Curriculum Vitae
Jyri Engeström
Hämeentie 26 C 46, 00530 Helsinki, Finland
tel: +358-40-522 8496
email: jyri is at zengestrom dot com
blog: http://zengestrom.com
I am currently CEO of Aula Design Oy, a design management consultancy based in Helsinki, Finland.
Personal information
Full name: Jyri A. J. Engeström
Born: 19 October 1977 in Helsinki, Finland
Languages: Finnish, English (French, Swedish)
Management, design, consulting, and research experience
2005 - present Aula Design Oy: Founder & CEO. Venture management and strategy consulting for Nokia; lecturing and workshop facilitation for corporations, the EU, and universities. Advise on strategy for startups.
2002 - present Department of Organisation, Work, and Technology, Lancaster University Management School: Doctoral Researcher. PhD thesis "Innovation as Practice: How New Technology Gets Defined as Sustaining or Disruptive," based on an ethnographic study of the management of corporate venturing at Nokia.
2000 - present Aula Network: Founder and Vice-Chairman of 460-member cooperative to advance the vision of a global creative society. Board member 2000 - 2001; 2002 - present.
2001 - 2002 ShiftControl Finland: Co-founder. Startup ignitor role in ICT-focused headhunting company capitalizing online friend-to-friend referrals. Responsibilities included business planning, service development, branding, hiring the team. Involvement dropped to advisor role after full-time CEO was hired. The company was acquired by a publishing house in the latter part of 2002.
2000 - 2001 Tera Group venture capital partnership: Consultant on seed-stage funding of technology startups. Tera fused with the UK-based Oxygen Capital in 2001.
1998 - 2000 Satama Interactive: Concept Designer. Co-led concept design of Nokia.com, which grew from 7 million visitors in 1998 to 47 million visitors in 1999. Total team grew from 10 to over 100 people. Returned in 2001-2002 in strategy consultant role to develop Satama's Innovation Space offering.
1994 - 1998 To the Point: New Media Designer. Information architecture and human interface design in CD-ROM, web, and game productions. The company was acquired by Satama Interactive in 1998.
Other professional activities
Aula Meeting of Minds 2003 "Exposure" and MoM 2001 "People, Space and Technology" conferences: Organizer.
Mediumi Finnish online journal on digital culture: Member of the editorial board 2001-present.
New Media Branch of the Finnish Advertising Association: Board member 2001-2004.
Education
Doctoral studies, Lancaster University Management School
(Department of Organisation, Work and Technology) 2002-
Master's Degree in Social Science, University of Helsinki
(Sociology) 1997-1998; 1999-2002
Undergraduate studies in communication, Université de Montréal
(Program du mineur) 1998-1999
Selected publications
Engeström, J., Ahtisaari, M., Nieminen, A. (2003): Exposure. From friction to freedom. Aula Cooperative, Helsinki.
Engeström, J. (2002): Organizing innovation – innovating organization. New product and service development at an Internet consultancy. Research Reports 6. Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research, University of Helsinki.
Engeström, J. & Toivonen, T. (2002): "Let's Aula". Kohkoku. February.
Engeström, J. (2001): Sizing Up Social Capital. In Y. Engeström (ed.): Activity Theory and Social Capital. Technical Reports 5. Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research, University of Helsinki.
Engeström, J. (1999): Software Agents: Towards Transparent Mediation. Technology Report. Helsinki: Satama Interactive.
Selected design projects
Space
2001-2002 Aula space
Key role in concept and realization of the Aula space in Helsinki. Featured in e.g. Smart Mobs, TheFeature.com, Forbes.com and The New York Times.
Web
2001-2004 aula.org
Concept and design management of weblog publishing platform and online community.
2000 Habbo.com
Advisor in development of Mobiles Disco online chat room (rebranded as Habbo Hotel in 2001).
1998-2000 Nokia.com
Concept design co-lead. Including Club Nokia and Nokia Snowboard (1999).
Mobile
2004 Nokia Mobile RFID Kit
Prototype software UI design & project management for Nokia's first RFID-enabled mobile phone (Nokia 5140 RFID Shell).
2002 3G Board
Concept design of 3G video messaging service for launch of Nokia's first 3G phone (Nokia 6650) and Sonera 3G network.
1999 Nokia Zell am See
Concept design for service introducing Nokia's first WAP phone (7110) at Nokia VIP event in the Swiss Alps.
Other interactive media
1998 Nokia Induction cd-rom
New employees' induction to the Nokia corporation
1996 The Bank of Finland cd-rom
2nd Prize (cd-rom productions) Media & Message Awards, Finland
1995 The History of Finland's Postal Service museum exhibit
1st Prize, Markkinointi & Mainonta Awards, Finland
U.S. Patents filed
Pending 20040186768 - Apparatus and method for initiating remote content delivery by local user identification
Honors and awards
2002 Master's Thesis Award for "Organizing Innovation-Innovating Organization," Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki
2001 "ShiftControl" 1st Prize, December 2001 Re: Internet magazine Re:spect awards
2001 "Aula Cooperative: 'Hunaja', speech- and SMS-enabled electronic butler" Runner-up (Novel Use category), Frontline Solutions RFID Awards
2000 Ranked among the "50 Most Wanted Talents" in Finland by Talouselämä financial magazine
2000 "Aula Cooperative" Most Innovative Project, Re: Internet magazine Re:spect awards
2000 "Mobile Matching Engine" Global Innovation Award, Satama Interactive
1999 "Nokia Snowboard" Best New Media Production, GRAFIA Finnish Design & Advertising Awards; Final Nominee (Best Design), SIME Scandivavian Interactive Media Awards 1999
1996 "The Bank of Finland" 2nd Prize (cd-rom productions), Media & Message Awards, Finland
1995 "The History of Finland's Postal Service" 1st Prize (multimedia kiosks of Finland's Postal Museum), Markkinointi & Mainonta, Finland
1995 "ABB DTC-Technology" 1st Prize (cd-rom productions), Markkinointi & Mainonta Awards, Finland
Selected press
MIT Technology Review August, 2005: Social Machines by Wade Roush.
TheFeature.com June 14, 2004: Lancaster U: Mobilities Research Hotspot by Howard Rheingold.
Forbes August 8, 2002: Forbes Focus: Helsinki by Bill Robinson.
New York Times July 22, 2002: New Economy; In the tech meccas, masses of people, or 'smart mobs,' are keeping in touch through wireless devices by John Schwartz.
Sunday Herald April 1, 2001: Focus: Technology prepares to cross the Finnish line by Pat Kane.
Talks
These talks represent my current interests.
2005 "Why Some Social Networking Services Work and Others Fail: The Case for Object-Centered Sociality" Reboot 7, Copenhagen (Denmark)
2004 "Free Speech in Urban Space: Past, Present and Future" Radley College, Oxford (UK)
2004 "A Look at the Nokia Ventures Organization through the Lenses of Disruption Theory" Nokia, Espoo (Finland)
More talks
2005 "Thinglink and Wikiproducts" Ultrasound, Huddersfield (UK)
2005 "Blog Posts as Objects of Sociality" Bloggforum, Stockholm (Sweden)
2005 "Social Objects, the Invisible Tail, and Free Product Codes" Design Engaged, Berlin (Germany)
2005 "The Evolution of Digital Culture" EU Information Society Network, Helsinki (Finland)
2005 "The Practice of Innovation: How New Technology Gets Defined as Sustaining or Disruptive" Said Business School, Oxford (UK)
2004 "People, Places and Technology: Implications of the Long Tail" University of Industrial Arts, Helsinki (Finland)
2003 (with Ulla-Maaria Mutanen) "The Role of Artifacts in Product Development Discourse" 5th Asia-Pacific Research on Organization Studies (APROS) conference, Oaxaca (Mexico)
2003 "The Exposure of Everyday Life" Aula Meeting of Minds '03, Helsinki (Finland)
2002 "Studying Product Development in Action: Some Examples and Questions" Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster (UK)
2001 (with Tuomas Toivonen) "Infrastrucutre for Urban Wormholes" Meeting of Future Social Design, Amagasaki (Japan)
2001 "Human Factors of the Mobile Business" School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki (Finland)
2000 "Linux as an Activity System" Participatory Design Conference (PDC) 2000, New York (USA)
2000 "Why iMode is Kickin' - Field Notes from Japan" Thursday Club, Helsinki (Finland)
2000 "Social Capital and Boundary Infrastructure" Kansai Association for Activity Theory, Osaka (Japan)
2000 (with Jonna Kangasoja) "Virtually Local: Building Boundary Infrastructure in a City District" NIMRES, Gothenburg (Sweden)
Professional references as well as a full listing of publications, design projects, and talks available on request.