niko@helsinki:~$ whoami

niko savola

photonics engineer @ taara connect
part-time quantum phd @ aalto university
$ cat about.txt

I design photonic and superconducting chips, and I spend a lot of my time on the open-source tools that lay them out and simulate them. Before Taara I was at X, The Moonshot Factory, Google and IQM Quantum Computers. Based in Helsinki.

$ ls ~/work_open_source # merged PRs on the left
431quantum-rf-pdk/superconducting PDK I created for gdsfactory 95gdsfactory/python chip design and simulation 57gplugins/simulation plugins for gdsfactory
$ ls ~/after-hours
k-ruoka-mcp/MCP server for a Finnish grocery cart, in Rust immich-wear/Wear OS client for self-hosted Immich photos AnkiDroid-WearOS/flashcard reviews on the watch, offline ClockifyWearOS/Clockify time tracking on the watch karoo-xm-headphones/Sony headphone control from a bike computer karoo-ext-testing/test doubles for Hammerhead Karoo extensions electrolux-ac-infrared/Home Assistant integration over infrared ha-anki/Anki card counts as Home Assistant sensors typst-touying-template/Copier template for Typst slide decks sphinxcontrib-bibtex-urn/Sphinx extension for URN citations
$ git log --oneline career
2025photonics engineer, taara connect 2024photonics engineer, x, the moonshot factory 2023phd resident, x · student researcher, google 2023started phd, aalto university 2023msc, engineering physics, aalto 2022quantum engineer, iqm quantum computers 2021intern quantum engineer, iqm · bsc, engineering physics, aalto
$ cat ~/.config/interests

cycling, tile hunting, gaming, self-hosting, home automation