University students gained new skills at Aker Arctic during the summer

Every year, Aker Arctic offers university students the opportunity to apply for an internship at the company. A wide range of tasks are available, including supporting ship design, assisting in the model testing laboratory, developing energy efficiency, and working on information networks. Many of our trainees return the following year or apply for a master’s thesis position at the company, often leading to full-time employment.

For the summer of 2025, Aker Arctic received about 200 internship applications from students at fifteen international universities around the world and twelve universities in Finland.

After a thorough selection process, nine students from Aalto University in Finland joined us for the summer, supporting various teams: Suman Bishwokarma, Wilma Enroth, Muhammad Aleem Faryad, Patrik Jokela, Paavo Juhola, Max Pukkila, Markus Ridal, Otto Rissanen, and Bolun Zhu.

Here is what they shared about their internship experience and the new skills they developed.

Suman Bishwokarma is a second-year master’s student at Aalto University, specialising in advanced energy solutions. His primary responsibility was supporting feasibility assessments related to energy systems on a typical Baltic Sea icebreaker. This involved analysing the vessel’s operational profile throughout the year, including high-load icebreaking operations in winter.

He also compared various air-conditioning system concepts for both cooling and heating. A significant part of the project involved exploring how waste-heat recovery could be optimised to match varying engine loads, assessing the impacts on energy consumption, and identifying ways to improve overall energy efficiency.

Bishwokarma particularly appreciated the opportunity to immerse himself in Finnish working culture, which he described as inclusive and professional, yet also relaxed in a way that fosters productivity and personal growth.

“Over the internship period, I gained hands-on experience with icebreaking vessels,” he says. “I learned the importance of effective teamwork and communication, and became more confident in engaging with colleagues. The support I received from my supervisor and experienced team members enriched my learning.”

He adds that a key takeaway has been understanding the high energy demands required by extreme operating weather conditions and how this affects a vessel’s overall energy consumption. He also developed a deeper knowledge of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems on icebreakers and explored different strategies to optimise them.

“One of the aspects I enjoyed most was the opportunity to improve system efficiency and contribute to energy-saving solutions,” Bishwokarma says.

In the future, he aims to improve the energy performance of the built environment by designing and optimising HVAC systems. His goal is to make existing HVAC systems more energy efficient while ensuring comfortable indoor environment conditions that remain resilient in extreme Arctic weather.

Wilma Enroth is in her final year of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, specialising in information networks at Aalto University. At Aker Arctic, she contributed to a data analytics project, focusing on developing a cost estimation and modelling tool for propulsion systems.

“I have really enjoyed my time at Aker Arctic so far and look forward to the rest of my internship. In just a short period, I have learned a great deal about the shipbuilding industry and how data-driven decision-making can be applied within it,” Enroth says.

Looking ahead, her plans include completing her master’s degree and gaining broad experience, ideally working in challenging environments such as those found in the maritime industry.

Muhammad Aleem Faryad worked as a summer trainee in the hydrodynamics team. In August, he will begin his second year of master’s studies in mechanical engineering at Aalto University.

During his internship, he applied theoretical knowledge from courses such as Marine Hydrodynamics and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to a real icebreaking ship, calculating open-water resistance and studied the hydrodynamic effects of the ship in an ice channel.

He appreciates having learned many new skills, such as mastering the CFD software OpenFoam.

“Being an international student, I particularly enjoyed the Finnish working culture, where seniors provide guidance when help is needed, but also give ownership and freedom to solve the problem using a different approach,” Aleem says.

Aleem will begin his thesis work at the end of the summer and hopes to continue as a thesis worker in the hydrodynamics department. In the future, he wants to become an expert in the field of hull design, hydrodynamics, and CFD, and believes this summer experience will help him to reach that goal.

Patrik Jokela is in his final year of pursuing a Nordic Master in Maritime Engineering (Naval Architecture) at Aalto University and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

According to Jokela, it was a pleasure working together with his colleagues throughout the summer, creating ship hulls and superstructure models in the NAPA software for ship design. This enabled the team to develop loading conditions and conduct intact and damage stability analyses according to regulations. Additionally, he calculated freeboard heights, ice accretion, and endurance for different projects. Attending meetings with colleagues and learning from their experience was a significant part of his positive experience at Aker Arctic.

Jokela learnt multiple new skills, such as calculating the stability of a ship and presenting it in a meaningful way. Meanwhile, he witnessed the significance of different design stages within the entire ship design process.

“Understanding what is important during each design stage is essential and something that is done very well at Aker Arctic. As a naval architect trainee, it has been a privilege to learn how the team performs various ship design tasks with the help of good leadership and communication,” Jokela says.

After the summer, Jokela will move to Denmark for six months to continue his studies. Thereafter, he will return to Finland and begin his master’s thesis, hoping to receive a thesis position at Aker Arctic.

“When it comes to designing icebreakers, Aker Arctic is truly a global leader. Their history and expertise speak for themselves. In the future, I would like to continue to be a part of this exceptional team,” Jokela adds.

Paavo Juhola is studying mechanical engineering at Aalto University and will transition to the master’s programme, majoring in Marine Technology.

He joined Aker Arctic for the second year and contributed to the design of propellers and shaftlines for ice-class vessels. His key responsibilities included 3D CAD modelling, creating technical drawings, and performing strength calculations and dimensioning of mechanical components.

He found the work both challenging and rewarding, offering a deeper understanding of real-world engineering in the marine industry. His technical skills improved, and he gained insight into how engineering decisions are influenced by both design requirements and business considerations. A key lesson was learning to balance technical performance with cost-efficiency while ensuring structural integrity.

In the future, Juhola aspires to work in the marine engineering field. His aim is to start with design roles to deepen his technical expertise and understanding of systems. Over time, he hopes to transition into project management positions, where he can take on broader responsibilities and contribute to the success of complex engineering projects.

Max Pukkila is beginning his second year of master’s studies in Marine Technology at Aalto University. He worked in the structures team this summer, investigating new materials that could be a possible choice in constructing ships in the future. His other major task was optimising the structure of a deckhouse. Both have required extensive FE analyses, different types of pre-calculations, designing, modelling, and checking that the design adheres to rules and standards.

The work felt interesting and the topics were relevant to designing. He also learned that the word “design” includes many different aspects, processes, and stages, with various sections that need to be considered.

“I have improved my skills in using CAD/CAE programs in my everyday work, as well as gained and understood new terminology in ship design, both in Finnish and English,” Pukkila says.

He is interested in pursuing a career in ship design or ship construction within the marine industry or naval architecture after graduation.

Markus Ridal, a third-year energy and mechanical engineering student at Aalto University, worked in the model testing team, assisting with model testing and maintenance work. In addition, he was involved in a research and development project related to ship performance.

Ridal enjoyed the versatile work, which has given him the opportunity to learn a wide range of skills.

“The work has been rewarding, especially when you see the results of your efforts. I have also learned how to work effectively in a team and how to use different applications in practice,” Ridal says.

He is interested in pursuing a career focused on energy-related topics.

Otto Rissanen also worked in the model testing team, preparing and measuring ice, photographing tests, and doing maintenance and programming tasks.

He is studying mechanical engineering at Aalto University and expects to complete his bachelor’s degree by the end of the year.

“It has been fascinating to work at Aker Arctic and be part of the team that prepares and performs ice model tests,” Rissanen says. “I have learned about ice properties and how these affect icebreaker performance.”

Rissanen would like to work in ship design or office-based roles related to ice model testing after he graduates.

Bolun Zhu is a second-year master’s student in mechanical engineering at Aalto University, majoring in Arctic technology and solid mechanics.

At Aker Arctic, he worked on various R&D projects using data collected by an ice-classed scientific research vessel in Antarctica. His tasks included developing a data and photo footage synchronisation tool and researching multiple novel data filtration methods to improve future ice load measurement accuracy.

Bolun says his Python skills improved significantly throughout the internship, and he also learned about signal processing, a new topic for him. By working on tasks that were closely related to full-scale ice load measurements, something he wrote a conference paper on earlier this year, he achieved a deeper understanding of the topic.

“After finishing my master’s studies, I am planning to either find an R&D position in a company or pursue a PhD degree,” Bolun says.