R&D Engineer Poorang Vosough

When I joined up, I was already fascinated with the company and its Managing Director, Siamäk Naghian, who’s Iranian like me. My professional journey began in Iran at Tehran Azad University with a degree in software engineering. I became a teacher afterwards, but my real goal was to earn a master’s degree in Europe. Encouraged by a friend, I successfully applied to Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology and moved there in 2011.

I was immediately struck by Finland’s beautiful nature, and so pleased to make friends from many different cultures. I soon went with them to experience a very hot sauna and followed it by jumping into an icy lake. That’s a strong tradition in Finland, but I could only stay a couple of seconds in the water, and honestly, that was enough cold-dipping to last me a lifetime!

I learnt many things about Finnish culture at university, yet one thing that stuck out to me was that Finns usually value a sustainable lifestyle. One of the first Finnish words I learnt was related to recycling, which is an integral part of life here. As I built my basic Finnish skills, little did I know that one day I’d be using the language to work for an environmentally conscious company.

Proudly, I spent the last six months of my master’s thesis hired as a university research assistant. After graduation, I knew that learning more Finnish would help me find a full-time job here, so I took a language course in Iisalmi. The college required practical experience, that’s when I decided to reach out to Genelec who took me on as a software tester. I liked the work, and since I spoke Finnish all the time, I swiftly passed my course. A few weeks after that, our R&D Director, Aki Mäkivirta, phoned me with a full-time job offer - I gladly accepted it!

Right now, I work a lot from home and my typical day consists of team meetings, software development, and remote support at every level. Something I love about being at home is enjoying breakfast whilst I plan my schedule. On factory days, I meet my co-workers for a morning coffee, then try to catch up again later. I feel our moments together are important for both our work and friendship. When I’m not working, I often turn to sport and music. I’m a tennis player, a downhill skier, a big music fan and I love to play a special guitar that my father bought for me in Iran. I also get passionate about food. My clear favourites here are salmon, Karelian pie, and Karelian stew.

I must say that Genelec has a unique family feeling with approachable people and easy communication. There’s a democratic style that means we can respectfully disagree with each other without problems. Once again, I feel lucky to have made delightful friendships from across the globe, this time because of Genelec’s international operations. If I had to pick one favourite memory from my time here, I’d say that my first meeting with our founder Ilpo Martikainen is my fondest. Aki’s phone call was also unforgettable!

I visit my mother, relatives, and friends in Iran at least once a year, and I know it will always be a big part of me. I still check the news often and cherish every memory from there. In 2014, I was at the airport ready to visit my family when I was told that my father had passed away. That was a very hard time, but it always helps me to remember how supportive he was of my move to Finland, how he said I’d have a great experience here, and how he taught me that there’s nothing that can stop me from achieving my dreams and goals.

Greetings from a colleague

I first met Poorang in early 2015 when he started his practical work experience at Genelec for his Finnish language course. During that time, he evaluated the user interface of GLM and filled out test reports in Finnish.

A few months later he started a permanent position at Genelec and began to develop GLM and explore the possibility of running its AutoCal algorithm as a cloud service. During the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time with Poorang solving difficult challenges and making great new plans.

He’s a social and hard-working team member who’s highly interested in learning new things and performs his role brilliantly.

Poorang, I hope that you keep your enthusiasm for learning and find success on the tennis court!

Your colleague, Jussi