Katja Erkkilä, Senior Department Manager of Modem System Validation, joined MediaTek in Oulu, Finland, in 2015. She brought with her over 10 years’ experience in chip design before MediaTek, but says she never considers her job to be repetitive; Katja explained that every time she joins a different project, the change of scope and tasks entails a whole new experience.Katja noted that, even as a gender minority in MediaTek’s Oulu office, she does not particularly feel the difference in how she is treated by coworkers, and she enjoys the opportunity to represent MediaTek when talking to customers from different fields in Europe. As Manager of Modem System Validation in Finland, Katja believes that her colleagues are her ‘Dream Team’ and enjoys working together with them to solve problems such as technical issues or brainstorming.
As the scope of her work expanded, spanning different geographic regions and cultures, she began to find herself as one of the few, if not the only woman in certain work situations, making her feel particularly under the spotlight.
Katja explained she felt she had to be better prepared to try to interpret issues expressed from broader perspectives to understand the context of the events and anticipate possible questions, for example. It has motivated her to expand her learning horizons, as well as develop a profound understanding of the importance of the roles and responsibilities she plays in every team collaboration.
Looking back at the supervisors who played key roles in influencing her career path, Katja admits that women were almost absent. There is still room for more women engineers in the workplace, and this situation is gradually changing. Seeing more and more women in engineering roles, from interns in the modem team to global chipset validation team leaders, she encourages all young women engineers to have more confidence in themselves, in addition to continuously honing their professional capabilities!
"In the engineering business, I urge you to understand technical details, dare to give your own opinion, and stand behind your ideas. There are times when you fall, so get up and try again. Believe in yourself! Once you are strong, you might get your dreams fulfilled faster than you ever expected."
