Petri Kutvonen A man in his sixties with glasses and a beard in a suit and tie.

Independent Information Technology Consultant, retired Information Technology Manager and Head of the Computing Facilities Group · Department of Computer Science* · Faculty of Science* and Process Manager of the IT for Science Group · University of Helsinki* · Helsinki · Finland

Short CV

My interest in IT began in the spring of 1971 when I took my first computer course at school and wrote my first computer program. During the course we used a General Electric GE-435 computer provided by Nokia Electronics. Next year I had a possibilty use a HP2114B minicomputer and learn programming, After graduating from high school, I started to major in Computer Science at the University of Helsinki.

I have been working for the University of Helsinki since 1975 until 2019 (43 years, 9 months). I have worked in various positions, but most of the time, I have been in charge of the computing facilities of the Department of Computer Science. I have also been involved in the administration of the University of Helsinki on various levels.

My goal has always been to provide computer science researchers, teachers, and students with the best possible tools — both software and hardware — to accomplish their tasks.

At the University of Helsinki* we used Burroughs Large System mainframe computers (B6500, B6700 and B7800) starting from the early 1970s. This video shows how time-sharing with CANDE was like in those days. Notice that this is not an authentic video from the 1970s but an emulation done over twenty years later. Sorry, no subtitles. The “teletype operators” are Teemu Kerola*, Timo Alanko*, and Arto Wikla*.

With my late friend Ilkka Hai­kala, we accomplished numerous interesting projects, including

Some other interesting events during my career include

One of the most memorable events in my career was the opportunity to attend a guest lecture by computer pioneer Konrad Zuse in Nuremberg around 1990 and realise how short the history of modern IT really is. In his presentation, Zuse talked mainly about Goethe's Faust — one can of course wonder about possible parallels.

I was awarded as Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland* by the Finnish president Sauli Nii­nistö on 6 December 2012.

I am married to Lea Kutvonen*, and we have one daughter. I am interested in genealogy and in this context I have written a little about the history of my family.