‘Sport is the most important useless thing in the world’
Tero Tiitu, three-time world floorball champion, shared his experiences of combining studies, competitive sport and working life
Why is continuous learning important?
Welcome to read inspiring stories about continuous learning. You will find personal experiences of what learning means, what new things it has brought to the work career and how learning new things can be seen as a continuous process throughout life. Read more and find your own path to the world of lifewide learning.
Juha Jouhki, Aalto University alumni and experienced investorStudying is a process, not a project
Stay competitive and keep learning
It’s never too late for happiness – can you learn how to become happy in Finland?
Frank Steuer took the Happiness Science from Finland summer course at Aalto University Summer School to explore a topic he was already passionate about: combining happiness and self-development with both lifestyle and successful entrepreneurship.
"Foodora's new managers got a kickstart to their role from the First Time Manager training” Sanna Haavisto & Topi Heikkinen (external link)
Foodora, the largest transport service company for restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail stores in the Nordic countries, is known for its fast moves. A growing company constantly needs new managers – and managers need training for their work tasks.
‘I wanted to reorient my career towards sustainability’
Beatriz Ramírez shared her story of starting a new career in Finland as part of the Finland Works open online course.
Aalto University has launched a corporate collaboration with Murata to support lifewide learning
The collaboration has produced a website representing hand-picked courses for Murata’s employees.
Alumnus Kron Rexhepi: The most important work life skills are curiosity and the willingness to learn new things
School of Business alumnus Kron Rexhepi followed his interests to pursue a career in data analytics. The networks formed at the School and the programming courses he took helped him to find an inspiring job where he could utilize his previous experience in both consulting and data.
Alumna Kati Ovaska: No one is ready after they graduate – the work itself teaches you more
I would argue that there is no better start to your career than being an associate in audit practice says Kati Ovaska who has had multiple work opportunities within the company after graduation. EY encourages people to take the steering wheel of their career: 'Your career, it’s yours to build'.
Alumna Iida Valin: There are still many possibilities for learning after graduation
'Interdisciplinarity and versatile possibilities to shape your studies, were definite strengths in Aalto. I believe that studying subjects differing so strongly from each other has helped me in my career. Especially during change situations, since changing my own perspective has been easier,' says our alumna Iida Valin, who works in the communications department of Posti Group, one of School of Business partner companies.
Sini Syvänen found new insights for her career on FITech energy transition course (external link)
When Sini Syvänen was a university student in electrical engineering a decade ago, energy transition wasn’t a topic that got a lot of mentions in her studies. The whole concept was still new and the development of renewable energy sources wasn’t as progressed as it is today.
FITech ICT studies support in career change (external link)
Ever since Heini Ailio found data analytics, it was clear that her future dream job is Data Scientist. The topic had come up during her previous studies but now it felt more interesting than ever.
Case ABB: Lifewide Learning is a Prerequisite to Business Success (external link)
Competences, skills, and knowledge that carry you through your entire career require constant updating. Anu Saarelainen and Ismo Laukkanen from ABB explain how collaboration with Aalto EE helps ABB facilitate the lifewide learning of its personnel.
Henrietta Sundström wants to deepen her IT skills to be better at her job (external link)
There is one thing that has bothered Henrietta Sundström on her career as an IT consultant. Her master’s degree from economics gives great abilities to work in many different positions, but Sundström wanted to improve especially her IT capabilities.
Alumnus Jesús Manuel Castro Félix: It is important to develop skills that help working with all kinds of people
Good communication and continuous learning were the most important takeaways for the MIB alumnus.
Alumni Ambassador Markus Helaniemi: It is important to read a lot and follow the news outside your own expertise area
“Thanks to the business studies, I now understand the customers and corporate challenges better and I know how to be of better use to the customers”, says our Alumni Ambassador Markus Helaniemi. “Besides having the business expertise, common knowledge and wide understanding on the world and societal aspects should be emphasized.”
"The huge potential of AI opened up to me in a very concrete way.” (external link)
Ville Halkola has made a career specializing in technology testing. Upon starting work at Suunto, Halkola knew he wanted to enhance his competence in artificial intelligence.
Alumni Ambassador Elvira Vainio: Your major subject does not have to define your future path
”It is never too late to study more and try new things – I am a good example of that! I studied logistics, but in the working life I realized that I’m more interested in both business and human resources, and so I ended up doing what I do today”, says our alumna Elvira Vainio, who worked as a HRD manager at Veikkaus from 2017 to 2019.
Currently, Vainio is working as a coach at FAB Monday, a company founded by her (2020).
Alumni Ambassador Annika Jyllilä-Vertigans: Developing the skill to learn new things is the most important aspect in working life
Our alumna Annika Jyllilä-Vertigans completed EMBA degree in Aalto University Executive Education as she felt the need to deepen her knowledge in the ever-changing working life. At the same time, her professional and personal networks have broadened.
Alumni Ambassador Timo Löyttyniemi: More important than getting good grades is to be eager to learn a wide range of things
Timo Löyttyniemi, who worked as the Vice Chair of the Single Resolution Board in Brussels from 2015 to 2019, underlines the ability to change in today’s working life. “’Agility’ is a good term to describe the true way of working amidst all the changes”, says Löyttyniemi.
Currently, Löyttyniemi is the CEO of The State Pension Fund of Finland (2020).
Alumni Ambassador Xiang Ye: Learning will continue also after the graduation
Xiang Ye encourages students to create networks and emphasizes the importance of continuous learning.
Get inspired and learn something new
FITech course offers IT professionals the opportunity to develop their in-depth knowledge (external link)
Jari Huoppila, who works at Ericsson, was so inspired by Aalto University's course Microservice architectures and serverless computing that he eagerly awaited the start of the lectures.
Juha Jouhki, Aalto University alumni and experienced investor: “Studying is a process, not a project”
Juha Jouhki's family business supports Aalto because top-level research is key to Finnish companies’ worldwide prestige.
‘Finland and Aalto have given me a whole new view on digital business’
International students experienced the Finnish spring and deepened their knowledge of digital business at the Aalto University Summer School’s Digital Business course in March.
Matilde Pelkonen, MSc (Econ.) and future Educational Psychologist
‘I want to keep learning and looking for purpose in what I do.'
Machine learning with Python course offered fun and challenging exercises (external link)
“The course gave me a good overall picture of machine learning. I enjoyed that I got to do things myself on the course. Because of that, I now have a better understanding what machine learning is all about”, says Aira Seuna.
FITech offers something new even for the experienced learners (external link)
Even though Anne Rahkonen has completed a lot of studies during her life, she still has a passion to learn new things. Rahkonen, whose background is in neurobiology, decided to update her knowledge on a minor called Commercialization of medical devices and software, offered by FITech.
“Regulation experts are needed more and more in the future”, says Rahkonen who has worked in the medical industry before.
Summer School alumni stories
Summer School at Aalto: a sneak peek of campus, student life and Finland
Berrak from Turkey joined the Summer School course Nordic Design Futures to get a first-hand introduction to the future of design and learn more about Aalto University as a potential option for her master’s studies.
Summer School alum story: Nordic Product Design invites students to materialise their designs in new and unique ways
Tommaso Astaldi wanted to experience the Nordic approach to learning and teaching at Aalto University Summer School.
Summer School alum story: How Finnish happiness found its way to Japan
Summer School in Happiness Science gave Junko Motohashi a reason to slow down and reflect on her
personal life and career.
From Singapore to Finland: Students discover new perspectives on sustainability at Aalto University
In March 2026, Aalto University Summer School had the privilege of hosting a group of bright and ambitious students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore for a two-week program on social sustainability and creativity.