Master's student Akseli Rautakorpi: ”Chemistry plays a central role in solving our biggest societal problems"

Growing up, Akseli Rautakorpi was always interested in science and chemical experiments. For Akseli, studying chemical engineering at Aalto was a natural choice and a pathway to truly meaningful work.

Akseli currently works part-time in a research group led by Professor Tanja Kallio, studying the conversion and storage of electrochemical energy.

"If you think about the biggest problems of the contemporary world, chemistry plays a central role in practically every one of them. And if you look for solutions to battle the climate crisis, a huge part of them are in the field of chemistry," says Akseli.

Since starting his studies in 2019, Akseli has enjoyed the sense of community and the variety of student events at Aalto.

"The community at Aalto is really accepting. My friends and I have often talked about by how welcome we’ve felt from day one."

Akseli thinks the best thing about studying chemical engineering are the moments when you internalise a theoretical subject so well that you can truly apply it in practice. He has been surprised by how directly the courses have benefited his work – even the courses that didn’t seem relevant at first.

"Practically all the major and minor courses have been useful in the things I've done at work. For example, during a course in surface chemistry I thought I'm never going to need surface chemistry. But at the moment, the topic of my thesis is actually very closely related to surface chemistry phenomena," Akseli says.

Akseli is tentatively interested in a career as a researcher.

"I have seriously considered continuing to Doctoral studies after I complete my Master's degree. At the moment, I feel that I would like to go into research and product development."