The Growth and Commercialization Research Group

Outi-Maaria, a Chief Specialist, D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), Head of Research Group, specializes in science commercialization and university-industry collaboration. She is particularly interested in how individuals and organizations can work together effectively in innovation processes, despite having different goals and approaches.

ORCID

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Pirjo, a Chief Specialist, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Pirjo specializes in the development of products, services, and organizations in companies' research and concept development projects. She has studied various aspects of customer experience, employee experience, customer understanding, and value creation for over 25 years. She examined the application of anthropological knowledge in business environment in her dissertation.  

ORCID

Principal Lecturer (Commercialization), D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus Adm), MBA, student (M.Sc. (tech) in Industrial Engineering and Management: entrepreneurship and business management). Riitta teaches commercialization and serves as an expert in management training programs. She is particularly interested in commercialization maturity models for companies and organizations from the change management perspective. Additionally, Riitta's research interests include growth strategies for businesses, strategic management and human resource management.

ORCID

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Scholar

Principal lecturer, digital business, PhD. Jaani teaches data analytics, business intelligence, and research methods in LAB’s Master’s programs. His research interests lie in the utilization and modeling of data within the context of the commercialization and innovation process. In addition, the systemic change at the intersection of technology, human behavior, and business processes is of particular interest.

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Development Manager, D.Sc. (Tech). Martti is interested in systemic innovations and socio-technical change, especially how value is created in collaboration with various actors during the system transition and in a responsible manner.

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Senior lecturer, Dr. Sami Heikkinen is a researcher who has successfully transitioned from learning analytics and educational technology to applying advanced analytical methods for understanding micro-enterprise growth factors. Having completed his PhD in learning analytics with expertise in sequence analysis and cluster analysis, Dr. Heikkinen is now pioneering the application of these analytical methods to decode the complex dynamics that drive micro-enterprise success and growth patterns.

ORCID 

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Scholar 

ResearchGate 

Bogdanova, MBA, is an RDI Specialist at LAB and a PhD student at LUT. Olga’s research interests encompass entrepreneurial finance, research commercialization, university-industry collaboration, entrepreneurial skills, and investment readiness. She brings a wealth of industry experience in investment management and consulting, supporting her practical understanding of investor decision-making, capital markets, and the investment logic behind commercialization.

ORCID

ResearchGate 

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Jyri Hänninen, Senior Lecturer in Business Administration (MSc,MEd) Focused on the commercialization of AI and value creation. His PhD research explores competitive advantage through AI-human interaction. Extensive experience as an entrepreneur and in entrepreneurial organizations. Commercialization and the creation of business networks as a specialization in funding applications.

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Alexander, M.Sc. (Tech), focuses on evaluating market potential and customer value of research-based inventions, integrating pre-commercialization activities, early-stage business modelling, and industry–research collaboration to enable research-driven venture creation. He is actively exploring PhD topics at the intersection of research commercialization, technology transfer, and science-based entrepreneurship.

ORCID 

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Senior lecturer, International Business, MSc. (Econ). Anu is interested in research related to innovation and R&D activities in companies, harnessing research-based information for business development, commercialization of new sustainable technological solutions and development of business in different value networks.

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ResearchGate

Chief Specialist, PhD (Political Science), Sofi specialises in quantitative analysis with a focus on predictive modelling and causal inference. Particular interests include quasi-experimental designs using registry data.

ORCID 

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ResearchGate