Hello there!

I’m Miro, at the time of writing an entrepreneurially oriented second year data science student at Aalto University with the goal of engineering a better world through code, writing and music, some of which you can find here. I am currently building a portfolio of software projects with the mission of curing procrastination, encouraging real world connection and reducing productive friction but am also now taking a leap into creating physical stuff in the real world too with this course.

I have long been interested in software development and have a lengthy list of projects at various stages of ideation, design and execution. I chose Data Science as my major due to the hard skills it affords for creating software 2.0, which obviously necessitates knowledge of 1.0 too. However, even though using self-made software can be incredibly gratifying, it is still not quite the same as holding the physically tangible fruits of your labor in your hands, which is a part of my attraction towards this course. Call me a romantic or old-fashioned, but I have the same with books. I like to enjoy my classics and fiction in physical form, whereas some non-fiction may pass in e-book or audiobook form as there the reading experience is not as much the focus point.

In addition to data science and reading, I am fascinated with extreme sports and currently hold a blue belt in Karate after 8 years of training. My main hobby, however, from since I was 11, has been making music that I curiously started long before playing the piano - which I eventually felt obligated to start in order to call myself a serious musician, which would still be a major overstatement. Unfortunately, lately I have not had much time to actively keep up the hobby due to, first, the International Baccalaureate, where I, among many other things, conducted extensive, novel economic research about the pricing of digital goods and practically rewrote our physics book as I did not find it adequate for studying for the finals, and second, studying in Aalto, which has been amazingly rewarding due to its practical, hands-on project-orientedness but also very intense as demonstrated by, for example, my healthy 8 hours of total sleep spread across 6 days around Wappu, when I was finishing my probabilistic strategy game.

I heard about this course from a friend during the first year of my studies and noted it already then but after taking Design Thinking and Electronic Prototyping as an elective, where we created the Networking Bracelet prototypes, I was hooked and had to know more about everything that we got little tastes of during the course, such as computer-assisted design, 3D-printing and various types of electronics. Later I heard Lex Fridman’s - whom I really consider a role model - conversation with Neil Gershenfeld on his podcast - of which I have soon listened to every single episode - and became fascinated by Gershenfeld’s mission of creating self-assembling structures and his efforts in leading the Fab Academy. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the Digital Fabrication course is an overlay course for the Fab Academy, meaning that we will be attending their lectures and following their curriculum but do not have to pay (and so do not unfortunately get the Fab Academy certificate nor the ability to participate on the global lectures but being free makes up for it) and that really sealed the deal. And that is why I am here now, to expand on those great initial experiences that inspired all kinds of ideas and to learn how to bridge the gap between the digital and the physical.

After one day retiring as a musician from my software startup, I definitely envision myself having a lean fab lab in my garage for all kinds of fun personal projects, but I do have some ideas with potential commercial viability too and thus want to become really good at rapid prototyping. To follow these projects or to get to know me better, do check out my website at mirokeimioniemi.com and follow me on GitHub, Instagram, X or even Goodreads if you are into books and connect with me on LinkedIn.