Behind Every Measure: Meet Paras Chopra on purpose, product, and the power of Beam Weather Station
Taking every measure matters. At Vaisala, behind those measures there is a team of people who make it possible. In this first story of our Behind Every Measure series, introducing Vaisala people across our business, we meet Paras Chopra, the Product Manager behind Beam, a compact weather and environmental station that is reshaping how cities, industries, and various agencies understand the world around them.
From telecoms to meteorology
When Paras joined Vaisala two years ago, he didn’t come from a weather tech background. His career had taken him through telecoms, smart mobility, and other industries, but not meteorology. Still, something about Vaisala’s mission clicked.
“I’m from Delhi and have lived in other parts of Asia,” he says. “I’ve seen what poor air quality does to people’s lives. Even if Vaisala is not solving the problem directly, we’re giving people the tools to act. That is powerful.”
Today, Paras is the Product Manager for Beam, a compact, plug-and-play weather and environmental station built for flexibility, agility, and insight. Together with his team, his job is to make sure Beam is not just an excellent product but one that truly meets customer needs.
A product with purpose
When Paras took over Beam, it had already been launched with high hopes but limited traction.
“We had to figure out why it wasn’t getting the expected attention in the market and how to fix that without a huge budget or team.”
The result is a reimagined Beam, which is smarter, easier to install, and more adaptable. It can be mounted on a lamppost, wall, or signpost, with no digging or disruption.
“It’s compact and scalable,” Paras says. “You can start small and add more sensors as your needs grow.”
And it’s already proving its worth. Cities and customers across Europe and beyond have already deployed Beam stations to better understand local weather and environmental phenomena, helping them to prepare for ever-changing conditions.
From cloud seeding to art installations
Beam has also found its way into some unexpected places.
“It has even been used to assist when creating rain,” Paras laughs. “A customer needed real-time wind data for drone-based cloud seeding to launch safely. I could have never imagined that Beam would help make rain.”
Another surprising collaboration involved multidisciplinary artist Josefina Nelimarkka, who used Beam in her installations at a museum in Helsinki and an art exhibition in Berlin, connecting senses and sensors.
“The cooperation with her was a great showcase on delivering continuous climate data. Through her art and Beam station, Josefina made invisible weather phenomena visible to a mass audience. While niche application, it showed Beam’s versatility, even in creative spaces.”
But for all the cool use cases, what really drives Paras is the potential for real impact.
“Whether it is helping cities manage floods, providing people in cities with weather reports, or agencies monitor air quality, Beam delivers hyperlocal, high-resolution data that helps people make better and timely decisions to protect lives, property, and infrastructure.”
Powered by teamwork
While Paras is the face of this story, he’s the first to emphasize that none of it happens alone.
“As product managers, we connect the vision to customer's needs. But all our products are very much a team effort, from R&D and design to testing, manufacturing, and delivery,” he says. “There’s deep expertise behind every decision.”
In fact, it’s this collaborative strength that Paras finds most inspiring about working at Vaisala.
“If Beam were a person, it would be beautiful, easygoing, and trustworthy. Agile, too. The kind of teammate you want: Reliable, adaptable, and always ready to help.”
Why Vaisala?
Joining Vaisala, Paras wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I had zero background in this industry,” he admits. “But the culture here is so open and helpful. You don’t need to know everything. We have amazing experts for that. What matters is being curious and willing to learn.”
When asked who thrives at Vaisala, Paras answers: “Someone who’s open to learning new things. This is a niche field, but it’s global, and it is growing. There’s so much potential to make a meaningful difference.”
Curious about working with purpose-driven technology? Explore careers at Vaisala and join us in shaping a smarter, safer, and more sustainable future!
