From information technology student to international telecommunications simulation expert

Magister Solutions has been providing world-class expertise in telecommunication network simulations for over 15 years. Around 20 experienced software developers have united in their desire to do high-quality R&D. But what kind of know-how does the company have and what makes them tick? Meet Magister’s CEO Jani Puttonen.

Jani Puttonen was already making his first simulations while still at university in the early 2000s. More than twenty years later, his interest in telecommunications, simulations and simulators remains strong and looks like it will stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Puttonen was one of Magister’s first employees. His postgrad studies in information technology at the University of Jyväskylä led to him to working with Magister when some professors he knew asked him if he’d like to join their start-up in 2006.

“I started working for Magister when the company was only 6 months old and I was still finishing my dissertation’, Puttonen explains. ‘I finished it at the same time as simulating the first first versions of 4G for Magister – I was the third employee.”

Puttonen started as a research scientist, but soon went on to become the company’s principal scientist when the ESA and Satcom projects began in 2012. His new role began with leading the technical design and architecture of simulators, but gradually evolved into management, project acquisition and customer interfacing. Puttonen was Director of Simulation Services for the last year and a half before becoming acting CEO.

Puttonen’s extensive expertise in mobile and SatCom communications and protocols, together with his background in system-level simulators have made him a veteran in his field. Although his work has understandably shifted towards increasingly more administrative tasks, Puttonen still feels it’s important to maintain his technical know-how:

“I have been working at Magister for over 15 years now, and so nowadays my job covers quite a range of tasks, but it’s important for me to maintain my technical skills and understanding of what we do and how. This technical know-how is certainly one of my strengths and I don’t want to lose touch with that. It makes it easier to help our team with technical issues as well.”

An interest in the future possibilities for telecommunications

Puttonen’s long time with Magister has given him a comprehensive understanding of the company’s potential. Developments in the field, plus knowing what Magister has to offer have kept his interest in the work alive:

“Right from the start, I was fascinated by the research, problem-solving, communication protocols and algorithms”, Puttonen confesses. ‘To begin with, we focused on mobile network simulations, but in recent years we have been extending our offerings on the Satcom side. That is a good situation, as the Satcom industry is now applying the solutions that were earlier brought up in the mobile side, so we can take advantage of the expertise we have gradually accumulated over the past years. It’s really good that we are able to reuse our competencies for a variety of needs like this.”

Because of its roots in academia and the exceptional telecommunications expertise offered, Magister is now an international leader in its field:

“The work we do in Finland is unique – we are not just developing software, but influencing the international industry as a whole. You could say we are on the cutting edge of research and development in this field with a global impact. But, we have to continuously develop ourselves to push for new innovative technologies and simulative solutions. It is an honor to be doing this work in collaboration with our customers.”

Through active research and working together with leading mobile and satellite communication organizations, we are creating new ways to simulate the future.

Want to join our team? Read more about our career possibilities!