Alumni of the Year 2012

The Alumni of the Year awards went to Lars-Erik Wessman, who started Pizza.nu, Katarina Willig, who works at Procter & Gamble, and Jan Ove Östensen, CEO of Volvo Technology (VTEC).

Lars-Erik Wessman

The business idea was conceived while studying at university and then sold for SEK 250-500 million. However, Lars-Erik Wessman, an engineer and innovator who was awarded the Alumnus of the Year prize, is already looking for new projects: "I want to simplify the world. Making things simpler follows the law of least resistance," he says.

It was the Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering at the Department of Systems and Aerospace Engineering that gave Lars-Erik Wessman the opportunity to build on his childhood dream.

- 'I have always liked to create things and build things myself. Studying computer technology gave me the opportunity to find an idea and realize it with little money on my own.

The first business idea came during school, when studying for exams meant that Lars-Erik Wessman and his colleagues ordered a lot of takeaway pizza - but it was too complicated. Here was a problem they felt could be done better.

Seven years later, the original idea had grown into OnlinePizza, a website for ordering pizza online, which was resold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

But the work doesn't stop there, some of the new money goes into new projects such as eParkera, where users pay the parking fee via their mobile phone, Taxijakt, which makes it easier to book a taxi, and the Clubline project, which makes it easier to find advance purchases for various clubs and events. All projects are produced as mobile applications for smartphones.

- This is where the information will be in the future, everything will be easier with the new technology. We are also looking at other projects, but they are a bit secretive.

Lars-Erik Wessman also talks about the important lessons he has learned along the way

- It's important to find a reliable partner, you can't do everything by yourself. Then you have to decide to invest in your business idea. I think there are many people with good ideas who don't dare to invest. For me, it has never been about daring, I have done it.

- The original idea is rarely the best solution to your problem. I have also learned that things take time, they usually take longer than you planned and you have to be persistent.

The motivation for the Alumni of the Year 2012 award reads

"Lars-Erik is a driving entrepreneurial person who has managed to start and run several successful companies and has also sold one of the companies for several million dollars. Lars-Erik is a good role model for students who want to start a business. He is a very worthy representative of alumni at Luleå University of Technology."

Katarina Willig

Katarina Willig, former student at the Master Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management at Luleå University of Technology, is named Alumni of the Year 2012 at LTU together with Lars-Erik Wessman and Jan Ove Östensen.

- We have more than 30,000 alumni worldwide and they are our most important friends, says Johan Sterte, Vice-Chancellor of Luleå University of Technology.

The prize is handed over and Katarina Willig talks about her path from LTU to now. She does it with speed and enthusiasm and offers the audience a few laughs.

- It is fun to study, but even more fun to work. Enjoy your time as a student, but look forward to working life. Try to find something that makes you unique in the labor market and get involved in LTU after your studies, is her advice to the audience.

Career at a multinational company
For Katarina Willig, the degree project was the gateway to working life. She wanted to write about e-commerce and sold her idea to Vattenfall. They said yes and sent her to Germany for three months.

- 'It was my first contact with a big company and Vattenfall was really interested in me. I realized that my education had given me skills that made me attractive in the job market.

Venturing into unknown territory and taking on new challenges when experience is against her seems to be Katarina Willig's hallmark. In 2005, the alumna started working at Procter & Gamble, a multinational company that manufactures consumer products such as razors and detergents.

Today, Katarina Willig is an IT manager for the entire Nordic region, based in the Stockholm office, where she works closely with the management team. But her career started at one of the company's factories in a small town in southern Germany.

- "They called me up and said 'we have a job for you and we want you to start right away'."

The company wanted a leader for the production lines. Katarina Willig was 23 years old, a recent graduate with no knowledge of production. She describes it as the best and worst year of her working life.

But Procter & Gamble was happy with her performance and after 2.5 years she was offered a chance to broaden her skills. Without much experience in IT, she took on the role of systems analyst and has since gradually climbed the ladder of responsibility. Among other things, Katarina has led a reorganization of production IT support for Procter & Gamble in Western Europe.

Personal drive crucial
The former LTU student says that sometimes it's just about being the right person in the right place, and daring to say yes when the opportunities come. Katarina Willig describes how she sometimes fell into a banana skin, but no one can escape her own drive.

- 'One of the most valuable things my studies have given me is independence, taking responsibility for myself and my studies. If you want to get somewhere, you have to fix it yourself. This also applies when you start working. In working life you can easily feel that it depends on others, but I think this is a false reality. Nothing is served on a small tray. You have to step up and say 'I want to'," concludes the successful alumnus with determination and enthusiasm.

Jan Ove Östensen

Jan Ove Östensen has been both a student and a PhD student at Luleå University of Technology. Now he has made it to a position where he can really make a difference for our environment. As CEO of Volvo Technology, he is responsible for the Volvo Group's concept development for heavy vehicles.

The fact that Volvo Trucks is the world's largest manufacturer of heavy trucks means that Jan Ove Östensen and his colleagues have a great opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles on a global level. Jan Ove appreciates the responsibility he has been given.

- "I often say that I have the best job in the world, and that's because of two things. Firstly, I have the chance to ensure that the next generation of powertrains and vehicles do not affect the environment. This is a strong driving force. Then there are all the fantastic people I get to work with, says Jan Ove Östensen.

Long background at Luleå University of Technology
Jan Ove Östensen was born in Karlskoga and grew up in Finspång. That he ended up in Luleå and at LTU is because he always followed the motto to do what feels fun. He chose between studying engineering in Lund or Luleå, but since he enjoys skiing and saw the chance to live in a place with real winter, Jan Ove moved to Luleå. Studying at university level was different from high school.

- "My math teacher told me that 'Jan Ove, you have extremely poor prior knowledge in mathematics', so I quickly realized that I had to start studying seriously," Jan Ove recalls.

And indeed, Jan Ove Östensen was always reading. He graduated in 1989, including a year's break for paternity leave, and was then offered a PhD position by Professor Erik Höglund. Again, Jan Ove followed his principle of doing what is fun and after a short period of reflection, during which he noted that there were very nice people working at LTU, he accepted the offer. Jan Ove talks about the difference between being a student compared to working as a doctoral student:

- As a student you become good at learning new things very quickly. When you are a PhD student, you have a final goal, a dissertation, and you have to take your own initiative to reach that goal. Luckily, I had some PhD colleagues that I could collaborate with," says Jan Ove Östensen.