Dissertations in Forestry and Natural Sciences

Acknowledgements
This thesis summarizes the studies performed in the Department of
Applied Physics at the University of Eastern Finland during the years
2014 and 2015. The studies were financially supported by European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF, granted by the Finnish Funding
Agency for Technology and Innovation, project 70049/2011), Centre
for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (North
Savo, project S12261), the Academy of Finland (decision no. 252908)
and Teollisuusneuvos Heikki Väänänen’s Fund.
First, it is my pleasure to thank my supervisors for their support
and guidance during the thesis project. I express my thanks to my first
supervisor Prof. Reijo Lappalainen, Ph.D., for his trust, advice and
encouragement during this process. I owe my deepest gratitude to
Laura Tomppo, Ph.D., for her friendship, patience and prompt
assistance whenever it was needed. I also want to thank all my coauthors
for their contributions, especially Jorma Heikkinen for his
expertise in the preparation of the composite granules, and Pasi Yli-
Pirilä, M.Sc., for the advice in PTR-TOF-MS analyses.
I am very grateful to the pre-examiners of this thesis, Prof. Raimo
Alén, Dr.Tech., and Prof. Rupert Wimmer, Ph.D., for their comments
and constructive feedback. Furthermore, I am grateful to Prof. Jyrki
Vuorinen for accepting the role of my opponent at the defense of this
thesis and thus being part in one of the most important events of my
academic career. I also want to thank Ewen MacDonald, Pharm.D., for
his linguistic advice.
I express my special thanks to the co-workers in Panos building
and in the new premises. The good humor, inspiration, and support
really helped me to do my best and gave me extra motivation. The
support from my friends is also highly acknowledged.
I am thankful to my family, Raija, Matti, Jouni, Arja, Emma, Lauri,
and Juuso, for the support throughout my life. Thank you for
believing in me and for encouraging me to always follow my heart.