Teija Saarnio
Title: R&D Manager
Education: Engineer
At Betker: Since December 2025
Free time: Outdoor walks with her dog, cycling, crafts, drawing, and painting

When a refractory product doesn’t behave as it should in a customer’s process, Betker’s R&D Manager Teija Saarnio doesn’t resort to guesswork. She sets out to track down the cause.

“I have a logical and analytical, quite engineer-like way of thinking. I want to understand why things happen, but at the same time I’m used to making decisions based on whatever information is available at the time,” Teija explains.

First no, then yes

Before Betker, Teija worked in development roles in renewable energy. A wide range of projects gave her a thorough understanding of industrial processes.

While looking for a new challenge, she spotted Betker’s opening for an R&D Manager.

“My first thought was that I know next to nothing about refractories. This probably isn’t the job for me,” Teija admits.

That changed when she had a closer look at Betker’s website.

“The customer stories and comments gave me the feeling that Betker is a pretty nice company. I decided to find out whether a materials engineering background was an absolute must or whether they’d see value in broad development experience.”

They did. Teija applied, got the job, and proved along the way that an open mind pays off, even if you hesitate at first.

Firing on all cylinders

In Teija’s own words, her role is wonderfully varied. It covers leading the laboratory team, product development, materials technology, environmental matters, and method development.

She spends the majority of her time in the laboratory. Visits to customers and the production floor are less frequent, but it is precisely the customer visits that bring fresh perspective to the work.

In the lab, recipes are fine-tuned and mixes are tested to see how they behave. The mixing is done with the same type of mixer you’d find in a bakery. Don’t expect the smell of fresh buns, though: the test pieces are fired in kilns that reach temperatures of up to 1,600°C.

Her first year has also included a major joint effort with Betker’s Åheim production unit in Norway. The aim is to replace certain raw materials with alternatives that are safer from an occupational health perspective. In summer 2026, Åheim produced the first test batches using new recipes developed by the team, and the next step is customer trials.

“The best part is the variety and getting to solve challenges. We have demanding customer cases where you must look at things from many angles to find the best solution for the customer. That really makes you use every bit of your brainpower,” Teija says.

A team that knows what makes refractories tick

Teija’s expertise has grown enormously.

“I’ve got the basics down now and have a much better understanding of how the materials and products behave. My team has been a huge help – they have long experience and real expertise.”

Whenever Teija has a question about, say, the workability of a mix, the team always has an answer.

“Heidi, Heli, Jani, Kyösti, and Niko are a fantastic bunch, combining long hands-on experience, materials knowledge, and strong laboratory skills.”

Kyösti has exceptionally long experience with refractories and has been the driving force behind many development projects, particularly in the use of recycled materials. According to Teija, his expertise cannot be overstated.

Jani, who has been with the company for over a decade, knows the grain size behaviour of the mixes, among other things, so well that he is the first to spot from the sieve analysis results if there is a hole in a sieve mesh.

Heidi and Niko have also been with the company for around ten years. Heidi knows the lab inside out and moves effortlessly between product development and quality assurance. Niko, in turn, designs recipes, runs a huge number of tests and is, in Teija’s words, the go-to player and goalscorer of product development.

After Teija, the newest addition to the team is Heli, who brings a varied laboratory background and a meticulous approach.

Teija describes Betker as a workplace that is just the right size and where people matter.

“There’s a great can-do spirit here, shared goals and a desire to grow.”

Creativity with knitting needles and paintbrushes

Ask Teija for a fun fact, and she’ll tell you she’s a bit of a boring person. Her free time reveals a creative side, though: she draws, paints and does crafts. Right now, she’s knitting woollen socks to go in Santa Claus’ sack. For exercise, she heads outdoors with her dog or hops on her bike.

Teija’s story shows that you don’t need to know everything about refractories from the start. What matters most is the desire to get to the bottom of things – the rest you learn with a good team around you.