A Saab legacy spanning generations
Saab Global has a history extending over 400 years, serving customers in more than 100 countries, with approximately 17,000 employees across the world.
In Australia, we're celebrating our 35th year.
Did you know that Saab also extends over multiple generations in one family?
Three generations of the Tykesson family – Per, Max and Oscar – have been contributing to Saab’s innovations in the defence and security sector since the 1960’s.
It all began back in the early 1960’s when Per Tykesson joined Saab in Linkoping, Sweden on the Draken 35 fighter jet program. The Saab 35 Draken is a fighter aircraft, equipped with a distinctive double delta wing and was one of the first Western-European-built combat aircraft with true supersonic capability to enter service and the first fully supersonic aircraft to be deployed in Western Europe.
After many years at Saab contributing to the Draken fighter jet program, Per eventually moved into physics research, working in Jönköping and then at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Max Tykesson followed in his father’s footsteps and pursued a career in engineering first in Denmark, before moving to Australia in 1989 and eventually joining Saab in Australia as a project manager in the Maritime division.
“It’s incredibly coincidental that I joined Saab nearly 30 years after my dad worked there – and now my son, Oscar, is also starting his career with Saab in the graduate program,” says Max.
Max works at CS-IPT in Osborne, South Australia as the Project Manager for Communications, Underwater Warfare (UWW) and Australia Interface (AI).
“Hunter Class Frigates (HCF) is a huge piece of work and I enjoy being part of this important project. All staff are very helpful and supportive and it’s a great team to be part of," says Max.
There is a great sense of achievement at the end of the week
Oscar too, was interested in engineering from a young age, eventually studying Computer Science with a major in Cyber Security at the Adelaide University. When considering where to begin his professional career, Oscar chose to apply for Saab’s graduate program and become the third generation in his family to work for Saab.
“I have wanted to be an engineer since I was a kid playing with Legos, and in high school I got very interested in computers,” says Oscar.
I ultimately joined Saab because of its strong reputation as an innovator in the defence and security sectors
Max is passionate about investing in the next generation of engineers and providing mentoring, guidance and support not only for the team in the delivery at CS-IPT, but also for Oscar as he forges a career in engineering.
“My dad has taught me a few important lessons so far. The first is the importance of networking as you never know who you may meet further into your career. The second was getting along with your co-workers, as it doesn’t matter how skilled you are if no one wants to work with you,” says Oscar.
As Saab continues to grow its capabilities and workforce, its core mission and values remain the same since the first Tykesson joined in the 1960’s – to deliver solutions with purpose.