William Liu

At KTH, I work as a researcher with focus on railway energy and sustainability.

I have been working and researching in the railway field since 2008. I have joined the system development and commissioning testings of several high-speed railways (with a top speed of 421 km/h). To make rail transport more reliable, more affordable and more attractive, so far I have participated in more than 20 railway-related research projects and published 60 publications (conference and journal articles) about research on rail transport systems. My research interests cover traction and braking, electric power supply, driving optimization, pantograph-catenary dynamics, train thermal comfort, climate adaptation, circular economy, maglev train and hyperloop system.

Work experience:

• Researcher in Rail Vehicle Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. 2020.01 - now
• Member of Swedish Electrical Standardization Committee (SEK Svensk Elstandard). 2020.06 - now
• Postdoc Researcher in Rail Vehicle Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. 2017.12 - 2019.12
• Assistant Researcher at China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), Beijing. 2011.06 - 2013.05
• Research Engineer at China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), Beijing. 2009.06 - 2011.05
• Intern at China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), Beijing. 2008.

Education qualification:

• Docent in Rail Vehicle Technology with focus on energy, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. 2025.06
• Doctor of Philosophy in Vehicle Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. 2017.10
• Licentiate of Technology in Vehicle Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. 2015.10
• Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin. 2009.06
• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin. 2007.06

Teaching:

• Rail Vehicle Technology (SD2307), master level, Teacher
• Vehicle System Technology (SD2221), master level, Teacher
• Energy System (MJ1145), bachelor level, Teacher
• Energy Technologies for Sustainable Transport (MJ2506), master level, Teacher
• Vehicle Engineering (SD1002), bachelor level, Teacher
• Railway system and rail vehicle technology, Professional education for industry, Teacher
• Vehicle dynamics project course part I (SD2229), master level, Teacher
• Vehicle dynamics project course part II (SD2230), master level, Teacher
• Energy technologies for sustainable transport (MJ2506), master level, Teacher
• Rail system perspective, doctoral level, for PhD students at four Swedish railway research centres, Teacher
• KTH Delsbo Electric Team, Advisor

 

Supervision:

• Bachelor's theses (7)

1. Jakob Lindbergh and Hector Älfvåg, Optimering av tågs kontakt med kontaktledning – utplacerade massors påkerkan på kontaktkraftens kvalitet, 2019.
2. Alice Zhang and Gustav Ström, Delsbo electric: Design och tillverkning av bottenplatta till ett rälsfordon, 2022.
3. Ludvig Danström, Delsbo electric: Optimering av fjäder-dämpar system, 2023.
4. Olof Skagerlind and Gabriel Forsling, Delsbo electric: Optimering av hjuldesign, 2023.
5. Oliver Rehn, Delsbo electric: Energiförbrukning & köroptimering, 2024.
6. Henric Molin and Anton Säll, Hyperloop: Study on traction energy consumption, 2025.
7. Darian Rafiq and Aboud Shammo, Hyperloop: Study on heat generation and cooling, 2025.

• Master's theses (12)

1. Philipp Geiberger, Analysis of the electrical energy consumption of LKAB’s iron ore trains, 2021.
2. Alexandra Jerresand and Micaela Diamant, Energy usage of smart wayside object controller, 2021.
3. Filipp Zarov, Life cycle cost of smart wayside object controller, 2021.
4. Gaston Holmström, Pantograph-catenary wear modelling using dynamic simulation, 2022.
5. Sidharth Kapoor, Energy usage of railway wayside object heating, 2022.
6. Jimmy Liden, Optimization of comfort-related energy of Stockholm commuter trains, 2023.
7. Siddharth Sumathi, Modelling of heat transfer of railway switch heating, 2023.
8. Yijing Pang, Optimization of traction energy of Stockholm commuter trains, 2023.
9. Gökmen Dursun, Cost modelling of optimizing train operation and upgrading infrastructure for decision-making, 2024.
10. Kangli Chen, Modelling of power supply systems of Stockholm local rail transport, 2025.
11. Danlin Fang, Study on train driving strategies in virtual coupling operation, 2024/2025. (ongoing)
12. Yinan Yang, Circular economy: Quantifying railway sustainability, 2024/2025. (ongoing)

• Doctoral students (Co-supervisor):

1. Bastian Schick, Pantograph-catenary dynamic interaction, 2021.03 - 2026.06. (expected)
2. Yanjun Zhang, Braking system of rail vehicle, 2021.09 - 2025.11.
3. Yan Xu, Rail vehicle dynamics under adverse conditions, 2021.02 - 2022.09.