A master's thesis is a bridge to the world of work: cooperation between Aalto and Nokia breeds future ICT experts

A master's thesis is a six-month long project in which master's students apply their learning to real-life problems. As a strategic partner, Nokia participates in long-term and fruitful cooperation with Aalto University in the form of master's theses.

In the collaboration, students have an opportunity to showcase their competence, the company gains a motivated employee with fresh ideas, and the university stays in tune with the practical problems of the business sector. Master's theses are also a recruitment channel for the industry.

“Many graduates find employment in the company that offered them a placement during their master's thesis. A master's thesis is a particularly great way for international students, who have not necessarily gained much work experience during their studies, to integrate into the Finnish world of work”, says Petri Vuorimaa, Professor at the Aalto University Department of Computer Science.

Vuorimaa oversees the CCIS (Computer, Communication and Information Sciences) Master's Programme at Aalto University School of Science, which currently has about 650 master's students. Graduates from the programme work as ICT professionals in the industry.

“Students working on their master's thesis are full of enthusiasm and want to give their best. They bring with them the latest theoretical knowledge and are able to apply it in practice”, says Jean-Luc Olivès, Technical Leader of Signal Processing at Nokia.

A Master of Science (Technology) has immediate access to productive work

Eero Vaskonen, who studied signal processing at Aalto University, found a placement for his master's thesis through an open application process via Nokia online. “In the light of my own background, the position in 5G software development seemed really interesting. I was given the opportunity to study the listed topics, ask for more information and choose my own subject. I ended up in a position where I was able to combine signal processing with machine learning”, says Vaskonen.

Jean-Luc Olivès served as the advisor at Nokia and Professor Risto Wichman from Aalto University supervised the work. Vaskonen studied how the signal processing algorithm associated with the 5G network base station could be replaced by machine learning algorithms.

“The 5G network and new mobile technologies require speed and they cannot have bottlenecks caused by traditional signal processing algorithms. I compared two neural network architectures. The neural networks I implemented seem to work pretty well both in the simulator and in practice”, Vaskonen continues.  
 
As an advisor, Olivès ensured that the work progressed in the right direction. The objectives, progress and work schedule were discussed in weekly meetings. In addition, all students in the same unit met with the advisor every fortnight and held a 10-minute presentation of the progress of their work. “At first, it is difficult for students to summarise their work in ten minutes. Gradually, these skills develop, and they learn to focus on the essentials. This is important because good presentation skills are needed at work”, Olivès points out.

Vaskonen's master's thesis placement at Nokia began in mid-January 2020. It finished at the end of July. After a short summer holiday, Vaskonen continued to work in the familiar unit at Nokia. “A master's thesis prepares you for the world of work. When he graduated, Eero was immediately a part of the team and able to carry out productive work in the project. Without a master's thesis placement, it would take three months for a new employee  to internalise the work and its methods”, Olivès states.

Topics for master’s theses from product development needs

“Nokia is prepared to continue investing in young employees working on their master's thesis. In the development of the 5G network, we constantly need new resources”, says Olivès.

Defining the topic of the master's thesis is a match-making process in which the interests of the company, the student and the university meet. As a rule, the initiative comes from the company offering the position and its product development needs.

“Nokia knows the requirements of the master's thesis, and the topics have been carefully considered. In addition to a good topic, another prerequisite for a successful master's thesis is that the instructor has enough time for the student in the company”, says Risto Wichman, Professor at the Aalto University Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics.

Aalto helps bring companies and students together. “We organise recruitment events and company visits. Our particular goal is to talk to international students about employment in Finland and help them find a placement for a master's thesis. For them, a master's thesis placement in a company is an important bridge to employment and integration into the Finnish world of work”, says Vuorimaa.

Completing the thesis of a double degree in Finland

Maryam Tavakkoli completed her master's degree as a double degree at the EIT Digital Master School, which consists of leading universities and research institutes in Europe. In addition to Aalto University, Tavakkoli studied at Delft University in the Netherlands. During her third semester, she started looking for a thesis placement in both the Netherlands and Finland. “Nokia Bell Labs invited me for a job interview, and I took part virtually from Holland. I also received job offers from the Netherlands but decided to return to Finland and complete my master's thesis at Nokia”, says Tavakkoli.

She was involved in a project developing a decentralised data dissemination system between data producers and consumers. The development of the Internet of Things and 5G mobile technologies increases the need for such a system.

“I analysed the suitability of Kubernetes for the deployment of the IoT system. We decided that Kubernetes may be the best approach for the deployment of micro-service applications, particularly on a large scale”, explains Tavakkoli.

Tavakkoli appreciates the fact that Kimmo Hätönen, her advisor at Nokia, found time for discussing her master's thesis whenever necessary in addition to the weekly meetings. “In the early stages, he helped me get involved in the project and find open questions that I started looking for answers to. The advisor's support was also important in terms of keeping to the topic and schedule”, says Tavakkoli.

Tavakkoli completed her master's thesis in December 2019. She is currently working as a site reliability engineer at RELEX Solutions in Finland.

Text: Marjukka Puolakka