Think Corner: A platform for engaging the public in research and learning

Author's Biography

Kirsti Lehmusto has a strong background as marketing director in Finnish retail, bookstore and publishing businesses. She is a member of the board in notable Finnish foundations, such as the Kone Foundation Artist in Residence programme. She has studied at the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and International Executive Program course at INSEAD. Since February 2011 she has worked at University of Helsinki. With her lead, the university has opened up several new innovative science communication spaces and formats: Think Corner co-learning space, Think Company student entrepreneur platform, Vox science communication format and the Helsinki Challenge university science competition.

Tanja Paananen is Head of Marketing at the University of Helsinki and manages the brand and marketing functions and a 13-member team at the university. Paananen co-worked creating and launching the Think Corner concept in 2012 and has opened four Think Corner stores during the past five years. Paananen has over 20 years of experience in the field of marketing in private and public sectors. Prior to this position, she was head of marketing and communications in two Finnish leading mobile entertainment service providers. Paananen holds a master’s degree in economics (MSc) specialising in marketing and management from the University of Jyväskylä.

Antti Asumaa is a programme manager at the University of Helsinki. He leads the content team, develops and executes the brand engagement strategy and envisions fresh ways of making contemporary scientific discoveries and discourses accessible, actionable and impactful live and online. Asumaa has years of experience as managing director at advertising and marketing agencies, where he built competence on creative campaign planning in all media environments and leading creative teams and processes. Asumaa holds an MA in art studies from the University of Helsinki.

Jarmo Suominen is Professor of Service Architecture at Aalto University. His research challenges current design paradigms from a service logic point of view. He has developed internationally awarded, new systemic service-oriented solutions in the field of education, work and healthcare. He specialises in value co-creation content and contextual solutions, customisation strategies, user innovation concepts, processes and tools, working in these fields as a professor and consultant. His current interests focus on transforming the logic of architectural design to a service-dominant model based on user centered processes. Since 1999, Jarmo Suominen has been working in various positions as visiting scientist, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Laboratory and the School of Architecture and Planning among others. He currently works at Tongji University Shanghai as a high-end foreign expert and at Tongji College of Design & Innovation as a professor. Jarmo Suominen is the owner and principal consultant of Suominen Consulting. The practice focuses on innovative and customer-driven design, manufacturing and marketing processes, as well as strategic planning at varying scales: from furniture design to city planning. In his practice he has won numerous prizes in design and architectural competitions in Finland and internationally.