Keywords
Skills
I am an internationally experienced manager and well-versed software development expert. My people management style emphasizes open communication, fairness, teamwork and good-natured humour. My approach has yielded good results both in spirit and performance. I am hardworking and can handle pressure well. While I do not shy away from responsibility for results, I know that my team/organisation deserves the credit for success.
From the technical perspective, I have been always interested in different technologies and every aspect of software development. As a proje•ct and R&D manager my approach has always been very hands-on and emphasizing best practises instead of rigid processes. I believe that the best results come from cohesive teams with freedom to be creative. And eventually big programs consist of these kind of small teams. The management challenge is to foster the freedom but still making sure that everyone is on the same page. In a way this parallels solid architectural design principles: large systems are built with small systems with well-managed dependencies and interfaces.
From the technical perspective, I have been always interested in different technologies and every aspect of software development. As a proje•ct and R&D manager my approach has always been very hands-on and emphasizing best practises instead of rigid processes. I believe that the best results come from cohesive teams with freedom to be creative. And eventually big programs consist of these kind of small teams. The management challenge is to foster the freedom but still making sure that everyone is on the same page. In a way this parallels solid architectural design principles: large systems are built with small systems with well-managed dependencies and interfaces.
Project history
Independent Software Contractor: May 2013 -
Freelancing code slinger and problem solver.
Aug 2014 - Oct 2014
Client: Leadin (www.leadin.fi)
Responsive web interface for an embedded system. Single-
page application using custom homegrown MVC approach (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery Mobile).
May 2013 - Aug 2013
Client: Leadin (www.leadin.fi)
Using web technologies (PhoneGap, JavaScript, AngularJS, jQuery Mobile, Sass, ..) to develop a mobile application for a major Finnish web property.
Elektrobit: April 2006 - March 2013 www.elektrobit.com
Aug 2011 - Mar 2013 Manager
Back in Finland. Supporting site management and various projects.Focus less on management and more on R&D: project management tasks, architectural design and coding (desktop and server development with C++ and Qt, web stuff with Python, Lua and JavaScript).
Sep 2010 - Jun 2011 Manager, EB China
R&D manager for software applications as part of EB’s radio channel emulation product portfolio. Ramping up a new software development team, coaching projects and together coming up with a suitable set of agile processes (Scrum), tools and best practises. Overall being very involved in application development and product management. The technologies used were C# + .NET and Python.
Jul 2009 - Aug 2010 Country Manager, EB China
General manager for EB's Chinese subsidiary (around 150 employees) in Beijing. In addition to my old role (see below) my responsibilities included managing other functions (Finance, HR, IM, Premises) as well.
Sep 2008 - Aug 2010 Manager, China Engineering Teams
Heading an organisation of around 130 engineers in Beijing. My task was to make sure that the teams were well managed, motivated and capable of tackling the project challenges. Also coaching new project managers.
Jan 2008 - Jul 2008 Manager, Engineering Team
Line manager for about 20-member Engineering Team in Tampere, Finland. Resourcing and project management duties.
Feb 2007 - Dec 2007 Project Manager
Team leading and project management.
Oct 2006 - Jan 2007 Senior Design Engineer
On-site support engineer in customer premises in Toulouse, France. As the only permanent Elektrobit representative, my duties varied from technical work to gathering and relaying information between EB and the customer.
Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 Project Manager
Project management, architectural design, software development.
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Jan 2001 - Apr 2006 www.vtt.fi
Jan 2001 - Apr 2006 Senior Research Scientist
My research and work consisted of devising, designing and implementing mobile applications and related systems, like development tools, frameworks and platforms (Java, Symbian C++, Delphi, Python). While most of the work was done in confidential customer projects, I have listed some of the public (and finished) projects below:
Agia. Rapid Symbian application development environment. See agia.vtt.fi for more information.
Spede. Generic engine for peer-to-peer Symbian groupware applications.
Flower. Framework for local mobile services.
Tampere University of Technology: Oct 1994 - Dec 2000 www.tut.fi
Jan 1999 - Dec 2000 Senior Research Scientist at Software Systems Laboratory
May 1998 - Dec 1998 Researcher at Software Systems Laboratory
Jan 1996 - Apr 1998 Lecturer at Software Systems Laboratory
Oct 1994 - Dec 1995 Research Assistant at Digital Media Institute
Research
My last contribution was a Python interface to TED, a tool created in Nokia Research Center. Previously, I was part of a VTT (see above) project, where I first studied Java's possible role in embedded systems and afterwards concentrated on EPOC (later renamed Symbian OS).
Teaching
In addition to various entry-level programming courses (C, C++, Scheme), I also lectured on web programming (Java, Python) and gave Java training for different companies.
Summer Jobs
Jun 1994 - Sep 1994 Programmer at Infosto Oy
Jun 1993 - Sep 1993 Project Manager at Oy Suomen Ohjelmistotyö Ab
Publications
• Vespe Savikko, Tero Hakkarainen, and Ali Lattunen. Rapid Symbian application development environment. IADIS International Conference Applied Computing 2007, Salamanca, Spain, 18-20 February 2007. Pages 635-640.
• Tero Hakkarainen, Ali Lattunen, and Vespe Savikko. Generic engine for collaborative mobile applications. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2005 (CWI'05), pages 243-246, October 2005.
• Vespe Savikko. Generative and incremental implementation of a scripting interface. Journal of Systems Architecture, (50): 427-439, 2004
• Vespe Savikko. Generative and incremental approach to scripting support implementation. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practise. SERP'03, volume I, pages 105-111, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 2003. Workshop on Adaptable Systems/Software Architectures.
• Tero Hakkarainen, Ali Lattunen, and Vespe Savikko. Flexible framework for wireless local services. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2003, volume I, pages 187-194, Algarve, Portugal, 2003
• Vesa-Pekka Savikko. EPOC-sovellusten rakentaminen. Espoo: Valtion teknillinen tutkimuskeskus, 2000. VTT Tiedotteita 2046. 56 s. + liitt. 36 s. In Finnish. Title in English: Developing EPOC Applications.
• Vesa-Pekka Savikko. Java in Embedded Systems. Tampere University of Technology, 2000. Licentiate Thesis.
• Vespe Savikko. Design patterns in Python. Proceedings of the 6th International Python Conference. San Jose, Ca. 1997.
• Vesa-Pekka Savikko. Multimediasähköposti. Tampere University of Technology, 1995. Master’s Thesis. In Finnish. Title in English: Multimedia Email.
Language Skills
Finnish: native
English: excellent
Swedish: rusty (ganska dålig)
German: very rusty (sehr vergessen)
Chinese: HSK-3. Studied for over six years and continuing.
Miscellaneous
Specialist Qualification in Technology 2007 - 2008
POHTO - the Institute of Management and Technological Training
Business management degree achieved as part of the Elektrobit manager training.
OHKO X 1998
Software Project Manager course organised by Tampere University of Technology. The participants were from different companies.
Freelancing code slinger and problem solver.
Aug 2014 - Oct 2014
Client: Leadin (www.leadin.fi)
Responsive web interface for an embedded system. Single-
page application using custom homegrown MVC approach (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery Mobile).
May 2013 - Aug 2013
Client: Leadin (www.leadin.fi)
Using web technologies (PhoneGap, JavaScript, AngularJS, jQuery Mobile, Sass, ..) to develop a mobile application for a major Finnish web property.
Elektrobit: April 2006 - March 2013 www.elektrobit.com
Aug 2011 - Mar 2013 Manager
Back in Finland. Supporting site management and various projects.Focus less on management and more on R&D: project management tasks, architectural design and coding (desktop and server development with C++ and Qt, web stuff with Python, Lua and JavaScript).
Sep 2010 - Jun 2011 Manager, EB China
R&D manager for software applications as part of EB’s radio channel emulation product portfolio. Ramping up a new software development team, coaching projects and together coming up with a suitable set of agile processes (Scrum), tools and best practises. Overall being very involved in application development and product management. The technologies used were C# + .NET and Python.
Jul 2009 - Aug 2010 Country Manager, EB China
General manager for EB's Chinese subsidiary (around 150 employees) in Beijing. In addition to my old role (see below) my responsibilities included managing other functions (Finance, HR, IM, Premises) as well.
Sep 2008 - Aug 2010 Manager, China Engineering Teams
Heading an organisation of around 130 engineers in Beijing. My task was to make sure that the teams were well managed, motivated and capable of tackling the project challenges. Also coaching new project managers.
Jan 2008 - Jul 2008 Manager, Engineering Team
Line manager for about 20-member Engineering Team in Tampere, Finland. Resourcing and project management duties.
Feb 2007 - Dec 2007 Project Manager
Team leading and project management.
Oct 2006 - Jan 2007 Senior Design Engineer
On-site support engineer in customer premises in Toulouse, France. As the only permanent Elektrobit representative, my duties varied from technical work to gathering and relaying information between EB and the customer.
Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 Project Manager
Project management, architectural design, software development.
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Jan 2001 - Apr 2006 www.vtt.fi
Jan 2001 - Apr 2006 Senior Research Scientist
My research and work consisted of devising, designing and implementing mobile applications and related systems, like development tools, frameworks and platforms (Java, Symbian C++, Delphi, Python). While most of the work was done in confidential customer projects, I have listed some of the public (and finished) projects below:
Agia. Rapid Symbian application development environment. See agia.vtt.fi for more information.
Spede. Generic engine for peer-to-peer Symbian groupware applications.
Flower. Framework for local mobile services.
Tampere University of Technology: Oct 1994 - Dec 2000 www.tut.fi
Jan 1999 - Dec 2000 Senior Research Scientist at Software Systems Laboratory
May 1998 - Dec 1998 Researcher at Software Systems Laboratory
Jan 1996 - Apr 1998 Lecturer at Software Systems Laboratory
Oct 1994 - Dec 1995 Research Assistant at Digital Media Institute
Research
My last contribution was a Python interface to TED, a tool created in Nokia Research Center. Previously, I was part of a VTT (see above) project, where I first studied Java's possible role in embedded systems and afterwards concentrated on EPOC (later renamed Symbian OS).
Teaching
In addition to various entry-level programming courses (C, C++, Scheme), I also lectured on web programming (Java, Python) and gave Java training for different companies.
Summer Jobs
Jun 1994 - Sep 1994 Programmer at Infosto Oy
Jun 1993 - Sep 1993 Project Manager at Oy Suomen Ohjelmistotyö Ab
Publications
• Vespe Savikko, Tero Hakkarainen, and Ali Lattunen. Rapid Symbian application development environment. IADIS International Conference Applied Computing 2007, Salamanca, Spain, 18-20 February 2007. Pages 635-640.
• Tero Hakkarainen, Ali Lattunen, and Vespe Savikko. Generic engine for collaborative mobile applications. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2005 (CWI'05), pages 243-246, October 2005.
• Vespe Savikko. Generative and incremental implementation of a scripting interface. Journal of Systems Architecture, (50): 427-439, 2004
• Vespe Savikko. Generative and incremental approach to scripting support implementation. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practise. SERP'03, volume I, pages 105-111, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 2003. Workshop on Adaptable Systems/Software Architectures.
• Tero Hakkarainen, Ali Lattunen, and Vespe Savikko. Flexible framework for wireless local services. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2003, volume I, pages 187-194, Algarve, Portugal, 2003
• Vesa-Pekka Savikko. EPOC-sovellusten rakentaminen. Espoo: Valtion teknillinen tutkimuskeskus, 2000. VTT Tiedotteita 2046. 56 s. + liitt. 36 s. In Finnish. Title in English: Developing EPOC Applications.
• Vesa-Pekka Savikko. Java in Embedded Systems. Tampere University of Technology, 2000. Licentiate Thesis.
• Vespe Savikko. Design patterns in Python. Proceedings of the 6th International Python Conference. San Jose, Ca. 1997.
• Vesa-Pekka Savikko. Multimediasähköposti. Tampere University of Technology, 1995. Master’s Thesis. In Finnish. Title in English: Multimedia Email.
Language Skills
Finnish: native
English: excellent
Swedish: rusty (ganska dålig)
German: very rusty (sehr vergessen)
Chinese: HSK-3. Studied for over six years and continuing.
Miscellaneous
Specialist Qualification in Technology 2007 - 2008
POHTO - the Institute of Management and Technological Training
Business management degree achieved as part of the Elektrobit manager training.
OHKO X 1998
Software Project Manager course organised by Tampere University of Technology. The participants were from different companies.
Local Availability
Only available in these countries:
Finland
I am available for contract work both in Finland and abroad.
