March 21, 2025
As Aalto University Professors of Practice, Elin Lavonen and Ilkka Miettinen have been thrilled to teach and advise the emerging specialists of the water sector. They also bring the students valuable insights from outside academia and foster collaboration between different actors in the sector.
Elin Lavonen and Ilkka Miettinen work as Professors of Practice at Aalto University from 2023–2028, with a special focus on Clean Water Technologies. Their posts have been funded by the Erkki Paasikivi Foundation, which supports Finnish research and education projects in clean domestic water and building technology, as well as related national and international cooperation.
In her day job at the Swedish company BioCell Analytica, Lavonen, PhD, works with toxicological measurements of chemical pollutants in water. Miettinen, PhD, has worked with water throughout his entire career. He currently works as a Chief Researcher and Group Leader at the Water Microbiology team of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
As Professors of Practice, Lavonen and Miettinen’s tasks include teaching students, advising PhD students, and fostering cooperation between academia and other actors, such as private companies, in their field and internationally. This is how their work has started.
At Aalto University, Lavonen and Miettinen have been teaching Bachelor’s and Master’s level courses—for example, on physical and chemical treatment processes of water and waste. They also supervise a handful of PhD students.
The advantage of having Professors of Practice is their ability to bring insights into how theoretical knowledge can be applied to real-life problems. With their combined broad knowledge of the water sector and private enterprises in Finland and Sweden, Miettinen and Lavonen have a lot of knowhow to share with students.
“In my teaching, I try my best to use the information and knowledge I have and share real-life cases of challenges and problems in the water sector. We’ve talked about some famous cases, such as the Nokia water supply contamination in 2007. However, my examples are mostly smaller cases where I don’t provide detailed information such as names,” Miettinen describes.
Lavonen describes the role of a Professor of Practice also as a mediator who connects different actors in academia and practice.
“It’s very important to show the students that there are many different career paths where one can work. But it’s also crucial to show them that everything is needed and that we need to push for collaboration between different sectors. I think having this experience from various sides of the water industry helps with this,” Lavonen says.
As teachers, both Lavonen and Miettinen have been excited about the high motivation of Aalto students.
“I think the closer you work with students, the more you also have to become a general advisor in life, because they tend to approach their studies with a lot of commitment and energy, especially Aalto students,” Lavonen describes.
“I feel privileged to be able to teach those who will most likely enter water services in practice and run them,” Miettinen adds.
From Lavonen and Miettinen’s talk, it's easy to grasp the importance of research and expertise in clean water. Clean water is a topic related to national and global security.
In addition, pollution and the combined effects of different chemicals that humans consume via drinking water are emerging issues. According to Lavonen, for example measuring and removing PFAS is getting more relevant, as we gain more knowledge.
“We will never discover new types of pollutants if we only measure the ones that we know of. On the analytical side, we’ve been using targeted methods where we choose what we are looking for before the analysis. I think there’s going to be a shift to finding an early warning system to also discover unknown emerging pollutants,” Lavonen says.
“There are a lot of opportunities for new students in the water sector and for private companies connected with it. One of my key messages for students is that it’s not wasted time to focus on the water sector!” Miettinen adds.
Both Lavonen and Miettinen are also very happy about the Erkki Paasikivi Foundation funding the Professors of Practice positions.
"It's such an amazing opportunity to get this type of funding from the Paasikivi Foundation. By giving us the chance to have these positions, do the teaching and supervision, and contribute to cooperation within the clean water sector, I think they make a significant impact!" concludes Lavonen.
The foundation has also been happy with the cooperation with Lavonen and Miettinen.
“We at the foundation have been closely following the work of the Professors of Practice. The discussions we have with them also help us in processing the grant applications we receive,” says Kristiina Paasikivi, the Chair of the Board of the Erkki Paasikivi Foundation.
Erkki Paasikivi Foundation strives for a world where clean water is accessible to everyone. To achieve this, we support the most impactful Finnish research and education projects that contribute to this goal.
If you are interested in collaborating with the Erkki Paasikivi Foundation, please contact us at info(at)erkkipaasikivensaatio.fi.
To find out more about Elin Lavonen and Ilkka Miettinen, see their previous interviews. Read Elin Lavonen’s interview here and Ilkka Miettinen’s interview here.