaward

Sciencebusiness.net

More information on AES and Aalto VG:

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At the gala, the Pallas Athene and the Ilmari Tapiovaara prizes were awarded, four new honorary members were welcomed and the 2011 Alumni of the Year was named. The opening lectures of two new professors were heard, and medals of honour awarded by the President of Finland were presented. The 140th anniversary gala will continue at the Design Museum with the opening of a special exhibition, AVOIN 140 (OPEN 140). The Kaj Franck 100th anniversary year was also officially opened at the school's anniversary gala.

Pallas Athene Prize awarded to artist Maaria Wirkkala

The School of Art and Design awards the Pallas Athene Prize every two years in acknowledgement of major work that has been undertaken to promote aesthetic values. This year’s award recipient was chosen by Olli Tamminen, who justified his selection with these words: “In her art, Maaria Wirkkala turns everyday artefacts and objects into genuinely aesthetic experiences. The artist’s numerous exhibitions and illusory events – starting from her first exhibition at Gallery Bronda in 1983 right the way through to the her current exhibition at Lahti Historical Museum – reveal hidden depths and the artist's ability to empathise with her subjects. Wirkkala also has the ability to return to another time and place by using familiar objects, and to create unusual, aesthetically appealing works of art that speak of shared experiences.”

Ilmari Tapiovaara Prize awarded to Jukka Korpihete

The Ilmari Tapiovaara Prize was awarded to Jukka Korpihete, who specialises in lighting and lampshades. The prize is awarded every two years in acknowledgement of particularly valuable creative work that has been undertaken to benefit people's local environments and industrial product development culture. This year’s award recipient was chosen by the design director of Kone Oyj, Anne Stenros, who justified her selection with these words: “Jukka Korpihete’s work corresponds closely with the design challenge set by Ilmari Tapiovaara: to abide by the goals for a visionary, functional and human design culture. Korpihete primarily designs light in space, and then selects light fittings for that same space. He understands light and its numerous dimensions, its physiological, philosophical and psychological nature. Light is a primary material for Jukka Korpihete.”

2011 Alumni of the Year is Tauno Tarna

The School of Art and Design each year nominates the Alumni of the Year in acknowledgement of pioneering or exceptional work. The award was this year made to interior architect and designer Tauno Tarna for his work to promote human-oriented design among industries and design organisations. Tarna was for a long time the designer and coordinator of manufacturing in a company that manufactured kitchen utensils. Tarna’s influence goes beyond the everyday objects found in Finland; being an expert in environmental culture he commands a position of trust. Tauno Tarna also played a central role in putting together Kaj Franck's 100th anniversary year.

Four new honorary members

Individuals who have actively promoted the School of Art and Design, culture, or applied arts, are each year invited to become honorary members of the school. During the anniversary gala, four new honorary members were invited:

Tapio Hintikka, DI, has for several decades been a key personality in Finland’s industrial and economic life. Tapio Hintikka has found the time during his business management roles to promote Finnish design and to work behind the scenes in this sector. He also speaks on behalf of the use and importance of design in Finland’s economic life. Hintikka’s personal role as a promoter has enabled him to forecast industrial and structural changes and to include design in management changes.

Sakari Mattila, Painter and Professor Emeritus, taught at the School of Art and Design for a total of 27 years from 1972 onwards. He retired from the post one year ago. As a painter, Sakari Marila is among the elite of Finnish artists; he painted while teaching and performing administrative duties full time and continues to paint, even in retirement.

Leena Saraste, FT, has been influential in the field of photography for more than 30 years; she has been an artist, researcher, photo journalist, pedagogue and developer of fine art studies. In the 1990s, Saraste was the director of a photography training programme and a professor at the School of Art and Design. Saraste’s vision can still be seen in the field of Finnish photography thanks to the work she has produced and her teaching.

The contributions of Yrjö Sotamaa, Professor Emiritus, to our country’s industrial base are considerable and diverse. The most visible contribution is his work in the management of the School of Art and Design, at first as the school’s vice chancellor from 1980, and later as its chancellor from 1986 till 2008. Sotamaa’s guiding lights are internationalism, research – as the catalyser of applied arts, openness to new sectors of education, and taking the School of Art and Design to the epicentre of culture and the economy. When structural changes in the country’s university network became obvious, Sotamaa took the initiative and work on the new Aalto University began, which led to the university opening its doors a year ago.

At the anniversary gala, the opening lectures of two new professors were also heard: Susanna Helke gave a lecture about documentaries and Reijo Kupiainen lectured on the theory of visual culture. The medals of honour awarded on 6 December 2010 (Finnish Independence Day) by the President of Finland were also presented at the anniversary gala. They were given to; the Executive Dean, Professor Helena Hyvönen, who received The Order of the Finnish White Rose, 1st Class Knight; to Assistant Kaija Tolvanen, who received The Order of the Lion of Finland, 1st Class Knight; and to Property Manager Risto Keski-Nisula, who received The Order of the Finnish White Rose, 1st Class Knight, with a gold cross.

The OPEN 140 exhibition celebrates the 140 year history of the School of Art and Design

Aalto University School of Art and Design is an integral part of the history and development of Finnish design. A special exhibition has opened at the Design Museum (Korkeavuorenkatu 23, Helsinki, Finland) during which the history, present day and future of the School of Art and Design are all presented. The exhibition will transport the school back to the city centre for almost two months. Its varied programme includes workshops, discussion panels and lectures. On Tuesday evenings the different faculties of the School of Art and Design will introduce themselves at the Design Museum. The exhibition is open from 12 January to 27 February 2011.

Further information:

Aalto University School of Art and Design, communications and marketing:
Information Officer Anne Tapanainen, Tel: +358 9 434 9711, e-mail: anne.tapanainen@aalto.fi

Hari’s current focus is on the brain basis of social interaction – and once again she is blazing the trail. Director of the Brain Research Unit of the Low Temperature Laboratory at Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Riitta Hari and her team are widely known for their long-standing work in developing magnetoencephalography (MEG) and its applications. MEG picks up the weak magnetic fields of the brain, providing information about brain processing with millisecond resolution. The results have multiple applications in basic research, but also in the diagnostics and follow-up of brain diseases.

Hari graduated as Doctor of Medical Science from the University of Helsinki in 1980 and started to work at the Low Temperature Laboratory back in 1982.

Active publishing

Hari’s scientific publishing is extensive and internationally highly acknowledged, including a total of 285 scientific articles. She has also been active in supervising a wide range of doctoral dissertations covering disciplines such as clinical neurophysiology, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, neuropaediatrics, audiology, physics, medical physics, neurosurgery and radiology.

Hari has recently started her third five-year term as Academy Professor (2010–2014). She also directs the Finnish Centre of Excellence on Systems Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Research at Aalto University. The Academy of Finland has granted the Centre some EUR 2.7 million for 2006–2011. Hari is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences since 2004.

Hari has been granted several prestigious awards and recognitions both abroad and in Finland, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Lisbon in 2003, the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in Switzerland in 2003, the Justine and Yves Sergent Prize for Cognitive Neuroscience in Canada in 2002 and the Award for the Advancement of European Science in Germany in 1987, and the Finnish Science Award in 2009, an honorary doctorate from the University of Kuopio in 2005 and the Matti Äyräpää Award in 2001.

Twelve Academicians

The President of the Republic may confer the honorary title of Academician of Science to highly distinguished Finnish or foreign scientists or scholars. The title of Academician can be held by no more than twelve Finnish scientists or scholars at a time.

Riitta Hari joins an esteemed group of Academicians comprising Olli Lehto (mathematics, year of appointment 1975), Olavi Granö (geography, 1980), Pekka Jauho (physics, 1987), Erik Allardt (sociology, 1995), Jorma K. Miettinen (radiochemistry, 1995), Albert de la Chapelle (medicine, 1997), Teuvo Kohonen (physics, 2000), Arto Salomaa (mathematics, 2001), Pirjo Mäkelä (medicine, 2003), Päiviö Tommila (history, 2004) and Anna-Leena Siikala (folkloristics, 2009).

More information:

Academy of Finland, press release 26.11.2010

The aivoAALTO ('brainWAVE') research project

 The best ranking - bronze medal - got Risto Pakarinen's culumn 'Agoraphobia a.k.a. Fear of Social Media'. The winner of the category was Martin Scorcese's column 'I Love Movies' in cable company Direct TV's magazine. Profile magazine in produced by Zeeland's customer magazine agency Maggie.

564 customer magazines took part in the Pearl Awards contest this year. Winners in this year's contest in other categories were e.g. Delta Airlines, Wallmart, Four Seasons, Merrill Lynch and Woolworths.

The Custom Content Council (CCC) is the leading association for the custom publishing industry in the United States. In 2004 the CCC launched the continent’s first award program devoted exclusively to custom publishing. The aim is to highlist customer magazinesä journalism, graphic design, improvement, integrated marketing strategies, publication investments' productivity, publication strategy's efficiency, creative usage of digital media and how well the publication reflect on organization's objectives.

In the ceremony, doctoral degrees will be conferred upon those Doctors of Science in Technology and Doctors of Philosophy who have completed their doctoral studies at the Aalto University School of Science and Technology by 30 June 2010, as well as upon 9 Honorary Doctors.

Honorary Doctorates are conferred upon the following persons:

Professor Kathleen Eisenhardt
Professor Toshio Fukuda    
Professor Kristian Gullichsen
Vuorineuvos Stig Gustavson (‘Vuorineuvos’ is a Finnish honorary title)
Professor Shinya Kikuchi
Professor Tiina Mattila-Sandholm
Teollisuusneuvos Timo Poranen (‘Teollisuusneuvos’ is a Finnish honorary title)
Professor Jose C. Principe   
Professor Seshadri Seetharaman

More information:

Watch live webcast at 1 p.m.

http://promootio2010.tkk.fi/en/

Above all, the ranking measures the overall internationality of the Master’s degree program, and the career development of those who graduated from the program.

The ranking is about the master level degree programs in economic sciences, which are mostly offered in Europe and Asia. The MBA programs typically more common in the USA are evaluated in another ranking. Altogether 65 master's degree programs were included in the ranking. ESCP Europe was ranked number one.

The Aalto University School of Economics is also a member in the CEMS MIM master's degree program, which is organized in international cooperation. It placed second in the ranking.

"We are very pleased our ranking went up. The hard work we have done to raise the quality and internationality have paid off. The objective of Aalto University is to be one of world class universities by the year 2020, and the School of Economics is well on its way there," rejoices Eero Kasanen, Executive Dean of the Aalto University School of Economics.

The Aalto University School of Economics offers degree studies in Finnish and English (BSc and MSc), as well as doctoral studies on its campuses in Helsinki and Mikkeli. In 2009, there were 3,500 degree students at the School of Economics. The Aalto University School of Economics educates management specialists also in the international Executive MBA program.

Further information:

Eero Kasanen
Executive Dean
+358 9 470 38200

Financial Times online ranking section:

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/rankings

The Best Paper Award is the highest distinction awarded for an academic paper during this prestigious conference. More than 1300 manuscripts were submitted to the conference, 220 were selected to its program, and three papers were awarded the Best Paper Prize.

The awarded paper is the first to uncover a direct link between cognitive ability and investment performance. Combining data from ability tests performed by the military with trading records of 87,000 investors, the paper finds that smart investors’ purchases are informative about future stock price movements. The influence of ability on stock-picking skill is particularly strong for returns measured two days after the trade, when the purchases of the smartest investors outperform the purchases of their below-average ability peers at an annualized rate of about 11% per year. High ability investors’ purchases earn superior and significant returns up to one month in the future. The performance of smart investors’ sell transactions does not differ significantly from that of their lower-ability peers.

Matti Keloharju is a Professor of Finance at the Aalto University School of Economics and a leading authority in the area of Behavioral Finance.

More information:

Prof. Matti Keloharju's homepage

"Do Smart Investors Outperform Dumb Investors?"

European Finance Association, Annual Meeting 2010

"This project, which was prompted by a spontaneous, crazy idea, grew, perhaps a little surprisingly, in scale, influence and visibility into a target of international interest." Ms. Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University, rejoices.

"Participants have reported deep and insightful spiritual growth and increased understanding of and respect for scientific disciplines and perspectives."

The Student Initiative of the Year Award was received at the opening ceremony of university's academic year by the Aalto on Tracks project leader Mr. Mikko Ikola on behalf of the project. President Teeri praised all participants of the project for their deep commitment and ability to take responsibility for a shared goal.

"Projects of this size, however, always involve risks, difficulties and surprises. Not only careful planning is needed, but also courage and self-confidence, fast reactions and decision-making, negotiating skill and both mental and physical endurance. All these good characteristics have been demonstrated by the project's leaders, to the extent that the project as a whole can be described as astunning success .", the president said.

Aalto University's Student Initiative of the Year Award is an annual award presented by  the President. Its purpose is to encourage initiative and creativity in students. One of the strategic goals of Aalto University is to build a passionate, student-centered  learning culture. Where, in addition to the official and representative community, unofficial and everyday co-operation will also blossom. It is also envisioned  that the creativity and initiative of the students will emerge as it did through the Aalto on Tracks project.

Further information:

Vice President of Knowledge Networks Hannu Seristö
Aalto University
puh. +358 50 383 2478

Proejct Leader Mikko Ikola
Aalto on Tracks
tel. +358 50 411 7282

http://aaltoontracks.com

The Venice Film Festival has renewed its Orizzonti series, calling it a laboratory that combines new forms of cinematic expression, regardless of the films’ genre or length. For this reason, the series features a mix of short and feature films, fiction and documentaries, traditional expression and experimental movies. The directors screening their work in the series include names like Manoel de Oliveira, Catherine Breillat, Isaac Julien and Paul Morrissey. The Orizzonti series’ jury is chaired by Iranian contemporary artist and film director Shirin Neshat.

How to Pick Berries is a film about Finnish heart and the peculiarities of the global economy. The economy is a many-splendoured thing. Guests from far away appear at Lapland’s swamps. “How are we going to get along with these strangers when they’re taking our berries?”

More information:

Venice International Film Festival - Orizzonti

The objective of the first contest of the Solar Decathlon 2010 is to assess the architectural design quality, coherence, the flexibility of the space, the use of the bioclimatic strategies and the seamless integration of the system.

Luukku House received a high score for its diverse and honest way of using wood, for a natural and sympathetic (neither dazzling nor decorative) architecture, with all the architectural solutions being natural and of a high quality, and the high quality of construction.

"A high quality wooden house which only the Finns can build," says Glenn Murcut, head of the jury.  
 
Eighteen multidisciplinary university teams from seven countries participate in this competition. The teams constructed real, sustainable, self-sufficient and comfortable houses sustained exclusively by solar energy, competing in the fields of Architecture, Construction and Engineering, Solar Systems and Hot Water, Energy Balance, Comfort Conditions, Usage, Communications and Social Media, Industrialization and Market Viability, Innovation and Sustainability.

The Wood Program at Aalto University School of Science and Technology supports the architectural plan of the Luukku House, with the central people behind it being the students Ulla Weckman, Jaakko Parkkonen and Mark Auvray.  Students Ransu Helenius and Mikko Merz are responsible for construction and wood engineering and Heikki Kivinen is responsible for the building construction. The interior design is taken care of by Puustudio and Aalto University School of Art students Kaisa Takala, Hanna-Liisa Pykälä, Minna Piironen, Satoshi Othaki, Noriyuki Sawaya ja Kana Nakanishi.

The winner of the Solar Decathlon Europe will be announced on Sunday, June 27th, 2010.

Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 on the internet: www.sdeurope.org
Luukku House in Facebook
Luukku House web pages: www.sdfinland.com

More information:

Professor Pekka Heikkinen,
+358 50 517 4727

Professor Kimmo Lylykangas
+358 40 582 9439

Yrsa Cronhjort, researcher
+358 40 503 0771

Mr. Ekman has worked as the Director in the spearhead project of Aalto University, the Aalto Design Factory. The Design Factory is a new kind of open environment for research and education on product development. Situated on the Otaniemi campus, the Design Factory offers modern facilities of 3 000 m2 intended to be used for cooperation between researchers, students and companies.

The Design Factory accelerates the change in the Aalto University culture of operation and teaching by supporting interdisciplinary and problem-based learning and research. The competition, opened in November 2009, was the fifth of its kind organized by the company Otaniemi Marketing (Otaniemen kehitys Oy). It invited various interest groups to nominate a person or group which has furthered the cooperation among actors in the Otaniemi area and promoted the Otaniemi expertise either in Finland or abroad.

The award decision was made by the Board of Otaniemi Marketing, which includes representatives of the key actors in the region. This was the fifth time the Otaniemi Person of the Year was selected. Previous holders of the title are the Director of the Otaniemi International Innovation Centre Veijo Ilmavirta, the Director of Micronova Veli-Matti Airaksinen, the Chief Technology Officer of Enfucell Oy Xiachang Zhang and VTT Young Professionals.

Additional information Otaniemi Marketing Ari Huczkowski, tel. +358 40 521 5642 ari@otaniemi.fi, http.//www.otaniemi.fi.

Textile artist Helena Perheentupa has carried out her life’s work in India, training the country’s “first” generation of designers. India’s traditions and wealth in art and design are particularly visible in textiles, which was a natural field to adopt as the first step to developing the country’s attitude towards design. While teaching at the National Institute of Design, Perheentupa initiated schooling in textile production, as well as design entrepreneurship. She established relationships with local operators and built networks. The Indian textile industry is still handcraft-driven, taking place mostly in small village-based and urban workshops. The principle behind Perheentupa’s teaching and development work was to support initiative-taking, entrepreneurship and local methods. Education for girls is particularly close to her heart.

During the anniversary celebrations, the School also announced six new honorary members. Each year, the School invites persons who have done exceptional work on behalf of the School of Art and Design, of culture or of art and design to accept a honorary membership. This year’s honorary members are Marianne Aav, Director of Design Museum Helsinki, industrial designer Jorma Pitkonen, painter Helga Reinikainen-Somersalo, Professor Emerita Inkeri Sava, artist and designer Marja Suna, and producer Mikael Wahlfors.

Read more:

Honorary members of the previous years