There are a lot of colleagues that I grateful for the support and companionship. I thank Professor Jaakko Lehtinen for nudging me towards the academy and showing what can be achieved by thinking big; Tapani Pihlajakuja for breathing new life to my PhD; and Nils Meyer-Kahlen for reaching completely new heights of invention. I also thank coauthors Jukka Pätynen for introduction to research work and Raimundo Gonzalez for intriguing journeys inside and outside office hours. I am also grateful to all the colleagues and partners that helped me along the way: Benoit