Rate My Professor Sampsa Hyysalo

Sampsa Hyysalo is Professor of Co-Design in the Department of Design at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Born in 1974 in Naantali, Finland, he received his PhD in Adult Education from the University of Helsinki in 2004 with a thesis titled 'Uses of Innovation,' graded approved with distinction. He holds a Phil.Licentiate in 2000 and MA in 1998, both in Cultural History from the University of Turku, and a Docenture in User-centred Design of Information Systems from the University of Turku in 2006. His career trajectory includes serving as Senior Researcher at Aalto University School of Business Department of Management and International Business from 2010 to 2014, Professor in Work Informatics at the University of Turku in 2009, Fellow at the University of Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies from 2005 to 2010, and post-doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research in 2004-2005. He joined Aalto University Department of Design as non-tenured Associate Professor in 2011, tenured in 2016, and advanced to Full Professor in 2018. He also holds a Professor II position in Science & Technology Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology since June 2023.

Hyysalo's interdisciplinary research examines designer-user relations in sociotechnical change, drawing on design participation, science and technology studies, and innovation studies. He has pioneered the 'biographies of artifacts and practices' approach over two decades, integrating longitudinal ethnographic studies with historical analyses. His interests encompass participatory design, co-design, open and user innovation, living labs, maker spaces, user communities, and citizen science, with recent focus on renewable energy technologies, energy transitions, and sustainability transformations. Previously, he studied health care information technologies, organizational software, social media, and mobility innovations. He has produced over 120 academic works, including more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and seven books such as 'Citizen Activities in Energy Transition: User Innovation, new communities and the Shaping of Sustainable Future' (Routledge, 2021), 'The New Production of Users: Changing innovation collectives and involvement strategies' (edited with Elgaard Jensen and Oudshoorn, Routledge, 2016), and 'Health Technology Development and Use: From practice-bound imagination to evolving impacts' (Routledge, 2010). Awards include the Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact of Research (2010), EASST Freeman Prize (2016) for 'The New Production of Users,' and Aalto University excellence and social impact prizes (2017, 2018). He was Chief Editor of Science & Technology Studies journal from 2007 to 2016 and leads the Inuse research group.