During his work career, Ilkka Toivanen has seen the information technology industry from many different perspectives; after completing his degree in telecommunications technology at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) and completing his thesis for a local software company, he started working in a managerial position in 1997.
Ilkka works at the Lappeenranta office as the supervisor of around 50 software developers and is responsible for product and application development projects at twoday's Product Creation Services business unit.
“My job is to enable the experts to succeed in their work. As a supervisor, I see to it that the working conditions and tools are in order and the team members can focus on their daily work without having to deal with distractions.”
Ilkka's team consists of experts in various technologies and areas of expertise. Ilkka thinks it is a pleasure to work with them and see how they develop in their work. The best experiences come from situations where experienced and young experts of the project team learn from each other.
Ilkka spends a large part of his free time fulfilling his childhood dream of aviation and flying.
Flying requires a “feet-on-the-ground” attitude
Ilkka’s interest in aircraft and flying that he developed in his childhood was on his mind during his studies and when he was starting a family of his own. In the end, Ilkka decided that he should obtain a pilot licence before his 40th birthday. Ilkka’s tendency to take responsibility has also extended to his hobbies, as he is the chair of the Aero Club of Lappeenranta and directs around 140 members interested in aviation.
Flying is a demanding hobby. You need to be fully present in the moment.
“Flying demands concentration, careful preparation and minimization of risks. Safety must always be in mind. In a way, this also mirrors our projects: risks are minimized and everything is done carefully.”
Flying demands concentration and care while you are still on the ground, too. Preparations are made ten times more carefully than when going for a drive, for example. The flight weather has to be checked in addition to, for example, the Finnish Defence Forces' airspace restrictions and reservations and the fuel, mass, balance and navigation calculations. A flight plan is prepared for flights and sent to the Eurocontrol system. The plane needs to be physically inspected. All in all, preparing for one flight may even take a couple of hours.
There is always a reason for every flight
Although the Aero Club of Lappeenranta’s four-seater aircraft has an economical and environmentally friendly diesel engine that meets the EU noise standards, it is not used for leisure flights. Each flight is always at least a practice flight.
In summer, Ilkka flies both the Aero Club of Lappeenranta’s and the Imatra Aviation Club’s flights to look out for forest fires and occasionally to search for missing persons. He does non-profit flight work also during his own flights: on Midsummer’s night in 2019, Ilkka spotted two forest fires caused by lightning in the Mikkeli region and directed a fire truck to another fire site. He may also get requests from the police to do searches for vehicles, people and boats.
“As to practice searches involving a plane and car, dog and foot patrols, in five of the six practice searches, the aircraft found the target first. It’s nice to know that you can help even in the event of a real situation.”
The best flying weather is between March and October, but Ilkka also spends time with the hobby throughout the year by the bookshelf in his home. Currently, the bookmark is between the pages of a fighter pilot's biography.
When Ilkka talks about his hobby, his passion for aviation really shines through. At the end of the conversation, he asks us whether we know the easiest way to tell if someone is a pilot. The answer: the pilot will usually tell you that they are a pilot soon after the conversation has started! ;)
Ilkka is an approachable supervisor with a sense of humour who knows the working conditions, the tools and us! There may well be a place for you in his team: read more about us and see our open positions here.