ESPOO MAGAZINE 4/2018

OTANIEMI ENABLES easier interaction
between the university and
businesses than before. The central
campus is surrounded by and interlocked
with the Innovation Hub
area, which brings partners into
close proximity with the university.
The most recent example of collaboration
is the A Grid centre for growth
companies, operating in an overhauled
building that used to belong to the
School of Electrical Engineering. It is
one of the largest community spaces
in Europe, and several of the companies
operating there have a connection
with the university or the startup programmes
operating with the university.
FinnCERES, a competence hub
for the materials bioeconomy run
by VTT and Aalto, was recently
awarded EUR 9.5 million in funding
from the Academy of Finland for
its flagship project to develop highvalue-added
products from raw materials
originating in the forest industry.
Plant-based biomaterials are
considered the plastics of the future
for packaging and textiles, but there
are also more futuristic applications.
Cellulose is being studied for use in
opto- and nanoelectronics, as well
as for energy storage and usage as a
semiconductor.
“We are creating a new model for
Finland in which universities, research
institutes and companies operate
together. This is a significant
centre of competence on a Northern
European scale,” says Professor Orlando
Rojas, who leads the competence
centre on behalf of Aalto.
FinnCERES is aiming to double
the value of production from the
forest industry by 2030.
“Otaniemi is unique throughout
the Nordic region as a hub of innovation.
It is in a class of its own in terms
of the number of researchers, students,
inventors and growth companies
located within just a couple
of square kilometres,” says Harri
Paananen, the Business Manager.
New technologies are constantly
being created within the Aalto and
VTT environment, and clusters of
companies are springing up around
them. At the moment, space technology,
the circular economy and
autonomous vehicles are among the
most popular sectors.
The changes that have taken
place in Otaniemi have brought in
companies from sectors other than
technology. The metro has provided
the customer flows needed by service
companies.
”THE LOCATION IS PRETTY FANTASIC”
’’
THE METRO
HAS PROVIDED
THE CUSTOMER
FLOWS NEEDED
BY SERVICE
COMPANIES.
FAT LIZARD Brewing moved from Kivenlahti to Otaniemi last summer. At the
same time, the brewery’s production increased 20-fold. Now, a boiler hall that
was once used for teaching and research in thermal power engineering is now
producing half a million litres of beer annually.
“We also handle our own distribution: we sell directly to K stores and restaurants
in Greater Helsinki. The location is pretty fantastic for this. It’s only a couple
of minutes from the centre of Helsinki,” says Tuomas Koskipää, the Chairman of
the brewing company’s Board of Directors and a founding shareholder.
Another reason for the choice of location was convenience for the entrepreneurs.
The core group of people live within 15 minutes of their place of work.
“We didn’t want a long commute.”
According to Koskipää, within a year, Otaniemi has developed into a district
where nobody feels like an outsider.
“The shopping centre is a reason to visit and take in the campus atmosphere
without anyone wondering what is going on.”
Funzi’s Chief
Evangelist,
Aape Pohjavirta,
preaches
to everyone
about providing
access to
knowledge and
learning to
users of mobile
devices around
the world.
“A LONG TRADITION OF
COMBINING DIFFERENT SECTORS”
AAPE POHJAVIRTA, a founding partner of a company
named Funzilife and a second-generation Otaniemi resident,
could not think of any reason to set up his business
elsewhere in 2014.
“Otaniemi has a long tradition of combining expertise
from different sectors in a creative way. People are used to
building functional solutions without worrying about how
big they will become,” he says.
In four years, Funzi has built a mobile learning service
that has worked with UN organisations to enable learning
projects to take place in Syria, education for women entrepreneurs
in Africa, and workforce education for major
companies in emerging markets.
The only physical workplace used by the company’s 13
employees is on the Tekniikantie road.
“Otaniemi does not feel like a bubble: it is an evolving
ecosystem.”
begin on the southernmost tower in
just over a year. Each of the towers
will contain almost 80,000 square
metres of floor space, providing
homes for up to 2,000 people.
“It will take over two years to build
one tower. As such, this artist’s impression
shows how Keilaniemi could
look in about 2030,” Mäkinen says.
Keilaniemi is already connected to
the metro, and it will also be the terminus
of the Jokeri Light Rail line.
“They will connect Keilaniemi and
Otaniemi locally as well – major efforts
have been made to ensure this
connection.
A new residential district between
Keilaniemi and Otaniemi will be created
in the Kivimies area owned by
Senate Properties and Aalto University
Campus & Real Estate. According
to Mäkinen, 3,000 residents can be
housed in the unique location.
“This will be the first residential area
of its kind in Finland, located by the
sea in between a top university and
top companies. The people who move
there will be at the cutting edge.”
According to
Tuomas Koskipää,
the typical
customers who
visit the artisanal
brewery’s
shop are
typical Espoo
residents.
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