Smartphones pose new challenges for combining sensor data
Simo Särkkä, DSc (Tech), was appointed Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation on 1 June 2015. His professorship is in the field of Electrical Engineering.
Särkkä develops computational methods for deriving information from a single or multiple sensors. One important area of application for these methods is medical technology that seeks to measure the health status of humans and the functioning of the body. Biosensors of different kinds are employed to this end to measure the activity of the heart, brain and lungs, among other things.
‘The increasing popularity of smartphones poses new challenges for sensor informatics. The sensors and computational power of smartphones also enable many other applications in, for example, health care, the gaming industry and virtual reality systems,’ says Särkkä.
Close cooperation with companies
Särkkä has previously worked as Academy Research Fellow at the Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering. He has a solid background in applied physics and electrical engineering and years of experience from the business world in the field of positioning technology in companies such as Nokia.
‘Our team has developed methods for smartphone-based indoor positioning, for example. The problem of simultaneous localisation and mapping in robotics also calls for advanced sensor informatics methods,’ Särkkä points out.
According Särkkä, the methods used in positioning and health technology are the same. He also continues to work in the telecom industry with a spin-off company that develops positioning technology.
‘My aim is to provide both students and the research community with new perspectives on how sensor technology of other fields can be applied in heath technology as well,’ says Särkkä.
According to Särkkä, there still remains work to be done in his field with automatic diagnosis and the application of brain signals.
‘I have a vision of a brain interface of sorts that measures the state of health in real-time. With the ageing of population, there would be demand for such technology. My research team has a lot of cooperation with the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa,’ he adds.
And how do you relax when not working?
‘With music and my own rock band. I have played in a number of bands over the years, mostly electric guitar or bass.’
Photo: Lasse Lecklin
Read more news
Pre-examination and graduation schedules over the summer 2026
Information for doctoral students on preliminary examination of doctoral thesis, public defence and graduation over the summer 2026
A unique joint effort – Aalto University receives EUR 9 million in donations to accelerate the energy transition
Donations from ABB, Fortum, St1 and the Walter Ahlström Foundation will be used to establish new professorships. At the same time, the donations support the establishment of Aalto University House of Energy Transition.
Keys to growth: How the energy transition is making oil obsolete
The transition to clean energy is a societal transformation on the same scale as digitalisation, and Finland has many strengths to support it, says professor Annukka Santasalo-Aarnio, who leads Aalto University’s new competence centre, House of Energy Transition.