Working close to the electric power industry

As an industry-employed doctoral student working with the Elektra national development programme, Rebecca Hollertz is conducting basic research at KTH while working in close proximity to the actual application of the research in the electric power industry. She feels that this is both a great benefit and an exciting challenge for a researcher.

“After a few years of working in industry I felt the desire to do some ‘real’ research. In my area of Materials Development, it makes sense to delve deeper by doing a PhD. I used to work for ABB in Switzerland and through contacts there I heard about the doctoral project within the electric power technology programme called Elektra run by ABB, Elforsk and the Swedish Energy Agency.”

“What sparked my interest in the project, which involves insulation materials in high voltage transformers, was the very fact that the industry is involved in it. The interdisciplinary aspect also attracted me; the research includes everything from basic materials chemistry to how the material behaves in a component.”

How much industry contact do you have?

“A lot. I’m employed at the Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology at KTH but I have two supervisors, one at KTH and one at ABB Corporate Research in Västerås. The three of us meet once a month and I’m also physically present at ABB from time to time to conduct experiments. We also have reference group meetings within the Elektra programme.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Meeting people in industry who are interested in what I’m doing motivates me”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“I’ve also spent time at ABB Ludvika and seen how they manufacture transformers, and in Figeholm where the insulation materials are produced. Another benefit is that several people in the building are employed by both KTH and ABB, so there are plenty of interfaces.”