Jonne Vähänissi: “Okmetic is the best place for a process development engineer to work in Finland.”
The Otaniemi campus of Aalto University became very familiar to Jonne Vähänissi when he enrolled in the Electronics and Electrical Engineering degree program in 2012. Three years after graduating as a Bachelor of Science in engineering, he became interested in microtechnology and nanotechnology.
“I was fascinated by how we can create such tiny structures which even the human eye cannot see. What these structures could achieve seemed so amazing,” Vähänissi reminisces.
And so the young man got carried away by the world of semiconductors, and he ended up working on his thesis at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland. In spring 2019, Vähänissi received his diploma in engineering and started actively looking for a job.
As he felt that he had already seen the academic scope of the semiconductor industry, the corporate world started to attract him. Both small start-ups and larger companies were in his sights. Due to excursions and courses during his studies, Vähänissi already had one company imprinted in his mind above others: Okmetic.
“I submitted an open application to Okmetic because I had heard from many of my contacts that it was a great place and people enjoyed working there for a long time. It gave me a great impression. I felt that for someone like me, Okmetic was the best place to work in Finland.”
Creativity and systematicity meet in the work of a process development engineer
Freshly graduated Jonne Vähänissi’s skills and experience were noticed, and so he became Okmetic’s new reinforcement. Now as a process development engineer, his working hours are mostly spent developing deep reactive-ion etching processes.
His days at work always start with either the team coming up with an idea or a customer with a question that needs to be answered.
“First, we make plans and think step by step how we should implement the processes in practice. Once we have a clear idea of the overall picture, we carry out the plans. Finally, we analyze the test results and draw conclusions,” Vähänissi describes.
What fascinates Vähänissi about the work of a project development engineer is the unpredictability: you never come across a completely identical structure. Each project is always a new and unique development process, which keeps you motivated time and time again.
You cannot avoid unexpected surprises either, which keeps the mind active and motivates you to figure out new solutions.
“In addition to theoretical knowledge and practicality, it is important to value creativity, systematicity and accuracy in the work of a project development engineer. A balanced combination of these aspects often results in great new experiments,” Vähänissi summarizes.
Positive atmosphere is the result of an encouraging work community
When you ask Jonne Vähänissi what he thinks is the best part of his job, the answer comes immediately: absolutely amazing colleagues with uncompromisingly positive attitudes. They genuinely care about their employees, ask each other how they are doing and help everyone selflessly.
“We have a really great team. We have so much fun working together that we can joke around even during more challenging tasks,” Vähänissi assures.
He also especially appreciates the long-term experience and practical knowledge that the seasoned colleagues have generously been sharing with him. Vähänissi feels that his practical expertise and knowledge have improved significantly since his graduation.
As his expertise keeps growing, Vähänissi can delve more and more into how and why specific processes are done in a particular way to ensure their functionality in countless different applications. The latest technological equipment is an invaluable tool for process development engineers.
“I am still especially fascinated by deep reactive-ion etching, so I will very likely still be working as a process development engineer in five years. The expectations of my work for Okmetic have been met – if not exceeded,” Vähänissi smiles.
