Read stories of our Giant Leapers – Happy International Youth Day

International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12. Today we recognize the role young people play in shaping the future. 

At Vaisala, young professionals bring curiosity, fresh thinking, and new perspectives to meaningful work. They learn by doing, ask questions that help us see things differently, and take on challenges that can become important steps in their careers. 

This year, we asked our giant leapers about their day-to-day work, the moments that helped them grow, and how Vaisala has shaped the direction they see for themselves in the future.    

Giant Leaper Tuma Gansukh builds a virtual testing model of a Vaisala sensor

Tuma spent his Giant Leap on digital prototype testing: building a virtual testing model of how Vaisala's dew point transmitter electronics behave under various operating and environmental conditions. The goal was to create a reproducible model that is accurate but efficient enough to simulate the product's thermal performance under conditions that can be difficult to replicate in Vaisala’s laboratories, or to make such testing easier. 

Most of the work happened at a computer, but the project had a hands-on side too. Tuma set up a small measurement rig on his desk and used several testing and measurement devices to check his simulations against real data. That practical work, he says, was a welcome complement to the computational side of the project.

The work followed a steady cycle: build the model, test it, find what's wrong, fix it, repeat. Tuma expected the occasional surprise, but one obstacle stood out for being mundane rather than technical. SolidWorks, the 3D modeling and simulation software behind the project, crashed more often than he expected, and sometimes took his work with it.

Software trouble aside, the project gave Tuma a real look at how computational methods shape product development. He has long wanted to work as a computational physicist. His time at Vaisala sharpened his engineering skills and confirmed that this is the right path for him.

Amanda Lukkarinen does market study on atmospheric methane flux solutions

Amanda's summer at Vaisala focused on a methane flux study, exploring an emerging market where technology, business, and climate work meet. 

Her daily work shifted as the project evolved. She studied different technologies, explored new sectors from ecosystem monitoring to rice agriculture, interviewed experts from around the world, and worked closely with her team. She had worked on a similar project before, so the work itself felt familiar. But the scope and depth of this project positively exceeded her expectations.  

The project was simultaneously exciting and challenging. It introduced her to advanced technologies, diverse sectors, and a wide range of geographical settings. One of the most meaningful parts was the chance to have genuine, in-depth conversations with top experts in the field after just a month of working. At the core, the project gave her the opportunity to shape Vaisala's strategy in an emerging market.

For Amanda, the summer strengthened her motivation to work on meaningful projects that address climate change. Her internship showed her that climate work is built on teamwork, and she hopes to continue building a career in the field. 

Moiz Naeem creates the infrastructure behind competitive intelligence 

This summer, Moiz worked on building the agentic infrastructure behind competitive intelligence. Day to day, that meant a mix of system design, prompt engineering, and working with AWS to keep the whole system running reliably.

Moiz thought the job would be mostly about building agents. Instead, working with open source intelligence taught him that the bigger challenge was building infrastructure that's both scalable and safe. That meant thinking hard about how agents reason, how they use the tools they're given, and how they stay steady when handling content pulled from the open web, some of which can be malicious.

The biggest leap for Moiz was the platform itself. He expected to add pieces to an existing system. Instead, he ended up owning the architecture from scratch, for something that didn't exist yet. That level of ownership came much earlier than he expected, and it became the defining part of his summer.

Looking ahead, Moiz wants to work where applied AI meets real production systems, solving problems that look difficult, maybe even impossible, today. His time in the Giant Leap program pushed him in that direction, by handing him real ownership early and moving him forward faster than he expected.

Thank you to all young talents at Vaisala for your curiosity, courage, and fresh perspectives! Keep asking questions, learning by doing, and taking giant leaps.