Erkki Knuuttila graduated from Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) in 1976 and achieved Master of Science degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. The topic of his diploma work was general design of fast missile craft Helsinki. Work was carried out under contract with Finnish Naval Headquarters (FNHQ) in 1975. Before 1978 he studied and worked for Wärtsilä and Valmet shipyards as planning engineer and head of structural design group.

1978 he was appointed to the office of the planning engineer of combat crafts in FNHQ, where he:

- acted as project manager of the waterjet propulsion development program,

- performed the platform test and evaluation program and ship/combat systems integration evaluation of Helsinki class missile crafts,

- co-ordinated the design, verification and validation of ship/combat systems integration of Rauma class missile crafts,

- acted as quality manager of the ship department

Since 1994 he has been nominated quality manager of the Finnish Navy (FN). This appointment started with a professional development (PD) program in HUT during 1994-95 due to which he attained the degree of Master of Quality. He is now responsible for Systems Engineering (SE) activities in FN acquisition programs, of which the most prominent is the squadron 2000 including two surface crafts and four air cushion vehicles. His office is within the Finnish Naval Research Institute and his military rank is commander (eng).

Since last year he attends second PD program, which is arranged jointly by the National Defence College and HUT, having as his subjects:

- general systems theory, cybernetics and complexity,

- naval and littoral warfare,

- systems engineering.

His roles include those of a lecturer, mentor and a learner.