Ulla Elsilä, Bittium Oy

What have you studied and what influenced this choice back in the day?

From an early age, I have been interested in technology, numbers and calculations, perhaps roughly speaking, things that require logical thinking. In secondary school, I had electives in computer science and economics (programming, accounting, typing). In high school, my main goal was to get a Laudatur in broad mathematics. I also studied computer science and extensive physics, both as a matter of interest and to gain extra points when applying for postgraduate studies. During high school, I also considered a career as a mathematics teacher, but ended up applying for engineering and graduate engineering courses in my hometown of Oulu.

After high school, I started my studies for a master’s degree in computer engineering at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu. My specialisation was Technical Mathematics. 

During my studies in Finland, a change in the law was passed that allowed women to volunteer for military service. I was one of the first women to do military service at the Air Force Technical NCO School. During my service, I also considered a career in the Defence Forces, but in the end, I decided to complete my engineering degree.

In the last two years of my engineering degree, I did thesis research for the University of Oulu. The research topic and its scope allowed me to continue my work as a postgraduate student at a graduate school. I hadn't planned to pursue an academic career, but when it became clear that I could apply for grants to move to the US for a year as part of my research, I decided to continue my studies until I obtained a PhD in Engineering. My major was Embedded Systems and Software, and my dissertation topic was "Knowledge discovery method for deriving conditional probabilities from large datasets".

How did you end up in your current position?

Towards the end of my doctoral studies, I was again thinking about the next step in my life, and eventually the strongest desire was to move from the public sector to work in the private sector. This was the first time I had to go through the normal job search process. What also made the application process daunting was that during my university years I hardly learned any practical skills that are more useful in the private sector. However, when I applied to Bittium (formerly Elektrobit), it turned out that they were looking for a Matlab participant and that was the tool I had used to process the results of my research. I started working at Bittium when I was able to send my thesis for the first round of consultation.

What is the best thing about your job?

The best things about my job are the variety of tasks and the sense of community. In the telecoms sector, things are typically approached in a solution-oriented way, whether it's a technical challenge or not. Asking for help, getting support and weighing up options with others is common. As a front-line person, I can help and support my subordinates in a variety of ways, both in their career path and in terms of well-being at work. As a technical expert, I can satisfy my logical reasoning side.

What have been the highlights and key lessons of your career?

About a year of postgraduate studies in the US was the fulfilment of a long-standing dream. The move to a private employer, which gave me a chance despite my atypical background, was also a significant moment.

Talk, ask, find out, help and ask for help - don't go through things in your head alone. 

What do you expect from the future?

Right now, I'm in a job that suits me really well. I hope I can and will continue to do it until I retire. On the other hand, you never know what the future holds, maybe a new highlight in my career.