Markku Hämäläinen has extensive experience of building and managing material science companies. Markku acted as the CEO of Kotkamills Oy, a Finnish paper industry company located in south–east Finland, until the company was sold for appx EUR 425 million in 2021. Prior to this he was the Managing Director of Papierfabrik Scheufelen GmbH in Germany and, before that, employed by Stora Enso Oyj in various production and R&D positions in Finland. Markku has a doctoral degree in Paper Technology from the University of Lappeenranta in Finland.