Timo Lindborg

President and Chief Executive Officer of Sotkamo Silver AB
Sotkamo Silver Oy AB

Innovative energy efficient Silver Mine

Dr. Lindborg has been working with mining related issues since 1978. He is CEO for the Sotkamo Silver AB. He has established and built up Sotkamo Silver AB in Sweden and its subsidiaries Sotkamo Silver Oy in Finland. Dr. Lindborg has been lecturing as a professor in Mineral Entrepreneurship at Oulu University and Luleå University of Technology during 2010-2013. Before Sotkamo Silver Dr. Lindborg acted as CEO of Endomines AB. He is one of the founding entrepreneurs of Endomines, one of the first junior mining companies in Finland. Dr. Lindborg founded industrial mineral company Kalvinit Oy, which developed the Kälviä ilmenite project through pre feasibility study before the company was merged to Endomines AB. Lindborg has been participating in development of the Björkdal gold mine and Pahtavaara gold mine as a strategic and environment consultant in the beginning of 1990’s. Dr. Lindborg has been responsible for the final feasibility studies of Pampalo Gold mines, Silver Mine and Kalvinit ilmenite mine projects. He has a long experience about gathering financing, developing and managing exploration and mining projects in Nordic countries.

Marcus Rothoff

Autonomous Driving Program Director
Volvo Car Group

Autonomous driving is changing the world drastically (5.10. Seminar I)

Marcus Rothoff, M.Sc. Luleå University of Technology, is responsible for Autonomous Driving and is Project manager for Drive me at Volvo Car Group since 2014. Prior to his current position Marcus has been working in various positions at Volvo Car Group since 1998. He has been responsible for product definition and strategies within Volvo core areas safety and durability. Main target of Marcus is to define cars desired by people, to maintain safety leadership and gain leadership with autonomous driving.

Markku Wilenius

Professor of Future Studies
Turku School of Economics, University of Turku

Finland one hundred years from now (5.10. Seminar I)

Markku Wilenius is professor of futures studies in Turku University Business School. He is also Unesco Chair in Learning Society and Futures of Education. He has worked over 20 years with futures studies. In 2015 he co-founded Turku Complex Systems Institute at the University of Turku.  In recent years his research interest include understanding socio-economic long-term waves, future of financial industry, future of forest industry and future of non-hierarchical organizations. His latest project is the future of cities and communities. He is the president of three foundations. He has also worked with Allianz, world largest private insurer, leading their strategic research and development. He is a member of Club of Rome and has led Finnish delegation in Johannesburg Sustainable Development Summit. He has published books and articles widely. His forthcoming book is called “Patterns of the Future. Understanding  the Next 40 Years of Global Change” (World Scientific, London). He is sought-after speaker in financial world. Apart from Allianz, where he has given talks to audiences by Morningstar, Munich Re and  Swiss Re, among other. In Finland he has given several training courses on foresight for financial executives via Education Centre for Financial Sector (FINVA).

Torbjørn Amundsen

Co-partner
KPMG Norway

Knowing Norwegian business culture – key to success in Norwegian markets (6.10. Seminar I)

Torbjørn Amundsen is partner in KPMG Law Attorneys-at Law and authorized as Legal Adviser by the Norwegian Attorney Supervisory Board. Currently, he is responsible for KPMG’s ”Foreign Business Services” which offers accounting, payroll and tax services as well as legal assistance, hereunder bid-support and tender-review, to foreign companies with operations in Norway. As a member of KPMG’s national and international industry network for building & construction, commercial property and infrastructure, he regularly organizes seminars for the industry at home and abroad where Norwegian and international companies meet and establish contacts. He is advising Norwegian companies that uses foreign subcontractors, and he has assisted with design of complete internal control systems and procedures for pre-qualification, tender-invitations, contracting and follow-up of foreign subcontractors. He is also a regular consultant and lecturer on topics such as international business culture and compliance when using foreign (non-Norwegian) subcontractors or labor.

Daniel Kaufmann

Specialist, Circular Economy
Sitra

Fast track to become the number one and forerunner of circular economy (5.10. Seminar I)

Daniel Kaufmann is a circular economy and sharing economy expert. Daniel has a master’s degree in Creative Sustainability from Aalto University. Daniel believes that in 2030, it will already be a bit embarrassing to own things. Daniel works with different-sized companies and challenges the society to make systemic change – how can we decouple well-being and economic growth from natural resource use and increased emissions? At Sitra Daniel is especially responsible for the circular economy projects Sitra does with companies and the private sector. Daniel designs, finances, steers and engages in different kinds of projects. Daniel has several years of experience in management consulting, focusing on finding competitive edge from sustainability. He has also been involved in founding start-up companies in Finland and Colombia, worked in research & development and studied in Argentina and Costa Rica. In his projects Daniel has studied circular economy business models, defined corporate strategies and new operating models, used service design to create new ways of operating in the public sector, sparred start-ups and lectured on competitive advantage or carbon handprint. Daniel also was a key player in the team that facilitated the birth of the Finnish roadmap to circular economy 2016-2025. Could his next initiative be a documentary project on the circular economy of cars in Africa?

Panu Peltomäki

Practice Leader Liability and Financial Lines
Marsh Oy

Cyber risks and how to insure them (6.10. Seminar II)

Panu works as Practice Leader Liability and Financial Lines at Marsh Oy. He is an experienced lawyer with a strong background in liability insurances.  Panu has worked within insurance industry for more than 10 years, both as an underwriter in an insurance company and as an insurance broker.  Panu is a specialist in following lines of insurance: General and Product Liability, D&O, Crime, Environmental Liability and Cyber. In addition Panu has wide experience on contractual risks and claims handling.

Marko Lepola

Head of IoT Finland, Division X
Telia Company

Creation of new business with Industrial IoT (6.10. Seminar I)

Marko Lepola’s professional focus is on the impact of the digitalization in enterprises and on the development of new commercial offerings in the areas of cloud, analytics, datacenter and IoT solutions. He combines this with lean start-up setups, customer co-creation, agile development methods and their cultural implications. He works in Telia’s Division X, where technology, connectivity and people intersect.

Antti Porkka

Chairman of the Board, Graphic Designer
Porkka & Kuutsa Oy

Brand creation & Brand Management on Industrial sector (6.10. Seminar I)

Antti Porkka graduated as Master of Arts from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 1995. He has amassed over 20 years of experience in identity design for Finnish and international organizations and won several international awards from leading competitions of the industry. Together with Jonni Kuutsa, Porkka leads Porkka & Kuutsa Identity Design, a design agency focused on identity.

Hannele Pokka

Permanent Secretary
Ministry of the Environment

Circular economy – new drive, new business for the Arctic (5.10. Seminar I)

Hannele Pokka serves as Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment in Finland. She is the highest-ranking public servant within the Ministry. Hannele is also Docent of Environmental Law at the University of Lapland. Previously, she has served as governor of the Province of Lapland and the minister of justice. From 1979 to 1994, Hannele was a Member of Parliament. She has special interest and expertise in Arctic issues and has held the position, for example, of chair of the Barents Regional Council and the Northern Forum. She holds a doctoral degree in environmental law. She is an honorary doctor of environment and forestry at the University of Eastern Finland (previously, University of Joensuu). The Ministry of the Environment is responsible for preparing matters to be submitted for consideration by the Government and Parliament, such as matters concerning communities, the built environment, housing, biodiversity, sustainable use of natural resources and environmental protection. The Ministry encourages cooperation in all its work and plays a leading role in national efforts to safeguard biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and secure a good living environment for both current and future generations.

W. John Hoffmann

Co-Founder & Principal
Exceptional Resources Group (XRG) Hong Kong

China & Finland Ecosystem realities – Why do we have a synchronization challenge, how do we capture opportunies? (5.10. Seminar I)

W. John Hoffmann, Harvard University graduate, Bachelor of Arts Honors, East Asian Studies, is a China deal consultant, author and speaker but not a China expert since definition for ”ex” is ”has-been” and definition for ”spert” is ”drip under pressure”.  With over 30 years China-specific work experience, John been advising government, financial institution and multinational clients on their China projects since 1986. John began working in China before it was fashionable. He bespokes transaction advisory work for large multinational companies, financial institutions and governments when an inside-out understanding of China can help them to improve their strategies and to achieve their strategic objectives. The competitive advantage of John is being able to mobilize and guide dedicated China project and transaction support teams that augment his clients’ in-house capability with the best available China expertise in politics, economics, finance, intellectual property, law, risk mitigation and business strategy. John is a Co-Founder and Principal of the Exceptional Resources Group (XRG), a China-based strategy and transactional consultancy firm, and a Co-Founder and Founding Core Associate of the China Dialogues Network (CDN), a network of leading China analysts, consultants, scholars and businesspeople that provides information and bespoke advice on China.

Ilmari Veijola

Head of Sales, Data Services
Siemens

Closing the loop of a digital value chain with MindSphere IoT (6.10. Seminar I)

Ilmari Veijola has extensive experience in the execution-, management- and development of sales related to industrial engineering solutions and services especially in the global steel industry sector. As the Head of Sales, Data Services, he is responsible for Siemens’ industrial cyber security service portfolio as well as for MindSphere, the cloud based open IoT operating system in Finland and the Baltic countries.

Matti Torkkeli

Cofounder
Lean5 Europe Oy

Less is more – how Lean Thinking can help you to improve your company´s success every day. (6.10. Seminar II)

Matti Torkkeli is Lean5 Europe Oy’s founding member, and a valued Lean coach. Matti has experience in several development projects for a global operating environment since 1998. Practical coaching and training of continuous operational development, management of large-scale development processes, and Lean productivity thinking are the cornerstones of Matti’s expertise.

Heikki Karppimaa

Fuel manager
Oulun Energia Oy

Ash returned back into the cycle of nature as a result of successful cooperation – End of Waste Criteria (5.10. Seminar II)

Heikki Karppimaa, M.Sc. in industrial economy, is Oulun Energia Oy’s fuel manager. He supervises the acquisition of the company’s fuels and burnable waste for their eco power plant, as well as the treatment of ashes produced by power plants. His tasks also include administration of supply agreements and management of fuel and waste logistics. Previously he worked for Turveruukki Oy for 33 years in different functions, and as CEO between 2011–2017. Oulun Energia is a city-owned public limited company dealing with fuel production and the production, sales and distribution of electricity and district heating, along with various other services, e.g. smart energy services, electricity grid services, contracting, and maintenance. As much as 99.6 percent of the ashes from Oulun Energia’s Toppila power plant were utilized e.g. in civil engineering, and as forest fertilizer in peatlands in granulated form. Karppimaa has a position in peat industry association Turveteollisuusliitto’s board, and he was a founding member and board member of Finnish Bioindustries FIB. These associations were joined into the Bioenergy Association of Finland, where Karppimaa was also a founding member and board member.

Sakari Kiviniemi

CEO
Rakeistus Oy

Ash returned back into the cycle of nature as a result of successful cooperation – End of Waste Criteria (5.10. Seminar II)

Sakari Kiviniemi has been the CEO and shareholder of Rakeistus Oy since 2015. Rakeistus Oy offers a new type of ash granulation method that can be integrated in industrial processes along with a complete service all the way to end product distribution. Potential uses for the granulation equipment include e.g. ash granulation into fertilizer, technical construction, and symbiotic products. The granulation process turns what formerly would have been disposed of as ash dust into a solid, dispersable soil conditioning product. Sakari has previously worked in lumber trade and as the CEO at Oplax Oy, a packaging and pallet industry company. He has a degree in timber engineering.

Tapani Niskanen

Director Paper and Board
CH-Polymers

Tapani Niskanen,  Director Paper and Board, CH-Polymers 2016 has the following working history:

2011-2014, Oy Chemec AB, Managing Director

2008-2011, Omya Oy, General Manager Northern-Europe paper

2005-2008, Omya AG Switzerland, Marketing Manager PCC

1996-2005, StoraEnso Oyj, Production Manager Oulu Paper Mill

Hannu Kokko

CEO
Ekopine Ltd

Wood-Based Bioeconomy – Potential Future in Creating Value by New Way of Thinking

Hannu Kokko is the Managing Director of EkoPine Ltd, a company that he founded in 1993. EkoPine Ltd processes pine-based oil products for industry and those who are involved in exterior and environmental construction. Hannu is Master of Science in Business Forestry/International Forest Industry. He has extensive experience in both Timber Industry and Forest-based Chemical Industry – a perspective from the beginning of the value chain up to the high-value products. He knows widely the operating environment of the field locally and internationally by operating in several R&D as well as production and marketing projects.

Per Österström

Head of Transport & Automotive Industry
Business Region Göteborg AB

Sustainable systems benefit both the city’s residents and the climate (5.10. Seminar I)

Per Österstöm, MSc., Applied physics and electrical engineering, is since 2014 Head of Transport & Automotive Industry of the Cluster & Industry Development at Business Region Gothenburg, Sweden. Additionally Per is a city coordinator for the ElectriCity project in Gothenburg and a board member of Telematics Valley. He is intensively involved in the city development and business related to autonomous vehicles. Prior to his current position Per held several R&D Manager positions during 2005-2014 at Ericsson AB in the field of design and verification within mobile data. During these years he has had multi site operational responsibilities. Before joining Ericsson AB he held the following positions: R&D Project Manager at Ericsson Mobile Platforms in Sweden in a multi site project setup (2001-2005) and R&D Engineer at Ericsson Eurolab in the Netherlands (2000 – 2001).

Pia Erkinheimo

Investor Dealflow
Nordea Startup & Growth / SOLVED The Cleantech Company

Platform economy – a threat or a possibility? (5.10. Seminar I)

Pia Erkinheimo joined Nordea’s Startup and Growth Finland team 4 weeks ago as responsible for investor dealflow. Besides her day job she is an active angel investor in FiBAN –Finnish Business Angels Network, and advisory board member in several startups e.g. SOLVED The Cleantech Company. She has also worked hands-on in 2 of her portfolio startups as chief digital officer and director for sales. As an investor, she looks at business models where platform economy models are put in practice. A priori to that, she pioneered platform thinking e.g. in DIGILE, The Finnish Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation in Internet Economy as Head of Crowds and Communities and in Nokia Corporate Strategy and CTO’s Office as Head of Innovation Crowdsourcing. The European Commission has benefitted from her S&T&I experience as a Rapporteur for OISPG, Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group. Pia holds an MA in behavioural sciences and combines it with industrial management and strategy studies (University of Helsinki, Aalto University, University of Minnesota). Her Ph.D. studies at Aalto University has taken her to e.g. University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, USA.

Virpi Leinonen

Project Manager
SFTec Ltd

The winner takes it all – strong R&D co-creation enabling world-class innovations (6.10. Seminar II)

Virpi Leinonen is Project Manager of SFTec Ltd, a company behind the award-winning Modular Heating (ModHeat) technology. ModHeat is a modular and mobile industrial dryer, which enables economical and efficient utilization of unused industrial waste heat to dry bioenergy and other materials. Virpi has over 10 years experience in R&D projects in the industry and university from laboratory to industrial scale. Virpi has a passion for Cleantech technology development and commercialisation.

Jari Hietala

CEO & Cofounder
Asia Sales Channels Limited (Bangkok)

China & Finland Ecosystem realities – Why do we have a synchronization challenge, how do we capture opportunies? (5.10. Seminar I)

Jari Hietala, M. Sc. (economics), is a business development professional currently located in Bangkok, Thailand.  Jari is CEO and Cofounder of Asia Sales Channels Limited since 2016. Prior to this Jari was (2015 – 2016) Vice President for Vahterus Oy Asia operations located in Hong Kong. During 1998 – 2010 Jari has been a trade commissioner, Vice President and Senior Vice President at Finpro in various locations including Helsinki, London, Bangkok and Hong Kong.  Jari has a strong background on facilitating international success and growth of the companies operating on energy, environment and manufacturing industries. Jari has a unique skill in developing and managing sales channers and partnerships based on huge amount of global Consulting projects with hundreads of companies.

Saara Kankaanrinta

Co-Founder
Soilfood Oy

100% smart circular economy (5.10. Seminar II)

Saara Kankaanrinta, M.Soc.Sc., is a Co-Founder and a Board Member of Soilfood Ltd: organic and recycled fertilizers, soil amendments and inputs of food production. Soilfood Ltd is the biggest actor recycling nutrients in Finland. Saara is also a Co-Founder and a Board Member of Baltic Sea Action Group Foundation. Foundation is internationally awarded for its concept of innovative and constructive cooperation.  Additionally,  Saara is a Co-Founder and a Board Member of Qvidja Power Ltd focusing on biogas and wood gas combined to patented bacteria-based biomethanation, a Board member of Sulapac Ltd, start up company that has developed a biodegradable plastic-like package as well as a Board Member of Carbon to Soil, non-profit company that develops an app to consumers to take part in carbon capture and sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, Saara has two own pilot farms.  Farms are nurturing the biodiversity, biological activity in the soil, and are based on carbon farming.

Juhani Anhava

Head of Business Development
Outotec Oyj

New business from circulation of materials, (5.10. Seminar II)

Professional experience of Juhani Anhava covers several senior management positions in consulting, engineering and chemical plant management as well as senior expert positions in environmental issues related to chemical industry, pulp and paper industry, mining operations, metal industry, foodstuff industry, port operations, roads, railways, hydropower plants, thermal power plants etc. Juhani has been engaged in studies, engineering work and plant management related to water and air pollution control, waste management, noise abatement and occupational health and safety for more than 40 years.

Nick Lyth

Director, Co-founder
Green Angel Syndicate

How to attract investors? Are markets for cleantech different from other markets? (6.10. Seminar II)

Nick Lyth is co-founder and Director of Green Angel Syndicate, the first business angel syndicate in the UK to specialise in investments of benefit to the Green Economy.   GAS has just made its seventh investment, it has 45 members, and has invested a total of £3.5 million to date.  As well as managing the investments, Nick sits on the Boards of several investee companies helping their development where necessary.  Nick is himself an investor in the companies in the GAS portfolio.  Prior to Green Angel Syndicate, Nick founded and managed International Resources and Recycling Institute, which specialised in applied research, working in European partnership projects exploring innovations in renewable energy, water management, sustainable transport, waste and recycling.

Pirjo Kaivos

Portfolio Manager, Circular Economy
CLIC Innovation Ltd

New business through sustainable material recycling – Results from Material Value Chains program (5.10. Seminar II)

Pirjo Kaivos is Portfolio Manager at CLIC Innovation Ltd which is an open innovation cluster with the mission of creating breakthrough solutions in bioeconomy, energy and cleantech. Pirjo is responsible for managing circular economy initiatives and projects. Lately she has been leading Material Value Chains program with the financing volume of 10M €. Prior to her current position Pirjo has worked in leading positions at companies and industry federations in the field of environmental strategy and management, cleantech and corporate sustainability. Due to her background Pirjo has solid knowledge of circular economy and its effects on companies’ business and success. Pirjo’s educational background is M.Sc. (Tech.)

Pekka Tervonen

Director
CEE Centre for Environment and Energy

(5.10. Seminar II)

Adjunct Professor Pekka Tervonen, D.Sc. (Tech.), has 17 years of experience in managing positions in steel industry, mainly in business and operational excellence, innovation and ESSQ management (environment, safety, security, quality). Since 2012 Tervonen has been acting as director in Centre for Environment and Energy (CEE) which is an innovation hub organized under the University of Oulu and a partner in the Oulu Innovation Alliance (OIA). CEE’s objective is to turn innovations in the environmental, energy and cleantech sectors into business. CEE is branding Oulu with eco-innovations and green economy.

Tapani Tilus

VP, Agilon business
Konecranes

New business models capturing value from digital technology and innovation (6.10. Seminar I)

Tapani Tilus, M.Sc.(Industrial Engineering and Management), is an experienced leader of global businesses on both Konecranes service and equipment business areas including senior management positions. Tapani is focusing on creating new businesses based on modern digital technologies and innovative business models. Today he is in charge of leading Konecranes Agilon, an innovative start-up business within Konecranes group, to a global success.

Marko Mäkikyrö

President
SSAB Merox Ab

Circular economy in steel industry (6.10. Seminar I)

Marko Mäkikyrö, D.Sc. (Process and Environmental Engineering), President of SSAB Merox possesses an impressive 18 years of experience on material circulation and industrial side streams. Prior to his current position, Marko has been in charge of sales operations, company development and enterprise resource planning systems. Marko has held the positions of Director of Recycling and Mineral Products at Ruukki Metals and Operational Director at SSAB Merox.

Mia Suominen

Business Area Director
Vapo Oy

Creating new business out of the box – lessons learned (5.10. Seminar II)

Mia Suominen is a leader of Vapo Ventures unit, where the aim is to seek growth by creating new and innovative business solutions outside from energy sector. She has a professional experience that combines research and business: she has worked half of her career at Vapo Group in bioenergy business, and half in research at MTT Agrifood Research Finland (at present LUKE Natural resources institute Finland). At business world, Mia has driven change, such as Vapo’s environmental turnaround programme and launched new businessess for Vapo like Vapo Clean Waters Oy, Vapo Fibers and Vapo Carbons. In her academic career, she has written a Doctoral Thesis and nearly a hundred different publications and have participated in many international research projects and conferences. Mia has over 20 years of experience in leadership and management, and 15 years in advocacy, board and management team work (f.eg. Finnish Bioenergy Association, Finnish Energy Industries, Finnish Forest Industries). The keywords that describe her skills are bioenergy, environmental issues, sustainability, new businesses, research and development, innovation and change management.

Ykä Marjanen

CTO
Grainsense Ltd

A hard day’s night: increasing productivity of farming business with ICT (6.10. Seminar II)

Ykä Marjanen is co-founder and CTO at Grainsense Ltd, a company developing products and services around disruptive measurement technology for agriculture. Ykä is a serial entrepreneur and a product innovator. He has co-founded five startups, two charities, a business idea competition and a startup community. Ykä has 15 years of technical experience developing B2B and consumer products relating to sensor and behavioral algorithms, autonomous measurement and analysis solutions. Ykä Marjanen has a PhD from human sciences, Masters in Engineering and Innovation Management from Loughborough University, UK.

Susanne M. Nævermo-Sand

CEO
SINTEF Helgeland

Green industry in the Northern part of Norway (5.10. Seminar I)

Susanne M. Nævermo-Sand is CEO at SINTEF Helgeland, a robust and industry-relevant technological research institute based on the region’s advantages. The strategic focus areas are circular economy and sustainability as well as future production. She is original a mining engineer with an Msc in Global Project Management. She has heavy leader experience from large technology and innovation project in the mining sector in Sweden and Norway. Such as implementing remote loading system in LKAD mine in Malmberget, implementing new mining method as well as establishment new mining level at Rana Gruber. The last five year she has been leader of the board for the large cluster project Mining & Mineral Cluster Norway. The project is a collaboration arena focusing on R&D, innovation and human resources development within the mining industry. The partners collaborate to achieve growth and development in the industry, contributing to a greener society a and new industrial activity in Norway.”

Anne Raudaskoski

Co-founder
Ethica Oy

Circular design – a key  to circular economy (6.10. Seminar II)

Anne is a Co-founder and Principal Consultant of Ethica,  a circular economy consultancy operating internationally across private and public sectors.  Some of the latest projects include Circular Economy Ecosystem development as part of the European Raw Materials programme; a circular district concept and business ecosystem development with the City of Tampere and collaboration with the Finnish Technology Industries.  Ethica was highly commended at the prestigious Circulars2016 competition through the Relooping Fashion project focusing on building the future of textile industry, and the project was also chosen as one of the most innovative circular projects in Sustainia 100 publication. Anne was one of the ten international experts invited to Reunion Island to contribute to the circular economy strategy of the region in 2016. Anne has also written the ‘Boosting circular design for a circular economy’ report (2015) together with the Dutch partner called De Groene Zaak. Anne is RSA Fellow and expert at Solved Cleantech Network as well as FISS (Finnish Industrial Symbiosis System) Network. In her previous role she used to work as a Sustainability Manager at the University of Westminster, London. Anne has Master’s degrees in International Relations and Dance.

Matti Latva-Aho

Professor of Digital Transmission Techniques
University of Oulu

Home of 5G (6.10. Seminar I)

Matti Latva-aho received the M.Sc., Lic.Tech. and Dr. Tech (Hons.) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oulu, Finland in 1992, 1996 and 1998, respectively. From 1992 to 1993, he was a Research Engineer at Nokia Mobile Phones, Oulu, Finland after which he joined Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC) at the University of Oulu. Prof. Latva-aho was Director of CWC during the years 1998-2006 and Head of Department for Communication Engineering until August 2014. Currently he is Professor of Digital Transmission Techniques at the University of Oulu. He serves as Academy of Finland Professor in 2017 – 2022. His research interests are related to mobile broadband communication systems and currently his group focuses on 5G systems research. Prof. Latva-aho has published 300+ conference or journal papers in the field of wireless communications. He received Nokia Foundation Award in 2015 for his achievements in mobile communications research.

Kaj Råtts

Process Owner – Reliability
Efora Oy

Value creation by  industry maintenance digitalization – no buzzword but practical examples and future vision (6.10. Seminar I)

Kaj Råtts, Master of Science, is the Process Owner of the Reliability Process at Efora, since January 2016. Efora improves industrial competitiveness with smarter maintenance solutions and life cycle management for Stora Enso. Kaj joined Efora in 2013 as a Site Manager for Efora’s site in Oulu. He was responsible for the mill maintenance operations and life-cycle services until September 2016. Before that he developed service and reliability at ABB Full Service site in Harjavalta as a Development Manager and Reliability Engineer. Due to his background, Kaj has a a solid expertise in developing and managing service processes for industrial customers, by improving the efficiency and operational reliability of the production equipment through smarter maintenance processes.

Andrey Kletrov

CEO
Arctic Mining

Your business potential in the Arctic Russia mining (5.10. Seminar I)

Business scope of Andrey Kletrov, CEO of  Arctic Mining – group,  is largely driven by his strong know how and attitude towards industrial IoT, digitalization of processes and smart, predictive maintenance. Andrey has a high substancial competence on development of the arctic russian industrial environment. Prior to establishing Arctic Mining, Andrey held a position as an advisor at Finpro with the focus on industrial companies operating in the russian arctic environment. His focus has been on industrial sector on both government institutions and private owned companies in the Northern parts of  Russia and Finland.Currently he represents a business network professional within russian mining, maritime and energy sectors. His focus is on seizing added value solutions for these sectors. Andrey helds Master’s degree in International business and Management (IBMA).

Mikko Ahokas

CEO
MACON

Innovations and Science behind seizing Market Opportunities on the field of Bioenergy and Waste Management (6.10. Seminar II)

Mikko Ahokas has an extremely broad experience from the field of bioenergy and waste management. He is a founding partner (2005-2011) of an energy company St1 Biofuels. He worked there as a technical director and was in charge of creating a concept and processes for the pioneering waste to ethanol based fuel plants. He believes that science and innovative technologies are playing a key role for the future waste management and bioenergy sector development. The latest years (2011-) he has been  conducted several feasibility studies, searched investors for the sector, done technology benchmarking studies, and participated business transaction processes by doing technical and environmental due diligences. He is convinced that collaboration between top experts can solve many of the current challenges. In his private consultancy business (MACON) his intention is to create a network of highly skilled professionals in the sector of waste management and bioenergy. He is active in many Expert services, for example Solved, BCC, Mintebi, and GL Group. Mikko has a Bachelor in Environmental technology and a Master degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences. Currently he is doing his doctoral studies in Bioprocess engineering at the University of Oulu. He is a board member in Finnish Waste Management Association and a National member delegate in International Solid Waste Association (ISWA).  He is also counting on entrepreneurial ways of driving a positive change in the local economy. He is a founding partner and acts as a Chairman in Sangen Oy and Tornio Brewery (Tornion Panimo Oy)

Päivi Laajala

Mayor of Oulu 1.4.2017 –
City of Oulu

Opening of Industry Summit 2017

M.Sc. (Admin), Päivi Laajala, will serve as Mayor of Oulu starting 1.4.2017. During 2008 – 2017 she has served as Director-General, Head of The Department for Local Government Department, subsequently Regional Administration and Regional State Administrative Department at the Ministry of Finance. In the period 2005 – 2008 she has served as Deputy Mayor of City of Oulu. Prior to this, she has worked as Mayor of City of Kannus, Mayor of Kauhajoki Municipality and as Director of social- and welfare department in Pielavesi Municipality.

Anu Fredrikson

Director
AEC Arctic Economic Council Secretariat, Tromsø, Norway

Boosting Arctic Economic Growth (5.10 Seminar I)

Anu Fredrikson is the Director of the Arctic Economic Council Secretariat located in Tromsø, Norway. Anu has previously worked with foreign and security policy, issues related to energy and economy, climate and development policies as well as the Arctic. Prior to joining the AEC, Anu worked as an Advisor in Political Affairs and Arctic Policy at the Embassy of Finland in Oslo.  She has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Tampere in Finland and holds a Certificat d’Etudes Politiques from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Lille in France.

Sirpa Pietikäinen

Member of the European Parliament
European Parliament

Circular economy and Digital transformation key enablers of Arctic sustainable development (6.10. Seminar I)

Member of the European Parliament, Sirpa Pietikäinen (M.Sc. Econ., Helsinki School of Economics) is Member in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and in the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect. As the current key positions of trust she is Member of the Board at Kone Oyj, Fortum Advisory Council and Lammi Savings Bank. Furthermore, Sirpa is Chairman of the Board at The Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation and at KONE Foundation, The Advisory Board of the Saari Residence. She is Lecturer in Negotiations Theories at Aalto University School of Business and University of Eastern Finland.  Previously Sirpa served as Vice Chairman in the Committee of Internal Market and Consumer protection and as Member in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety at European Parliament. Earlier Sirpa Pietikäinen was Member of Finnish Parliament in 1983–2003 and Minister of the Environment of Finnish Government 1991–1995.

Seppo Yrjölä

Sr. Principal Innovator
Nokia

The Future X Network: Building the digital fabric for making cities smarter and better together (6.10. Seminar I)

Dr. Seppo Yrjölä is a passionate innovator with a background in research, strategy and business, Seppo Yrjölä is Sr. Principal Innovator at Nokia. Seppo has been with Nokia for 28 years. He incubates and steers opportunities externally with customers, partners and governments with the purpose of driving growth by innovating holistically from technology to business models. Previously as a head of wireless technology for the Networks division at Nokia, his role required him to look beyond the product roadmap and identify what new trends, technologies and tools were on the horizon, and determine and validate how those future opportunities fit into the Nokia pipeline. His current research is focused in the area of future radios with cognitive network business opportunities and potential disruptions as an important aspect to scout. He holds a M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering and a Doctoral degree in telecommunications from the University of Oulu. Seppo has been awarded over €10 million in competitive research funding as the lead investigator, authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, and holds several patents in the radio domain.

Toni Hemminki

President & Chief Executive Officer
Fennovoima Oy

Fennovoima – a gateway to international markets

Toni Hemminki, Master of Science, Tech. (Energy and Environment), has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Fennovoima Oy since October 2014. Prior to joining Fennovoima, he held various positions at SSAB (former Rautaruukki Oyj) during 2001 – 2014. During those years he expanded his experience from expert and research and product development positions to leading positions as VP, Energy and Environment in 2007 – 2011; SVP, Technology, Energy and Environment in 2011 – 2013; Chief Strategy Officer in 2013 – 2014 and Deputy CTO and Head of Energy, Environment, Health and Safety from September 2014, on, until joining Fennovoima. In addition to wide management experience at SSAB, Mr. Hemminki has held a few positions of trust as chairman of the board of directors at Raahen Voima Oy (2014) and ElFi Oy (2009 – 2011) and as member of the board of directors at Manga LNG Oy (2014), FIMECC Oy (2013 – 2014), Fennovoima Oy (2013 – 2014) and Voimaosakeyhtiö SF (2012 – 2014).