Summer employees are part of Vitec ALMA’s summer. Markus Paananen and Saku Tenkula are both Information and Communications Technology students at Centria (University of Applied Sciences) in Kokkola. A summer job turns theory into practical experience.
Saku Tenkula (pictured on the left) is a northern boy from Pello. Tenkula had worked with the production of log house frames and elements for several years when he started working in the Kannus element factory. In the autumn of 2022, he finally started his studies in Information and Communications Technology. Tenkula applied for a summer job at Vitec ALMA when our people visited Centria students in the spring.
I’ve always had an interest in ICT and programming. When working in construction, I enjoyed designing experimental games and 3D modelling in my spare time. Orientation for the summer job has been thorough and I’ve really got a grip on Java programming.
We have been going through the basics of programming in the first year of study at Centria. Tenkula says it’s been really nice to be able to practice programming as well. Both Tenkula’s and Paananen’s workplaces are at the Kokkola office, in the Product Development Department.
Markus Paananen (pictured on the right) is originally from Jyväskylä. He has become a temporary resident of Kokkola since starting his studies at the same time and in the same class as Saku Tenkula. Vitec ALMA was not a company Paananen had been previously familiar with, but he quickly got the feel of both the work community and the ALMA software.
It’s been really nice. Before this I had programmed CNC machine tools and lathes, among other things, and I’ve long been interested in many kinds of programming. At Vitec ALMA, theory has become practice and I can keep developing at speed. The pace of programming is much faster compared to school and the courses I’ve completed there, but the results are also completely different and real. I can focus much more and go deeper.
Paananen and Tenkula have spent most of their summer working. Markus Paananen intends to continue the volunteer work at Kokkola’s Meripelastajat ry.
“In Kokkola, I live by the sea for the first time in my life, so I decided to get to know coastal life through maritime rescue. On my very first time, I ended up splashing around among ice in a dry suit,” Paananen recalls.
Text: Kai Tarkka, Photo: Vitec ALMA