Alumni are an important part of the LUT University community, as they are ambassadors for the university in the professional world and help the university grow through their collaboration.
LUT’s Homecoming Day in April 2024 has strengthened the relationship between the university and its alumni, and alumni gatherings held during the current academic year have been filled with engaged and active participants.
Professor of Practice Harri Koponen, who is developing LUT's alumni services, emphasizes that LUT University has long offered services for alumni but with very limited resources. In recent years, the situation has changed.
"With the growth of LUT University, we have also recognized our more than 20 000 alumni as an extremely important driving force in tackling the planet’s toughest challenges. That is why we have increased resources and alumni services, and in the traditional LUT spirit, we are now striving to create the best alumni system on the planet," Koponen explains.
The alumni system is now being developed in even closer collaboration with alumni. A key part of LUT University’s Alumni Relations is the newly established Alumni Advisory Board, which ensures that alumni wishes are heard and taken into account.
"The Alumni Advisory Board provides us with multiple perspectives and a sounding board giving feedback and guidance. This enables us to move forward more quickly towards an alumni system that is precisely tailored to LUT’s needs," Koponen describes.
The board includes both LUT staff and alumni who are active in the working world. Consisting of around 15 members, it supports the development of alumni activities. Members are rotated regularly to ensure that different alumni perspectives and visions are brought to the university’s attention.
"The advisory board is made up of individuals from very different backgrounds, life situations, and career stages. A successful serial entrepreneur views things differently from a socially active influencer, and a European university appears different from the perspective of someone in the US or in Asia," Koponen summarizes.
Building the alumni community together
LUT Business School alumna, founder of two startup companies and speaker Anna Ratala and software engineering alumnus, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and Visma Small Business Segment Director Ari-Pekka Salovaara are part of the Alumni Advisory Board. They are stepping into the development of alumni activities with positive expectations.
"It will soon be 15 years since I graduated, and even during my studies, I was active in my student guild. It feels great to continue my cooperation with LUT – now in the role of an alumna," Ratala shares.
Salovaara, who is based in Lappeenranta, shares the same sentiment and believes that the composition of the group provides a strong foundation for collaborative work.
"I originally moved to Lappeenranta to study at LUT University. LUT has become important to me, and now, as an alumnus, I want to support the university in any way I can. The advisory board is diverse and offers a wealth of knowledge and perspectives for developing alumni activities," Salovaara describes.
Both Ratala and Salovaara believe that the advisory board’s ambitious goals align well with the LUT spirit, and they want to be part of shaping the future of alumni engagement at the university.
"I want us – LUT alumni – to be active and visible. I appreciate that we are setting big goals; aiming for the best alumni community and network in the world shows exactly the right kind of ambition for us at LUT. We should dare to think big," Ratala emphasizes.
"When building the world's best alumni system, it is also crucial to stand out from the crowd, so unique and distinctive ways of engagement are more than welcome," Salovaara adds.
Events, student cooperation, and internationality in mind
Ratala and Salovaara see multiple ways to make alumni activities more meaningful and community-driven. Salovaara highlights the importance of alumni gatherings in strengthening and growing the community.
"Personally, I find various meetups and gatherings the most interesting and rewarding because they allow us to reconnect with familiar faces and spend quality time together," Salovaara states.
For Ratala, moments where alumni and students can meet and exchange experiences about careers and the world of work are particularly valuable.
"The more we can engage different alumni as sources of inspiration for students and in practical collaboration, the better. It is important to highlight the unique career paths of alumni, as very few careers follow a standard route," Ratala explains.
As LUT University becomes increasingly international, its alumni are also spreading further geographically. Living in New York, Ratala hopes to see alumni activities expand onto more global platforms.
"As an alumna living abroad, I would love to see the alumni network grow internationally so we can further develop our global alumni connections," Ratala concludes.
More information
Explore the different actors in the LUT alumni community
LUT Alumni Relations are organized by LUT University and are open to all our alumni, regardless of their field of study. Alumni responsibles in degree programmes support alumni activities within faculties, while the Alumni Advisory Board helps drive development.
All alumni are welcome to participate in and contribute to the development of LUT alumni activities.
All alumni are welcome to participate in and contribute to the development of LUT alumni activities.
