Career story: Iiro Peltola

An engineer driven by consumer tech — Iiro Peltola found the freedom to innovate in mechanical design and create high-end steering wheels at Simucube

Iiro Peltola graduated as a mechanical engineer after studying at Tampere University of Applied Sciences, majoring in intelligent machines. During his studies, he co-founded a startup company, focusing on electric bike motors and batteries.

“We did everything that makes a bike an electric bike,” Iiro says.

Iiro’s interest in electric bikes is evident in his work history. Before the startup, Iiro participated in another company through a course project that focused on shared economy bikes, and he has also been selling bikes via webshop.

Iiro became familiar with Granite Devices (Simucube) in between 2018 and 2019 through his startup company. They were building a motor for electric bikes and were in need of a motor controller.

Granite Devices was the company they approached, and they made a licensing deal for the parts Iiro’s startup needed. They were working together under this arrangement for a few years. After their startup company went bankrupt in 2023, Iiro began to find a new job.

“I don’t remember did I first call to Tero or the other way around,” Iiro tries to remember.

From electric bikes to Simucube steering wheels

Today, Iiro works as a Mechanical Engineer at Simucube, where he started in late 2023. His responsibilities include designing new wheels as a lead engineer, where he oversees product specifications, project management, and mechanical design. He also works closely with procurement and sales.

In addition, he is a team leader for the mechanical team, where he is responsible for example documentation processes, improving workflows, and organizing trainings for the team.

“Of course, it was interesting to me personally in the sense that there aren’t that many companies in Finland — and even fewer in Tampere — that make these kinds of physical consumer products. That’s something I’m personally interested in.”

One thing he knew for sure was that Simucube’s products were world-class. Iiro thinks that you can already see the unique touch to these products from the start. Everything is designed with the mindset of finding the best possible solution and delivering the best possible product and user experience, not just choosing the cheapest option.

“Of course, it’s always nicer to design a product that receives positive feedback and good reviews. That naturally follows from aiming to make the best possible products instead of just the cheapest ones — they usually get positive feedback. Designing products that people like and enjoy using is definitely much more pleasant.”

Iiro feels that this approach gives more freedom for the designer, when they can focus on finding the best possible solution.

While Iiro has many different responsibilities in his role, the aspect that excites him the most is mechanical design.

“The actual mechanical design work is probably the part I personally like the most. You get to, in a way, design a product from scratch—something that eventually gets manufactured and even sold. So it’s kind of that… how would I describe it… the creative process or the act of creating that’s involved in it,” Iiro describes.

Inspiring innovative spirit

Iiro values the freedom to work independently and to have an impact on his own role and tasks.

Innovation is at the heart of Simucube, and Iiro feels that the company encourages its employees to innovate in various ways. One example is a recent innovation event. In January 2025, Simucube organized a Hackathon, where employees got to participate and try to innovate freely. Iiro also feels that Simucube encourages creative thinking by maintaining reasonable working hours, which can promote creative thinking and lead to innovation.

Iiro and the mechanical team strive to continuously improve and they are always trying to find even better ways to do things.

“We always try to keep a close eye on things — we watch all the review videos and other feedback about the products and look for insights there. Both the positive and, of course, also the negative comments — to see what we can improve and try to learn from them.”

Simucube even encourages employees to pursue personal projects in different ways, keeping creativity alive.

A staff with high well-being makes good decisions

Employee wellbeing at Simucube was something Iiro had heard about even before joining the company. He thinks that people working inside the company are at the end the company itself.

“I see it this way: a well-being staff makes good decisions, which is a good thing for the whole company. At Simucube, the leadership sees it very much the same way. That’s of course great, and it’s important that employee well-being is taken care of,” Iiro explains.

When asked about celebrations at Simucube and marking successes, Iiro chuckles:

“It feels like there’s cake being offered here every now and then for all sorts of reasons.”

As a parent of two, Iiro values the flexibility in work hours, remote work, and having control over when he takes his vacation. He feels that this kind of flexibility helps him manage everyday life so that everything runs smoothly.

Iiro feels that the atmosphere at Simucube is encouraging, and putting employees first is deeply embedded in the company culture. He thinks that Simucube provides a safe environment where it’s okay to try new things and even to fail at times. No one is punished, and people understand that success doesn’t always happen on the first try.

“The idea of putting people first in pretty much everything—that’s quite unique,” Iiro states.