Karin and Edka found a degree project at KTH Innovation
Karin Bodin and Edka Coronado Omana are studying a master's degree in Integrated Product Design at KTH. By posting on a notice board at KTH Innovation, they got in touch with Rebaba, a startup creating a new second life battery energy storage system, founded by two KTH students.
It was in December 2023 that Edka visited the event KTH Innovation Collide . At the event, she noticed a bulletin board where you can put up a note if you want to help someone or get help with something.
"Karin and I were looking for a degree project, but it wasn't easy to get in contact with big companies," Edka says. "At Collide, I saw the notice board and thought “I'll give it a try”. I didn’t really believe that anything would come of it, but a few weeks later Paula and Felix got in touch!
Degree project underway
The match was successful and since a few weeks back Karin and Edka have been doing their thesis project at Rebaba.
"We thought the company and the product sounded exciting. In our project, we will develop a design proposal to improve the ergonomics and user experience of battery storage," Karin explains.
Paula Runsten and Felix kruse started developing their idea while studying at Lund University. Now they are taking courses at KTH while getting support from KTH Innovation.
"Working with Paula and Felix has been great," says Edka. "We didn't know a lot about their field before, but that's always been the case in school projects as well. You always learn about the products you’re working with as you go along.
Waiting for that big idea
During their time at KTH, both Karin and Edka have heard about KTH Innovation, but they haven’t tried developing their own ideas.
"We have worked on different ideas in innovation courses, but haven’t taken them any further. I think we and many others are waiting for “that one big idea”," says Edka.
"It feels like a big step to bring your own idea. Like it has to be perfect, and it has to go well, otherwise you are a failure," says Karin. "It would probably have helped if the teachers had encouraged us more to continue developing our projects. “
No idea is born perfect
KTH Innovation meets over 400 teams with new ideas every year. About 15% of all ideas eventually become a product or service on the market. The rest of the teams stop along the way for a number of different reasons, like a lack of time or that the idea didn’t meet a sufficiently large need for the future users. Many come back and try again with a new idea.
"We want as many people as possible to try developing an idea during their time at KTH," says Eva Sandström Halén, business development coach at KTH Innovation. "If you wait for that big idea to pop up, you often wait in vain. You have to spend time coming up with an idea and I think people underestimate what we call "iterating" or "pivoting", i.e. that an idea often needs to be developed in many steps. No idea is "born" perfect. It's also a great first step to do what Karin and Edka did: meet someone else who has an idea!
Keep developing solutions with the user in focus
After graduating from KTH, Karin and Edka want to continue developing solutions with the user in focus.
"We dream of designing products that support people in their everyday life and contribute to a better future for everyone," says Karin. Right now we are looking for interesting opportunities after graduation!
Text: Lisa Bäckman