The town of Helsinki was founded in 1550 by King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden (which Finland belonged to for many centuries) and was proclaimed the capital of Finland in 1812. The city is located on the southern coast of Finland and lies opposite to the Estonian capital Tallinn on the other side of the Gulf of Finland.

The population of Helsinki is 560,000, but about one million people live in the Helsinki metropolitan area (composed of the four neighbouring cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen). There is much to see in Helsinki: some most renowned sights are Helsinki's main sights include Suomenlinna, an old sea fortress island on the coast, Ateneum art museum, the Finnish national art gallery, Kiasma, the museum of modern art, Helsinki-Malmi airport, which is selected on the the list of 100 most endangered cultural sites in the world, and many more. Nature is also very close, the 42 km² Nuuksio national park is just 30 minutes by car from the city center.

The climate is quite mild (at least when compared to some other Finnish cities!) and pretty windy. Average temperature ranges from +20 °C in the summer to -5 °C in the winter. In the sauna, however, the temperature is usually from +80 °C to +100 °C!

Helsinki together with the neighbouring cities of Espoo and Vantaa form the Helsinki metropolitan area. The City of Espoo is located west of Helsinki and the Helsinki University of Technology (Teknillinen Korkeakoulu, TKK) campus is located in Otaniemi, Espoo. Espoo is the second largest city in Finland with its 221,000 inhabitants. Espoo is a city where technology and nature combine in a very unique way, a place where bird sanctuaries and high-tech research centres are located side by side. Vantaa is located north of Helsinki, and is the fourth largest city in Finland with its 182,000 inhabitants. The Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport and most of the facilities of the national airline Finnair are located there. Near the airport is the Finnish Aviation Museum.

Founded in 1849, the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) received its university status in 1908 and is the oldest and largest of Finnish technical universities. TKK employs almost 250 professors in twelve faculties and ten separate institutes. There are almost 15,000 under- and postgraduate students at TKK. The university moved to its current location on the scenic Otaniemi campus in the 1960's.

It is possible to specialize in two fields in Aeronautical Engineering at TKK: Aerodynamics and Lightweight Structures. Both of these are taught by their respective laboratories, headed by 2 professors. Aeronautical Engineering is administratively under the coordination of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. There are approximately 100 students of aeronautical engineering, of which perhaps 50 are actively studying full-time. Yearly intake into Aeronautical Engineering is about 15–20 students.

The Laboratory of Space Technology concentrates on remote sensing, space flight instrumentation and satellite communications and is administratively a part of the Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering.

Aeronautical industry in the vicinity of Helsinki is concentrated at the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, with some activity at the Helsinki-Malmi airport also. The Patria factories are located in central Finland.

+ Visit the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) Aeronautical Engineering website.
+ Visit the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) website.
+ City of Mikkeli - The Original subject of Hikkeli Mikkeli.

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