Leo Kärkkäinen is Research Fellow, Chief Visionary in Systems Research in the Office of CTO.
Systems Research is the unit of Nokia Research Center with intent on driving breakthroughs that will reach far into the future, enabling new business opportunities for Nokia. As Chief Visionary, Leo is responsible for development of the research content and practices in labs worldwide that pursue disruptive innovation. Systems Research interacts closely with all Nokia functional units and promotes open innovation, working on research projects in collaboration with universities and research institutes around the world.

Leo joined Nokia in 1996 as Senior Research Engineer in acoustics. Later, as a Principal Scientist, he led the Electroacoustic group in the Speech and Audio Systems Laboratory and Multimedia Laboratories of Nokia Research Center. He has extensive experience in physical modelling of acoustic phenomena. Before joining Nokia he studied quantum field theories at high temperatures, especially the formation of quark gluon plasma. After having his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Helsinki, Leo served as a Research Scientist in University of Bielefeld Germany, University of Arizona Tucson US, and Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen Denmark, before joining Nokia.

Leo is also an Adjunct Professor of Theoretical Physics in University of Helsinki. His interests lie in various fields of physics, from nanotechnologies to modeling of complex systems. He is also interested in teaching and creating organizational structures for innovation.
Leo is the author and co-author of more than 60 academic papers in particle physics, and acoustics. He has five patents.

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