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Dean Gary Marquis of the Aalto University School of Engineering has named Mayor of Espoo Jukka Mäkelä, MSc (Tech.), as the school’s Alumnus of the Year for 2018.

‘Jukka Mäkelä deserves credit for his steadfast work to develop technology education at Aalto University and its forerunner Helsinki University of Technology. In the years before the founding of Aalto University, he served as a member of the management group charged with planning the university and as chair of the National Cooperation Group for Engineering Education,’ said Dean Marquis.

‘Mäkelä has also worked to promote the societal impact of the Aalto University Student Union as a member of its Honorary Delegation since 2016. His work on behalf of students of technology began during his own studies in student associations and later with TEK, the Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland. We take pride in our alumnus,’ Marquis continued.

Jukka Mäkelä has also been heavily involved in the development of the Otaniemi campus.

‘We are witnessing a new beginning for Otaniemi and Tapiola, and I believe that the metro will bring back the kind of vitality there was when I was growing up in the area,’ said Jukka Mäkelä, a native of Tapiola.

‘Research has shown Espoo to be the most sustainable city in Europe. I have always been of the opinion that technology, knowledge and expertise are very important to society and that their significance will only grow as we build a sustainable future,’ he added.

Jukka Mäkelä’s studies in Otaniemi focused on materials and rock engineering. He studied the construction of the metro in his master’s thesis and graduated in 1992. In 2007, following a long career at TEK, Mäkelä was elected to Parliament, where his duties included a seat on the Education and Culture Committee. He served as the chair of the Espoo City Council during 2009–2010 and was appointed Mayor of the City of Espoo on 1 January 2011.

The Aalto University School of Engineering names an Alumnus of the Year to support the school’s stakeholder cooperation and to promote dialogue with societally significant alumni. This year, the School of Engineering named an Alumnus of the Year for the third time.