Ulla, Senior Process Engineer

"A friend of mine who worked at VTI gave me a hint of a suitable vacancy in process development. I was interested and contacted my boss-to-be. That's how it all started," says Ulla, Senior Process Engineer, Process Development Team.

Ulla leads the Thin Films and Anodic Bonding process development team and is an expert in process stages. The team is responsible for the maintenance of several process stages and developing them to meet the requirements of, for example, new products and technologies. Their day-to-day work also includes production support, troubleshooting and methods development. The work is very quality-centred, because the team is responsible for the output and quality of the process stages.

Besides management duties, my team leader's role includes work prioritising and organising the work of the team. For the past year, I have also been involved in the development of our Manufacturing Execution System or MES.

That is a project where I have been able to make a wider ranging contribution to the operation of the company and create whole new operational methods," Ulla continues.Ulla is an Engineering M.Sc. from the Materials Technology department of the Helsinki University of Technology, majoring in semiconductors and electronics materials. During her studies she worked part-time as a quality inspector with the silicon wafer manufacturer Okmetic. She completed her diploma work in cooperation with Okmetic and VTI.

Ulla joined VTI in 2003 from Micro Analog Systems where she was a cell manager in a sputtering and ion planting team for almost five years. At VTI, Ulla is motivated by the opportunity to influence and develop operations, as well as the results her team has achieved. She believes that the company's growth will bring along many new challenges because of equipment purchases, continuously stricter quality criteria and growing production volumes.

In my opinion, the best about VTI is the variability of the work, its surprises and challenges. Paying attention to staff and a good team spirit are very important motivators. I have been able to reach a managerial position while expanding my expertise through process responsibilities and also totally new types of work assignments," Ulla describes the benefits of her job. "VTI is a modern, youthful and hectic working environment where dull days are non-existent."