I am an engineer (M.Sc.) who started with industrial design and made the master’s degree on product development. Lately, I have been increasingly interested in service and business design, and in my current MBA studies for business management I have included courses related to those themes. I have been working at Ensto fulltime since 2014 and before that, I worked here as summer worker for a couple of summers. Also, my Master Thesis was made to Ensto.
To be honest, I drifted to the electrification industry simply by stepping into Ensto’s stand at a summer job recruitment event in Aalto University. Ensto was a familiar company because I lived in Porvoo as a child, and everyone here knows the company. I got picked for a summer job, and that's where it started. Today I see electricity as the cornerstone of a developed society on which our standard of living is based, and as the enabler of the standard of living in developing countries to rise. The electricity network building makes it possible to create grid in areas where there is no electricity, which naturally improves the quality of life, and I find it inspiring to be kind of involved in helping and enabling.
I am a lifelong learner and interested in everything new: be it related to technology, engineering, nature, psychology, or biology. I love the logic of things and like to search for patterns when trying to understand why something is as it is and why it functions as it functions.
As the main task at Ensto I’m a Project Manager in product development, but because of my background, I do a lot of design work and development of operating models and working methods, as well, and act as a link between departments. Over the years, my interest has shifted from design work to leading projects and looking at a bigger picture. All in all, I like versatility of my daily tasks – and the possibility of endless learning.
What I love about Ensto is that since the very beginning I’ve been given freedom to do things in ways that are inherent for me. My superior and the team have always trusted me. As I started working here, I right away had a chance to participate in challenging international projects requiring responsibility and insight. It was inspiring to discuss everything in English and to learn about ways of working in different cultures. For me it is also pleasing that as a small agile company we can scale our product concept to meet the customer’s needs. Thanks to customizing, we were lately able to offer the customer all the types of connectors they needed.
What is the hottest topic in the industry for the moment? I’d say the internet of things has been underway for a long time and even if interactive technology has evolved a lot, the applications are still in their infancy. We are constantly thinking about how to keep the customer in mind instead of going with technology in front. Our goal is to add value to the customers, make their life easier and explain that even though the IoT products are more expensive at the time of purchase, during the overall life cycle they could get a solution to pay back many times over.
Hannele Kenkkilä
The writer of the blog, Hannele Kenkkilä, works as a Project Manager in Ensto DSO’s product development.