Petri - a meticulous printer and tech savant

Are you already familiar with our Petri?

Additive Manufacture Specialist Petri Ehonsalo is a meticulous printer and a technical millennial who is not afraid of a challenge. Most of our customers know Petri primarily as a specialist agent in metal printing, but fewer may be familiar with his diverse work history. Raise your hand if you knew that Petri is originally trained as a radio and TV installer, that he has repaired office electronics and telephone systems, that he has manufactured transport cases for musicians through his own company or that he has also run a café for Shell in Pispala?

Would it be fair to say that Petri has been an "imagine and implement" guy even before 3DStep?

Petri got a good grounding for his current job at Valmet Automation, where he worked for 15 years in product development as an IT systems maintenance specialist.

Petri started working at 3DStep in 2016, when, in his own words, he started learning metal printing from a German colleagues. However, Petri had already built a complete 3D printer from a long piece of equipment with his own little hands... In any case, he describes the learning curve as steep.

Petri's extensive work experience, inexhaustible enthusiasm and unstinting willingness to experiment are the currency that our customers have benefited from over the years. In his daily grind, Petri receives customer orders, edits them into print jobs, prepares the printer, prints and finishes. Where necessary, he also edits customer templates, makes suggestions and recommendations, develops materials and policies, and acts as the company's IT manager. Sometimes he even makes coffee.

This is a job where things get a bit weird as new industries discover us. At the moment, 3D printing is still seen as quite hi-tech, but I believe manufacturing will become more popular over time. 3D printers will become the lathes of the new age. I also believe that traditional and additive manufacturing methods will become more and more compatible in the future," Petri says.

But what does Petri like best about his job?

In IT, you never really get anything done, but in this job you do. It's still unbelievably cool when you get to model a piece and then hold the finished product in your hands. Watching 3D printing is like watching a fireplace. Plus, we have a great team and a nice horizontal organisation. You get to do a lot of different things," Petri says.

Petri, who now lives in Nokia, recently exchanged his apartment building in Tampere for a mature frontline house in Nokia, which gave him a home and hobby in one. Petri's latest chore was to spend nights unpacking the kitchen in his new home.

Few people also know that Petri has more hours in a day than the average person. That's why he has time to show off his green thirst at work and in the jungle that spreads through his home. He also rides motorbikes and builds and flies RC planes and helicopters.

Actually, I build more than I fly, because they break down so easily. Flying is probably more like landing, and there's still a lot of practice to be done.