“I am Inka Arposalo, a first year Master’s student majoring in Industrial Energy Processes at Aalto University. Last summer, I worked at Nohewa as a junior project engineer. My previous experience in maintenance of heating plants and working on the chemical recovery side of a pulp mill provided a suitable background for my role at Nohewa, as it gave me a solid understanding of heat production and district heating.

For the first half of the summer, I focused on doing my bachelor’s thesis on heat pumps and refrigerants for district heating production. I did research on different heat pump technologies and different types of refrigerants. The research deepened my understanding of the working principles of a heat pump plant, revealing the complexities beyond the refrigerant cycle and phase changes.

After completing my thesis, I got to work on Nohewa’s ongoing projects. I participated in different meetings within the company and with customers. It was exciting to work as a part of a team, where everyone had their role, but we still helped one another. I learned that having multiple parties in the meetings usually complicates things, and project managers have a lot on their plates.

Especially interesting was to work with a heat recovery project for Helsinki Data Center with Helen and Telia. I for example organized the hauling of a heat pump and communicated with different people simultaneously. It seemed like every time I completed one task, another one appeared. Needless to say, the workdays flew by as I was always busy. I enjoyed the responsibility, though, as it allowed me to see how many different skills you need when working in a heat pump plant project. The work also gave me the chance to develop valuable skills like collaboration, communication and time management.

I feel like Nohewa trusted me and my skills from the beginning, assigning me real tasks rather than just busywork. The working phase was fast enough, and I appreciated the flexibility and variability in my workdays and tasks. I was thrilled when I was asked to continue to work at Nohewa a couple of days a week during my Master’s studies. I look forward to learning more and contributing to the team. And the Nohewa parties are quite something too!”