Continuous learning is the key to success – Mikko Majamaa combines studies with working at Magister

Researcher Mikko Majamaa has combined work and studies ever since he joined the Magister team. When he was pursuing his degree in computational engineering, he wrote his bachelor’s and master’s theses as part of his job at Magister. After getting his master’s degree, he has continued to work as a researcher at Magister and is also about to start postgraduate studies at the University of Jyväskylä.

Our researcher, Mikko Majamaa studied computational engineering at LUT University in Finland, where he specialized in applied mathematics, software development, and data-centric engineering. His first encounter with Magister occurred at the end of 2018 when he was searching for his first job in the field.

“My interest in Magister was sparked by its focus on research, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and telecommunications. I applied to Magister at the end of 2018 but due to practical arrangements, I signed a contract with another company. Magister stayed in my mind as an interesting company, so I applied again after working for a year as a software developer at the other company. I got the job and as a result, I moved back to Jyväskylä, my hometown, at the beginning of 2020. I started working part-time while writing my bachelor’s thesis for the company,” Majamaa says.

Later that year, Majamaa went for a student exchange to Portugal. Magister’s door was left open for future employment.

“In addition to being encouraged to continue my studies, I was also offered a chance to continue working remotely. Six months later, I contacted them again and started working remotely from Portugal. Magister’s commitment to its employees is really impressive to me.”

“Everyone at Magister has always encouraged me to study”

After the exchange, Majamaa returned to Magister’s office in Finland while finishing his master’s degree. Since then, he has been programming, developing system simulators, running simulations as well as analyzing and reporting the results as a part of his job.

“It is our team’s responsibility to determine what kind of a simulator is required for a specific project. My favorite part of this job is developing simulators and other tools based on research needs and then using them in our work,” Majamaa explains.

Initially, Majamaa started at Magister by developing Magister’s SimLab service. Currently, he is working on the DYNASAT project.

“I wrote my bachelor’s thesis related to parallelization, a topic that we researched for the C-DReAM project. Later, I wrote my master’s thesis related to multi-connectivity in the satellite environment in the DYNASAT project. I am continuing to work on the topic of my master’s thesis in my doctoral thesis.”

“I think it’s excellent that our employer supports our academic endeavors. In our field, continuous learning is essential.”

Learn more about Mikko’s work:

• Bachelor’s thesis: GPGPU in System Simulations
• Master’s thesis: Multi-Connectivity for User Throughput Enhancement in 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks
• Doctoral thesis’ preliminary topic: Multi-Connectivity for Communications Performance Enhancement in Non-Terrestrial Networks

Working at Magister means working in the forefront of research

Majamaa had no intention of creating simulators and working in the mobile and satellite industries when he first began his studies. However, common interests with Magister opened up a fascinating new field for him.

“It wasn’t until Magister that I got acquainted with simulators and SatCom. They intrigue me greatly. SatCom is sufficiently ambitious as a topic, and there is still more to learn. One of my talents as a worker, in my opinion, is my desire to learn more,” Majamaa says.

According to Majamaa, there are countless opportunities in his industry.

“Here you get to do things no one has ever done before and be at the forefront of research. Multi-connectivity in a satellite setting, for example, hasn’t really been researched.”

What Majamaa finds unique about Magister is the balance of freedom and responsibility the employees have.

“The working atmosphere here is pleasant and encouraging. Everyone has a say in how we operate and is allowed to do their work the way they like as long as it gets done,” Majamaa sums up.