When did you graduate, and what was your major? What about your minor? 

I graduated in the fall semester of 2023, majoring in Industrial Synthetic Biology and minoring in Computational Biology. Looking back at my course choices and their usefulness, I’d say that for an industrial biotechnology process engineer, a solid understanding of physics and chemistry is essential, more specific skills can be taught at the workplace as needed. Other than fermentation, I haven’t really had much chance to use my actual biotechnology skills in my current roles yet. 

Did you work during your studies? 

Almost every summer I worked in my parents’ small family business as a temporary helper. In addition, while working on my master’s thesis, I spent a summer as a research assistant at the university, which was cool! 

What was your first job after graduation? 

After graduating, I ended up working at IFF’s (International Flavors and Fragrances) factory in Jämsä, where I’ve spent almost two years now as a process engineer. My responsibilities included problem-solving and developing pretty much all the factory’s process stages (fermentation, enzyme separation, and downstream processing), as well as providing technical support in product process transfers to our own or sister plants. That time recently came to an end, when in September I took the opportunity to step into the role of EHS engineer within the factory. 

Where do you work now? 

I currently work at IFF as an EHS engineer (Environment, Health & Safety). My responsibilities include environmental, chemical, and process safety, and additionally regular reporting to authorities on these topics. I didn’t have prior formal training as an EHS engineer, but that wasn’t an obstacle when applying or moving into the role, since the onboarding has been well-organized and my previous couple of years as a process engineer gave me a solid understanding of the safety risks in our factory. 

How did you end up in your current job? 

In my master’s thesis, I worked in Igor Vassilev’s research group, where I built, operated, and developed my own small production fermenter. In it, microbes reduced carbon dioxide into long-chain carboxylates by using electric current, which in turn have various industrial applications. While I’m also very interested in tailoring microbes through genetic engineering, after my thesis it felt like a natural continuation to step into a process engineer role at IFF’s Jämsä factory, where we produce valuable enzymes in large-scale industrial fermenters using microbes. Although my recent move to EHS engineering is a bit of a step away from the core content of my studies, I see it as both an interesting and a very valuable experience for the future. 

Have you pursued any additional training after graduation? 

IFF is big enough to have its own excellent online learning platform, full of different training courses. I’ve gone through quite a few interesting ones there, but I haven’t sought out additional education outside of IFF’s internal programs. 

Can you describe a typical workday? 

My day usually starts with the factory’s daily morning meeting, where we go over current matters, production status, and possible problems. The rest of the morning goes into problem-solving in my areas of responsibility or observing how things are going. After lunch, my afternoons are usually filled with various meetings which often are international, with other company sites and stakeholders. Depending on the day’s workload, there might also be morning and afternoon coffee breaks. Remote work is possible when there aren’t problems, projects, or meetings requiring physical presence at the factory. 

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

Nice coworkers (even one from Pori!!11!1!), partial remote work opportunities, independence, problem-solving challenges, freedom to innovate, great international business trips, and a factory culture that values good individual performance. As a big company, IFF also offers the possibility of transferring abroad to many different roles, for example to work in cell line development, which is one of my future goals. That’s about it! 

What kind of aspirations do you have for the future of your career? 

To someday get to work (abroad) in interesting roles where I can apply my core studies more. 

What advice would you give to students in this field? 

It’s hard to give any magic tricks, since it’s not uncommon for people to end up in jobs that only partly or not at all relate to the core of their studies. If like me, you end up working in biotechnology positions closer to an industrial environment, I’d emphasize the importance of physics and chemistry knowledge. This doesn’t mean you have to study those subjects endlessly at university, but just that you should understand what’s happening around you, why it’s happening, and how you can tweak things so that the laws of nature work in your favor. Many of the simple equations I learned back in school physics are still useful to me today! Also, keep in mind that no one is truly “ready” when they graduate, many important things are only learned at the workplace, so don’t stress too much about that!