Cooperation across units and organisational boundaries unites the awardees of the Oamk’s Staff Day

Oamk’s Person of the Year and three “Yhteinen Oamk” -heroes were awarded at the end of last year at the Oamk’s Staff Day -event.

Confusion.

It was Lecturer Jukka Kurttila’s first feeling when he heard that he had been chosen as Oamk’s Person of the Year.

– The choice came as a surprise, but it’s a great recognition, says Jukka.

Jukka’s nomination justifications included among other things, that he is a pioneer in the use of learning analytics, has an excellent command to handle technical challenges and inspires colleagues to use new tools. He was also praised as an approachable and always positive multi-talent, with whom collaboration is smooth and easy.

–The reasoning reflects the kind of work I strive for in my job. I always try to look at challenges in a positive way.

Jukka, who has studied educational sciences and information technology, has worked at Oamk for 25 years. His work has always been related to digital pedagogy, although many things have changed over the years. 

Jukka is currently working with digital solutions in the Research, Development and Innovation Unit.

– My work is very versatile. It includes for example developing and coordinating digital environments and teaching online.

Jukka is also a change coordinator in the national Digivisio 2030 -project.

– It’s great to be part of a national network of universities and to be able to collaborate with different universities.

In addition to the interesting tasks, Jukka’s favourite things about his job are his colleagues, the inspiring working environment and the good facilities and equipment. He also finds it rewarding that a lot of the work is made in teams.

– Working at Oamk is very collaborative and people are always encouraging each other.

Lecturer Aleksi Kauhanen, Research Funding Specialist Johanna Ek and Development Manager Jyri-Jussi Torvinen were awarded as “Yhteinen Oamk” -heroes, as people who are willing to go the extra mile.

To Aleksi Kauhanen, the award was a surprise, even though he knew something might be coming.

– The Director of our unit had asked me if I could come to the Oamk’s Staff Day.  Based on that, I thought there might be something coming. But this is not what I expected, says Aleksi.

He feels that the recognition could be dedicated to his whole team in ICT and Communications.

– We have a great team that motivates and inspires us to do this work.

Aleksi has been working at Oamk for about a year and a half. He teaches a wide range of courses, including photography, user interface and user experience design, and videography.

Before becoming a lecturer, he worked for about 17 years as an entrepreneur in an advertising agency. He graduated from Oamk in 2011 with a degree in media studies.

– I had dreamed about working at Oamk at some point. I had gotten the impression that it would be a great place to work.

And that’s what Aleksi thinks it is. The best part of his job are the students and colleagues.

– It’s great to work with the students and to see the progress that has been made at the end of each course.

Aleksi collaborates a lot across the unit and team boundaries. For example, he has been preparing a work the Lumo-valo festival together with students of communication, dance and music.

– I have not made any conscious effort to network or seek collaboration with others, it is quite natural for me. I guess it’s a character trait to be interested in a little bit of everything.

Aleksi sees collaboration as important because it broadens one’s perspective.

– You can always learn something new, find new perspectives and get to know people with whom the collaboration can benefit everyone.

Research Funding Specialist Johanna Ek is grateful for the recognition.

– It was a surprise, because everyone at Oamk does such good work, says Johanna.

Johanna has a Master’s degree in Administrative Sciences and started working for Oamk in spring 2021. Before that, she worked for a long time in public finance.

Johanna’s tasks include, for example, providing information and guidance about the various funding opportunities and sparring in project planning and applying for funding.

– When needed, I also cooperate with different funding partners

Cooperation between different units has become familiar to Johanna, as she works in the joint service unit of Oulu University of Applied Sciences and the University of Oulu.

– My job is a bit like working in customer service and helping everyone.

Johanna describes Oamk as a dynamic working environment, where you have to keep up the pace to keep up.

– The people at Oamk are really nice. The most rewarding part of the job is moving things forward together with them.

Jyri-Jussi Torvinen has similar thoughts about his reward as the others.

– I was really confused, but it’s great that the organisation wants to recognize in this way, he says.

Jyri-Jussi, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer and Mechanical Engineering and YAMK in Robotics, has worked at Oamk for six years.

“I started as a Project Designer on a robotics-related project, then jumped in the Project Manager role. After that, I was a Laboratory Manager, and most recently I moved to the Development Manager role in the School of Engineering.

He describes his role as a Development Manager as versatile.  Among other things, he is responsible for the operation and development of the laboratories in the School of Engineering.

– In addition, I work with projects and with our stakeholders. Currently I am also teaching one course.

Jyri-Jussi considers networking and cooperation with different units to be important in his work.

– For example, we have done a lot of business projects involving students from different units When you combine different kinds of knowhow, you get great projects. 

Jyri-Jussi describes Oamk as a working environment full of possibilities.

– Here you can do almost anything in a variety of ways, absorb as much knowledge as you want and develop yourself constantly. For me, Oamk is not just a place to work, it has also brought me a lot of good friends.