Akseli Äikäs is a third-year student of Information Networks and is also known as Audio Dubbado, the artistic misleader of the Retuperän WBK. Prior to Aalto, he studied French horn professionally, and during his military service in the conscript band he took a conducting course.
‘After playing in the Retuperä fire brigade for a few years, I thought it would be good to have an excuse for spending so much time in Otaniemi. I decided it was time to apply to study at Aalto,’ says Akseli Äikäs.
Although Akseli Äikäs wanted to study engineering, he was not particularly interested in studying mathematics, physics, or chemistry.
‘Studying information networks is pretty much my thing. The bachelor's degree involves a lot of content from different fields, such as programming. My own focus was lost for a while, though, and I didn't know what I wanted to specialise in. At that point I started to rule out things that I wouldn’t, under any circumstances, want to do in my Master’s degree.’
Compared to his previous music studies, the courses at Aalto have been much heavier. At Aalto you can and should do things together with other students, though.
‘In music studies, the courses were easy. You just went there and listened to, say, the history of music for an hour and a half, and went off to practise. On the other hand, playing was intense; sitting alone with an instrument, practicing and figuring out how to make it sound better. At Aalto, you learn many different things, but nothing quite that deeply.’
The information networks studies are full of project courses and group work. Akseli Äikäs also enjoys the Athene Guild.
‘Writing code on my own is not very meaningful to me. Working in a group, on the other hand, makes me happy. Our Athene guild is also quite a warm place, I've enjoyed the Athene events a lot.’
Akseli ÄikäsAfter playing in Retuperä fire brigade for a few years, I thought it would be good to have an excuse for spending so much time in Otaniemi.
During his studies, Akseli Äikäs has not only played in Retuperä but has also sung in the Polytech Choir and played in the Polytech Orchestra. Although the direction of his studies may still feel a little hazy, his own path is slowly beginning to take shape.
‘I haven't had time to do so much for my studies yet. There's been so much going on with music.’
On campus, Akseli Äikäs has particularly enjoyed Servin mökki that is known as Smökki. He will remember it much better than the lecture halls.
‘Many parties and all the fire brigade training sessions are held in Smökki, and I've spent a lot of time there.’
When Akseli Äikäs was not yet studying at Aalto, his friends in the fire brigade made studying seem much more relaxed than it actually is.
‘Maybe they weren't so ambitious in trying to complete courses or credits. Then again I started my studies during Covid. Math courses, for example, seemed overwhelming in the beginning. It had already been a long time since my upper secondary school. Now that I'm studying on campus, I've got my routine back and everything feels easier.’
'After I had played in the fire brigade for a few years, I thought that maybe it would be good to have some excuse to spend so much time in Otakaari. I decided it was time to apply to study at Aalto.'
