“I didn’t choose KTH, KTH chose me”
Completing the programme was an uphill battle. At first he failed miserably, and he doubted he had the right background for it. But by the time Sagar Behere graduated he had received two PhD offers.
Sagar’s first contact with KTH was in Sierra Nevada, Granada, where he was testing his now former employer’s newly developed car to be launched on the European market. There, he met a KTH researcher who gave him his business card. He pocketed the card and forgot all about it. One day as he was cleaning his wardrobe he found it.
Like an equal
To be sure he was making the right decision he called the director of the master’s programme in Systems, Control and Robotics.
“He was such a cool guy. By the time the phone conversation was over, I was convinced. He was down to earth and talked to me as an equal. No beating around the bush, just straight answers. I didn’t choose KTH, KTH chose me,” says Sagar with a radiant smile.
After four years with one of India’s biggest automobile company he quit his job and headed for KTH.
“When I started I asked myself if I was the right candidate for the master’s programme. I failed non-linear control miserably. But how could I pass it if I didn’t even have basic control knowledge?” he says.
Learning the basics was like climbing a steep mountain, he recalls.
“It was very tough. But then I realized that no one has the right background. Something is always missing. It forces you to cooperate with your fellow students,” Sagar says.
In Sagar’s case he teamed up with one student who had mastered control, another who knew about systems. Then he turned it around. When he graduated, he had aced his grades.
“I came out with six A’s and two PhD offers,” he reflects with amazement.
Mastering complexity
Sagar is now a PhD student in Machine Design. His main responsibility at work is in developing electric architectures for cars of the future. His job is to manage the complexity of the network of 80-90 computers that makes up today’s car.
“Today computers are put into the car with little forethought. But to manage complexity and ensure safety,it’s very important to figure out how the computers should interact,” explains Sagar.
Text: Marie Androv
Edited by Brian Owens
Photo: Janne Danielsson
