I studied Mechanical Engineering and within the study program I specialized in marine technology and naval architecture. At the beginning of my studies in Aalto I became fascinated by complex structures and fluid dynamics. For my career, I wanted to work with the most challenging engineering problems where I could combine these two interests. Going through the possible study paths in Aalto, studying shipbuilding was the natural choice where I could realize this goal. Ships were definitely the largest and the most complicated structures there were to study, and they happen to float in water which ticked all the boxes for me. To me, ships were and still are the ultimate engineering product in a sense that they combine the full range of engineering disciplines that together form a highly complex floating city. The ability to grow your professional knowledge and continuously learn new things became evident from early on in my master’s studies which was another key reason why I chose to specialize in marine technology.
One of the most memorable moments for me during my studies was the final ship design gala at the end of my first year of master’s studies. Our project team had worked long hours on our cruise ship design covering all disciplines basically from scratch. At the gala, we had the opportunity to present our final design to an audience of top industry professionals. The positive feedback combined with the sense of accomplishment when a full year’s worth of work finally comes to end was indeed a memorable experience.
I would say the best part of my studies at Aalto has been the community of my fellow naval architect students. The combination of intensive teamwork projects and a rather small number of students made sure that everyone knew each other. Whenever in doubt or facing difficulties in your studies there was always a fellow student or a member of the marine technology teaching staff willing to help.
After graduation, I started working as a Project Engineer at Foreship Ltd. where I had already been employed during my studies and also done my master’s thesis. Foreship is a leading ship design and engineering company. After working full-time for some time, I got the opportunity to participate in project management training and subsequently started in my current position as a Project Manager.In my current position, I mainly work with projects that deal with structural design & analysis or computation fluid dynamics (CFD).
My regular workday, if there is one nowadays, would start off with going through any emails received during the previous night as many emails arrive outside office hours due to time zone differences. Then depending on the type of on-going projects I would either start working with a finite element model (structural analysis) of a CFD model (fluid dynamics). Most of the CFD projects require very long computation times and therefore I might spend some time in the morning going through any results from simulations ran overnight. During the day, I would typically help some colleagues with their work or consult one if I’m in need of assistance. Alongside any larger projects, I sometimes review and check design documents from colleagues or conduct some smaller design tasks of my own.
When thinking of what useful tools I got from my studies, firstly, the preliminary hands-on experience and the thorough theoretical background knowledge with FEM and CFD software have been extremely useful. On the other hand, scheduling and managing your own work was a major part of our studies in the master’s program. This experience with handling multiple deadlines and working in various teams in the marine technology courses has been an enormously valuable experience when it comes to managing my current work. A calendar is one of the most valuable tools there is. Of course, I should not fail to mention how important a systematic approach to project work and being comfortable with Excel have been in my career. All of which had a key role already during my time in Aalto.
For the future, I would say my plan is to continue learning and gaining professional knowledge as much as I can. Working first mainly with technical design and analysis and then in the future hopefully start to shift my focus more on project management. In any case, my plan is to keep working tightly in the field of maritime technology.
As a tip, I would like to encourage all students to broaden their study scope and bravely choose courses within the study program that they find interesting. Personally, I have found myself extremely lucky for choosing to specialize in more than just one topic during my studies. Career-wise this approach has provided me with a lot of opportunities and the possibility for continuous development. Also, find the time to join the AYY’s subject association of your study path. This is by far the best way to get to know your fellow students and the respective industry, not to mention work opportunities.
In Mechanical Engineering Master’s Programme you can become an expert in Arctic Technology, Engineering Materials, Marine Technology, Mechatronics, Product Development, Production Engineering and Solid Mechanics, or create your own combination. We empower students follow their interests in the field of mechanical engineering as their professional skills are needed for creating more effective and safe solutions for the society.