Meet Awesome Women at Starship: Karoliina keeps our fleet of robots healthy | by Daniel Carrillo | Starship Technologies

Inspired by the International Women’s Day, we at Starship are also celebrating the powerful women in our international community. Did you know that out of Starship’s almost 1000 employees only ¼ are women? Therefore, the more we care and appreciate them and luckily, the number of women at Starship is already constantly growing.

Should Karoliina’s story inspire you or if you feel an interest towards working at Starship, then make sure to check our careers page as we have currently globally more than 120 open positions available.

Happy Women’s Day, Karoliina! Please tell us a little about your career journey so far.

During the last year of my Bachelor studies in IT and Biology, I was taking a robotics class. The course happened to run at the same time as the world’s largest robotics competition, Robotex, which was taking place in Tallinn. Accompanying an enthusiastic robotics fan, my friend, I joined as a volunteer to be a judge in the competition. My world was forever changed from that day on.

Meanwhile, I joined the Robotics Club of the Tallinn University of Technology to build a robot of my own. Moreover, I started teaching robotics to children in Tallinn Secondary School of Science. And when all the other stars also aligned, I joined the coolest kids on the block, Starship Technologies.

Being still a student, I joined the company as a robot operator and with much enthusiasm, started my job as a robot technician already less than a year later. Currently I am the Service Team Lead in Tallinn/Helsinki.

Today, I am as much in love with robots as when I first stepped through the doors of Starship in 2018. Since that day, the growth and discovery journey in the tech world and at Starship has been astounding and I have loved every moment of it.

Whoa, you and robots really go hand in hand already from the very beginning. What does your regular day in your current role look like?

In addition to my robots in Tallinn, where Starship’s development office is situated, being a technician has also taken me to the UK, Washington, California and Wisconsin, meaning that I contribute globally by giving my helping hand wherever our robot friends need that. Recently, my dedication was rewarded as I was offered a new exciting position as a team leader in Estonia and in Finland.

My day-to-day job at Starship is very versatile. In the mornings, our team usually has a to-do list review meeting. Our highest priority is to keep our fleet of robots healthy. Being a robot technician is very much like being a doctor. You have a certain number of patients whose names and issues you know by heart. They come in with complaints or for monthly health check ups and it is our job to provide them with the best care. We keep detailed documentation on each robot and a strict eye on all the upgrades and fixes that are needed.

Besides the robot repairs, I also work daily with building electronics testers, testing, diagnosing and repairing our printed circuit boards (PCB). One of the things I fell in love with as a newbie tech enthusiast were PCBs. The capability of a little but powerful electronic board just opened up a whole new world for me, electrons moving through a miniature city to fulfill a program’s task still seems like magic to me.

Moreover, I get to work with the brightest minds in the field at Starship, and it is an absolute honor.

We love your insights! Can you also please enlighten us on Starship culture?

Starship’s culture is like no other. I get up each day excited to go to work, and I often don’t even realize when it’s time to go home at night. People at Starship come together to share a common passion, and I can’t get enough of it! The company has grown (and continues to do so!) fast and furious, yet able to maintain the feeling of family amongst the new and old team members.

We love it! Finally, do you have any advice for women who would also like to enter the tech field or join the world of robots?

Growing up with an older brother and always hanging amongst his friends, taught me early that more important than your gender is how you present yourself. Meaning, that I have never felt as an outsider in the often male dominated tech field, as more important than your gender is the passion and love you bring to the table and to your team each day.

At Starship, employees are valued based on their abilities and passion towards robots, whatever their gender is. I have always felt appreciated and cared for by each team member.