New perspectives through course collaboration: Vaisala works with the Product Development Project

Vaisala has joined Aalto Design Factory’s Product Development Project (PdP) several times – and they keep coming back for a reason. As Product Manager Nevon Mansour puts it, “I see it as a great channel to do projects with students and to understand current technology… you get out‑of‑the‑box ideas!” For Vaisala, the collaboration is a two‑way learning experience: “It’s a good learning experience in both directions,” she emphasizes, where students gain real project experience and Vaisala gains fresh perspectives and concrete development work.

This year’s brief, ‘No More Connectors’, is a good example of how real and relevant the challenges are. “This was a timely and suitable topic that you can really deep‑dive into in the PdP format. It’s practical and not too broad, and when the result comes, it’s easy for us to continue developing it further. It’s something that could actually become a product one day, not just another project,” Nevon explains. The student team is carrying out technology scouting and market mapping that Vaisala’s own R&D would otherwise need to do, but with the added benefit of diverse student viewpoints and the DF resources.

The collaboration doesn’t only deliver prototypes – it brings new tools and practices back into sponsoring company. “Last year we incorporated the DF’s PD6 workshop, a product development sprint in 6 hours, as a way of working to our toolbox,” recalls Product and Package Design Specialist Noe Anttonen. The experience has also sharpened how Vaisala frames challenges for student teams: “We realized how important it is that the scope and brief are concrete enough. The more focused it is, the easier it is to grab onto.” 

For Nevon, PdP is also a personal growth platform. “You learn a lot of project leadership from this,” she says. Working with a student team requires clear communication: “You have many students and you need to explain things in different ways so that everyone internalizes what the product is and what we want.” She describes the experience as a learning experience both ways, from understanding how projects progress to mentoring students on how real‑life product development works, including manufacturability and sales perspectives. “It’s been inspiring to be involved in mentoring future stars and sparring them!”

The atmosphere and relationship with the student team are central to making the most out of the project. Noe highlights “creating an open communication base between the team and us, so that they feel they can ask anything at any time, and don’t feel alone.” The aim is a low threshold to share worries and wins alike: “We’ve managed to create a good atmosphere with the whole team. We’re mentors, but they can still approach us very easily.” Nevon adds that the group’s internal dynamic matters too, and in this case “they clearly have very good chemistry with each other, and we’ve found a nice common rhythm together.”

From a company perspective, PdP also offers a structured, low‑risk way to try out new ideas. “This is also a good lane for doing smaller projects,” Nevon notes. “We can start testing things with students and find out if there’s some potential there.” Noe describes it as “a safe setting to play in; you can push yourself a bit out of your comfort zone and learn from that, kind of bump into walls safely and then find something new.” The project can act as an experimental playground when there isn’t enough internal bandwidth to explore a concept within normal in-house R&D.

The collaboration has very tangible talent benefits as well. Nevon points out that PdP gives students real work‑life experience: “They get to do the kind of work they would do in working life or in a real project, not just a university assignment.” It also connects directly to recruitment: “We already have two students who got summer jobs with us – through this project they got excited about Vaisala and had a good impression, and wanted to work here. So clearly something has worked here.” In her words, PdP is a way to “find the stars of the future.”

Looking at the wider innovation ecosystem, Nevon sees PdP and Aalto Design Factory as playing a meaningful societal role: “You help students get a foot in the door in a job market that’s currently quite challenging. They gain real work experience through this project.” For a technology company like Vaisala, it’s also a way to keep the field attractive: “I think DF has a big impact in the fact that students still apply to study technology these days!”

And if another company is hesitating about joining in as a PdP sponsor? For Vaisala, the project has brought concrete tools, new perspectives, future colleagues and a welcome spark to everyday work. Or as Nevon sums it up, “It’s been really rewarding, an inspiring change to the normal workday.” Noe’s message is equally concise: “Definitely worth trying!”