Aalto Systems Forum

Peter Senge is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Sustainability at the MIT. He is the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL) and the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization. The Journal of Business Strategy (September/October 1999) named Senge one of the 24 people who has had the greatest influence on business strategy over the last 100 years. BusinessWeek (October 2001) rated Senge one of the top 10 management gurus. Senge has lectured extensively throughout the world, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding of economic and organizational change. Senge's work articulates a cornerstone position of human values in the workplace: namely, that vision, purpose, reflectiveness, and systems thinking are essential if organizations are to realize their potential. He has worked with leaders in business, education, civil society, healthcare, and government.

Raimo P. Hämäläinen is the founder and director of the Systems Analysis Laboratory. In the past 30 years the unit has become a major academic institution in Finland in the field of systems and operations research with a team of internationally acknowledged scholars. The research interests of prof. Hämäläinen include systems thinking, decision making, control and game theory, energy and environmental policy and biological systems. He is co-director of the Systems Intelligence Research Group and the Honorary President of the Finnish Operations Research Society for his contributions in developing the field of OR in Finland. Prof. Hämäläinen is the recipient of the MCDM Edgeworth-Pareto Award of the International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making.

Harri Ehtamo is professor at the Systems Analysis Laboratory. He received his M. Sc. degree in theoretical physics from the University of Helsinki and Ph. D. degree in operations research from the Helsinki University of Technology. His research interests are mathematical modeling, optimization and game theory, and engineering economic applications. He has supervised multiple doctoral theses and he is an author or coauthor of 80 journal and conference articles. He is a founding member of the International Society of Dynamic Games and the editor of the Electronic Newsletter during 1990-2006.

Ahti Salo is Professor of Systems Analysis, Vice Head of the Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, and Vice Dean of Aalto University School of Science. He has published extensively on decision and risk analysis, innovation management, foresight methodologies, and efficiency analysis. He was the President of the Finnish Operations Research Society in 1999-2000 and 2010-2011. Prof. Salo has received research awards from the Decision Analysis Society of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. He started as the Editor-in-Chief of EURO Journal on Decision Processes in 2011 and has been a board member of the Association of Parliament Members and Researchers in Finland, Tutkas, since 1999.

Esa Saarinen is Professor of Applied Philosophy and Co-director of the Systems Intelligence Research Group. An acclaimed speaker and corporate coach, Saarinen’s lecture series ”Philosophy and Systems Thinking” has become one of the most popular classes on Aalto University's Otaniemi campus and an inspiring platform for reflective thinking. Saarinen has supervised a number of doctoral dissertations and is the author of numerous monographs, textbooks and articles ranging from cultural criticism to history of philosophy, and from existentialism to analytic philosophy.