Linus Torvalds made honorary alumnus in Kumpula

The Faculty of Science invited Linus Torvalds to be its honorary alumnus in Kumpula. During its alumni event, the faculty also named one of its lecture halls after Linus Torvalds. On the event held on Thursday 17 March, young researchers were the main speakers, and the 350 guests on the science campus gave them their full attention.

Linus Torvalds is the most renowned Finn working in the field of computer science. He is the first honorary alumnus of the faculty, and also Doctor Honoris Causa of the university’s Faculty of Philosophy. During the faculty’s alumni event, auditorium B123 in Exactum was named after him.

Version 1.0 of the Linux operating system, developed by Torvalds, was published at the Helsinki University Department of Computer Science in March 1994. Torvalds, who took his MSc degree in 1997 and later settled in the USA, could not attend the alumni party in person, but he conducted a video conference with computer science professor Jukka Paakki.

‘I was also interested in mathematics and physics, so the University of Helsinki was a very natural choice for me as a Helsinkian,’ Torvalds said.

 The 350 visitors to the science campus were also treated to some very topical presentations as the young researchers described their work. Nina Huittinen, Jani Kotakoski, Rami Ratvio, Teemu Roos and Mikko Salo presented themes on nuclear waste, graphenes, the metropolis, algorithms, and reverse mathematics.

After the joint programme, the five departments at Kumpula presented their own events.

The Department of Computer Science had a book launch for Jukka Paakki’s "Rupisia bittejä, karmeita kaavioita, unelmia ja toimistohommia" (‘scabby bits, grisly formulas, dreams and office work’) In this history over the department, which was established in 1967, we meet both present and former employees at the department, as well as its students. The future is also included as the writer describes happenings at the department in 2017.

The photograph shows (l-r) the head of the department, Esko Ukkonen, Dean Keijo Hämäläinen, and Nils Torvalds, Linus Torvalds’ father.

Photograph: Juha Taina

 

Text: Minna Meriläinen

 

Translation: Marina Kurtén

 

 

Created date

21.03.2011 - 12:58

Brain poetry

In the latest research result of the month section, we interview PhD student Jukka Toivanen about his recent work on brain poetry in the Discovery group led by professor Hannu Toivonen. How can humans and machines be creative together?

Kjell Lemström to be new Head of Studies

Since Jaakko Kurhila left the department to head the Open University, we had to find a new university lecturer to act as head of studies in short order. We received a total of 28 applications. Out of these, and after a preliminary qualification round, evaluations, interviews, and a department council hearing, Kjell Lemström (KL) was elected for the post. He started working as the department's Head of Studies on 2 March 2015, so the Head of the department (JP) conducted the following induction interview that very week.

This is by no means the first time Kjell has been employed by the department. He defended his thesis on ‘String Matching Techniques for Music Retrieval’ in 2000, and has held numerous teaching and research positions both before and after that, until he transferred to the Laurea University of Applied Sciences in 2011 (luckily, that was only temporary).

Head of Studies Jaakko Kurhila to head Open University

The Head of Studies at the department, University Lecturer Jaakko Kurhila, has been elected to the post of director of the Open University at the University of Helsinki. It was a tough race: all in all, 39 applicants sought the post, some of them through the Mercuri Urval headhunting process. After a consultant evaluation, interviews, and aptitude assessments, the preparatory committee for the post, the steering committee for the Open University, and the rector of the university came to a unanimous decision to select Jaakko, and the contract is already being drawn up.

Being selected from this prestigious group of applicants, and after such a thorough process, is indisputable proof of the qualifications of Jaakko and the high esteem the academic community has for him. The department extends its warmest congratulations to Jaakko for this career development and is proud of the success of its protégé.

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Standardization

In the fourth research result of the month, we report a joint work between the UH NODES group and the Cambridge NetOS group, lead by Prof. Sasu Tarkoma and Prof. Jon Crowcroft, respectively. Their work recently received the best paper award "Best of CCR" from ACM SIGCOMM.