Full house at master’s thesis evening for Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design

The exhibitor Gustaf Kettil stands in the middle of the study hall in the M-building and looks concerned.

“I thought this was a great spot, right in the middle of the hall. But the ones next to me also work with modeling, just like we do, so when students see me, they seem to think ‘oh, there’s another one of those,’ and move on to the next exhibitor,” he says with a smile.

It is around half past five in the afternoon, and this year’s master’s thesis evening has begun. Nowadays it is as much a sign of autumn as turning the clock back to winter time, the leaves changing color on the trees, or the announcement of the year’s Nobel Prize laureates.

For Gustaf Kettil, who represents Fraunhofer Chalmers, it is the first time attending the fair.

“We sent a master’s thesis proposal to Applied Mechanics, and they suggested we come here to present it. So now I’m looking forward to meeting lots of curious students,” he says.

Clear purposes and goals

When it comes to what makes a good master’s thesis, he emphasizes that it should have a clear purpose and goal that can be expressed quite briefly.

“Today, many people work with machines and AI, using optimization with those kinds of methods. For our part, we work a lot with physics-based modeling, and the two complement each other. We try to combine the two, and that is a challenge—many lean towards AI, and we try to pull them back a bit,” he says.

Amid the crowd, students Ebba Lindholm, Britta Christensson and Tanja Svrabic share their impressions. They like the format of the evening, that it is a fair.

“The companies are good at presenting themselves, and it’s great that there is always someone to ask. Many of the people in the booths have also written their theses here, so they can share their thoughts, and you can pitch your own idea,” says Britta Christensson, who studies Interaction Design and Technology.

She is supported by Ebba Lindholm, who studies the same master’s program.

“We’re really not the main target group for this fair, but it feels good to be here, to make contacts and discover new companies,” she says. “It’s very appreciated, and I wish my own program had something similar.”

Tanja Svrabic studies Industrial Design Engineering and has some thoughts on what her master’s thesis should look like.

"Don’t be afraid to try!"

“I’d like to find a thesis where I can do research and really explore my creativity,” she says.

Perhaps they can find what they are looking for at the company ASKO. It is a Scandinavian premium appliance brand with 75 years of history, and in their booth Mikael Johansson and Linn Jonsson stand on either side of a dishwasher.

“We have met many students, and hopefully we can bring in one or two thesis workers,” says Mikael Johansson.

He has been at the fair for six or seven years and feels that it has gained momentum—during the first years it was a bit slow, but now there is greater interest from the students.

“One thing I usually talk to students about is the importance of making many prototypes when working on a thesis,” he says. “It’s a lot of testing, you need seven or eight tries to learn something. I usually tell them that ‘the first shot never works’—they shouldn’t be afraid to try!”

A little aside from the busiest crowd, Melvin Glans and William Gustafsson sit eating their sandwiches. They are in two different situations.

“I already have my thesis arranged, I’ll be doing it at Volvo in simulation,” says Melvin Glans. “So I’m mostly here to look around and get some practical info.”

“For me, I want to talk to people, see what impressions I get and what they show,” says William Gustafsson. “It’s a really good way to get more information and insight. You get to talk to those who wrote the thesis proposals, so it’s like a mini-interview right here. And that contact can in turn lead to a real opportunity.”

Appreciated format

Both of them like the setup and find it fun that so many major companies have shown up and taken an interest in the students.

Also present in the study hall is Niklas Andersson, program director at M2, who has worked on preparing the evening.

“I have spoken with both students and company representatives. My impression is that most of the students who visited the fair found something they thought seemed interesting and perhaps discovered an organization they hadn’t known about before. Several exhibitors pointed out that they thought our fair was a good format because it was easy to get in touch with the students,” he says.

And what about Gustav Kettil? How did it go for him? Shortly after six o’clock his booth is no longer empty—it is swarming with curious master’s students. He himself stands a few meters away, observing them.

“I don’t want to scare them off!” he says, laughing.

Exhibitors at the master’s thesis evening 2025

ASKO, RISE, FS Dynamics, Volvo Cars, T Engineering AB, FCC, AB Volvo Penta, EDR Medeso, SKF, AFRY, Husqvarna AB, Husqvarna Group, FS Dynamics, AXKID, SHM (Structural Health Monitoring), Global mentorship program, GKN Aerospace, Combitech, MCon, Volvo Trucks Tuve, ASKO, Volvo GTT, Chalmers MCR, Nexans