Aalto alumni network board 2024

Chair of the Aalto alumni network board

Mia Sirkiä, M.Sc. (Economics) from Aalto University. Mia is the CEO and partner in the private equity fund Saari Partners. Previously, she has been a partner in the advertising agency Hasan & Partners, responsible for B2B marketing. Prior to that, Mia did various business development projects, product marketing, new service development and Go-To-Market projects at Nokia. Mia is on the boards of Teknoware, Navix and Korjauspartnerit, and the chairman of the boards of Bo LKV and Hion Digital.

Hannu Martola, (Vice Chair) M.Sc in engineering and an EMBA from Aalto University is President & CEO of Detection Technology Plc. Previously he has worked as President & CEO of VTI Technologies Inc. and in various managerial positions. He has served in a number of startup and scaleup companies Board of Directors as a member and a chairman. Hannu has a long time link to Aalto University network through his earlier positions at Helsinki University of Technology student union, HOAS housing foundation, PTK Guild and KAUTE foundation. 

Kullah Anderson, MBA from Aalto University School of Business, currently serves as Head of Operations at MaaS (Mobility as a Service) Global, the maker of Whim - a multi-modal personal transportation experience app and service. Previously, he has also worked as a Customer Care Champion at Jolla Oy, Senior Product Manager at Tinnoff, Inc, and held various positions at Nokia Corporation, including Director of Corporate Strategy. Throughout his career, Kullah has been involved in company transformation programs, customer improvement projects, and quality initiatives. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Concordia College and has acted as the Chair of the Aalto MBA Association.
 

Ari Bertula, M.Sc. Tech. from Aalto University School of Engineering, has a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He brings work experience from his 8-year tenure at the Konecranes group, where he currently holds the position of Innovation Specialist in R&D. Ari is actively involved in course collaboration with Aalto University's side courses and is a participant in the AIIC Aalto Industrial Internet Campus group. Previously, he served as a steering group member on the Digitally project and was a stakeholder panel member for the School of Engineering in the Aalto University Teaching and Learning Evaluation Exercise 2020.

Ossi Leikola, MSc. in Tech (Engineering Physics) from Aalto University and MBA from INSEAD. He is Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Luminor Bank since end of 2023. Before that he held various leadership positions at Nordea, most lately as Head of Operations. Earlier in his career Ossi has been Managing Director at Metos NV and a consultant at McKinsey & Company. During his studies Ossi was Fuksi Captain at the Guild of Physics as well as the chairman of Helsinki University of Technology Student Union and National Union of University Students in Finland.

Sofi Perikangas, M.A. in Collaborative and Industrial Design, is a consultant in strategic service design and a PhD researcher focusing on design and management of co-production for public services. Sofi has a solid background in design in IT field and AI start-ups, as well as health and welfare sector. They are a former chair of the TOKYO student association and a former board member of the Aalto University Student Union (AYY).

Riitta Silvennoinen, Lic.Sc. (Tech.) from Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering, is currently working at Deloitte. She creates sustainable business opportunities from circular economy and energy transition together with customers and wide network of partners. Previously she was leading teams of Energy transition business / Future energy business / Investment management Office at St1 Oy. Riitta has also experience of working at Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra leading multiple circular economy projects in education and industry supporting Finland’s national goal in reaching circular economy. 

Ville Simola is M.Sc. (Economics) from Aalto University. Currently, he is the CEO of Digital Commerce Finland. Previously, he was the CEO of the leading startup hub in the Nordics, Maria 01. Prior to that he has led innovation and digital transformation teams in larger organisations and has been co-founding Startup Sauna, one of the first startup accelerator programs in Finland, hailing from the Aalto entrepreneurship ecosystem. Ville also sits in the board of The Shortcut, that helps foreign talent integrate into Finland.

Katja Soini, Doctor of Arts (Design) from Aalto University, is the Strategy and Sustainability Director at AFRY, creating sustainable business ventures for the built environment. Previously, she has held several business development leadership roles at Innolink and Vahanen, preceded by a decade of research and teaching at Aalto. Honoured as Alumna of the Year by Aalto ARTS, Katja is acclaimed for driving collaborative design practice within the built environment sector. Currently, Katja is also the President of Ornamo Art and Design Finland, championing design-driven innovation for a sustainable future.