1. What made you interested in the Giant Leap internship program?
I had made a note of the company earlier because Vaisala’s line of business is the exact line that I am interested in personally. At the recruitment fair that was held at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) I heard that the Giant Leap internship program offers a lot more interesting job opportunities than the regular summer jobs. At the recruitment fair, I even heard of a few upcoming project topics and one topic in particular caught my attention. I decided to apply for that specific project and here I am.
2. Could you tell us a little bit about your internship project at Vaisala?
My project was about improving the manufacturability of a sensor. In practice, this meant that I studied whether one stage in the production is needed by testing the completed sensors electronically. I spent the first month of my internship getting to know the cleanroom environment and later on I even compiled sensors that were subsequently tested. I used the remainder of my internship for the testing itself and analyzing the results.
3. What is your educational background?
After all the administrative paperwork is done, I will have officially graduated as a Bachelor of Science in Technology from the Tampere University of Technology. I will start writing my Master's thesis soon, as well. During the past five years, I have studied electronics as my major and sensor technology and chemistry as my minors.
4. Do you feel that you could apply your skills and knowledge during your time at Vaisala?
My project touched upon a relatively wide subject area, but the project topic was precisely what I have studied previously. Therefore, all of my previous studies were useful in this project. Even my perfected programming skills came in handy.
5. What have you learned from the internship?
I have learned so much! Perhaps the greatest new experience for me was to work in an office environment because my earlier work experience was from the manufacturing side. Furthermore, even though I had some experience in cleanrooms before this summer, it was limited. Now I know how the manufacturing process of a sensor proceeds. That is, how to make polymer and a pile of gold into a functioning sensor. The best part, however, was to see how well or how badly what I had learned at school applied to real life. For example, it turned out that a cleanroom in an Intel promotional video is not exactly the same as Vaisala’s cleanrooms.
6. How would you describe Vaisala as an employer to students who are seeking an internship?
I have not regretted one moment that I applied for this internship at Vaisala. The atmosphere in Vaisala is excellent; everyone is so highly motivated and helpful. In the Giant Leap program, in particular, you get to work on a project that really makes a difference.