“Det löser sig,” loosely translated as “it’ll fix itself” — a useful platitude that’s often untrue. In our team, we’ve plenty of those little details that have to be resolved daily to make sure everything keeps running smoothly, and it feels accurate to say Mona (she/they) is the one that usually tends to those small parts that make the whole work.
Mona’s background in Physics, statistics and her civil service — first for the Swedish armed forces, then for the UN peacekeepers known as blue helmets — have all impacted her worldview, and crucially, given her the skills needed for her role at Aeterna Labs as head of R&D. Her guidance often serves both the development team and her thesis students as reminders for what needs to be done, and crucially what can be done — keeping us firmly rooted on the reality of our potential as well as our constraints.
Earlier this winter, Mona showed us the live feed map of digital thermometers measuring the temperature in every room of her house, even two to three thermometers in a room: “it’s cool to see the difference between temperature near the ceiling and closer to the ground”.
You couldn’t make up such a delightfully whimsical, practical, and meticulous use of free time more true to Mona’s personality: a mix of curiosity and resolve backed up with the technical know-how to design and implement data gathering systems. Another hobby of Mona’s is gardening, and we know she must be good at that, too, since she’s the one responsible for our office in Umeå looking as close to a tropical jungle as you can get on this latitude.
The Sundsvall native lives in Umeå with her family and “land dolphin”, a corgi named Ping that likes to jump through snow. Reach her at mona@aeternalabs.ai