Mechanical Engineering
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Page Contents
Research in Mechanical Engineering at BTH focuses on digital product development and engineering design—where new methods and tools help organisations create innovative, sustainable and competitive products and product–service solutions.
We develop and study methodologies for simulation-driven and model-based development, as well as analysis methods for products and materials. Using advanced digital capabilities for modelling, simulation, visualisation, optimisation and verification, we enable engineers to predict and improve performance early—technically, economically and environmentally—before physical prototypes are built.
What we do
To support decision-making early in development, our research advances:
- Theory, methods and tools for analysis and optimisation of products.
- Design, development and simulation methodologies to understand and predict product behaviour across the life cycle.
- Engineering competence combined with simulation expertise to manage complexity, trade-offs and sustainability requirements.
We also explore how value-driven development models, innovation engineering and knowledge/expert systems and AI, supported by simulation, can accelerate learning and drive product improvement.
The research in mechanical engineering is mainly conducted at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and aims to develop methods and tools that strengthen product developers and decision makers in industry.
"Our collaboration with BTH is a real win/win partnership. Our company is in a very exciting transformational phase which gives BTH good examples for their research. Since BTH collaborates with other industries that have already done their shifts from products to services, for example, we can gain knowledge about proven methods instead of inventing everything ourselves."
Jenny Elfsberg, Director of Emerging Technologies
Volvo Construction Equipment
Research directions
Our research spans a strong technical foundation and includes:
- Innovation engineering
- Engineering automation & Generative AI
- Creative concept generation
- Model-driven product development
- Product–Service Systems (PSS)
- Product and production development methods & tools
- Manufacturing development and simulation
- Simulation-driven product development
- Structural analysis
- Value-driven development
In addition, we address related areas such as mechanical and mechatronic systems and solid/fracture mechanics—how structures and materials respond to load and stress
Research environment
Mechanical Engineering research is mainly conducted at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and within the Product Development Research Lab External link, opens in new window. (PDRL), led by Professors Tobias Larsson (chair), Marco Bertoni and Alessandro Bertoni.
PDRL works with early-stage creative problem solving and digitalisation to generate ideas, build models and support industry in developing product–service solutions. We refer to this as simulation-driven product innovation, where modelling and simulation are used to explore and validate concepts early.
Areas of application
Our research is applied in several sectors, including:
- Aeronautics and space
- Vehicles and heavy transportation
- Defence
- Marine technology
- Health technologies
Funders and partners
The research is funded by organisations such as KKS, VINNOVA, the EU, Tillväxtverket, the Swedish Energy Agency and Region Blekinge.
We collaborate with industrial partners including:
- GKN Aerospace Engine Systems
- NKT Cables
- Saab Kockums
- Sandvik Coromant
- Tetra Pak
- Volvo Cars
- Volvo Construction Equipment.
Collaboration
We welcome collaboration in areas such as digital twins and simulation, AI-supported engineering design, value-driven development, PSS, and sustainable product development—through joint research projects, innovation initiatives and student theses.
Researchers
- Laila Adelson Opens in new window., PhD student
- Matthew Anderson External link, opens in new window., Industrial PhD student
- Ansel Berghuvud, Senior Lecturer
- Alessandro Bertoni, Professor
- Marco Bertoni, Professor
- Tamara Carleton, Senior Lecturer
- William Cockayne, Senior Lecturer
- Martin Frank, Industrial PhD student
- Shafiqul Islam, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor
- Christian Johansson Askling, Senior Lecturer
- Andreas Larsson, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor
- Tobias Larsson, Professor (Subject Responsible)
- Martin Magnevall, Senior Lecturer
- Albina Mrazova, Industrial PhD student
- Andrea Nordwall Opens in new window., PhD student
- Wu Peng External link, opens in new window., Industrial PhD student
- Ryan Ruvald, Assistant Lecturer
- Sofia Schön, Industrial PhD student
- Giulia Wally Scurati, ssistant Lecturer
- Carl Toller Melén, PhD student
- Mubeen Ur Rehman, PhD student
- Johan Wall, Senior Lecturer/Head of Department
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Produktutveckling är inte längre bara att skapa en produkt som ger nytta till lägsta möjliga kostnad. Med den snabba förändringstakten i samhället måste produkter också kunna passa in i komplexa system och vara hållbara.
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Karl-Henrik, Hedvig, Stefan och Ludwig skapade tillsammans med Stanfordstudenter Nomad och Oasis – två enheter som tillsammans kan generera och distribuera energi till eldrivna maskiner utanför elnätet, till exempel vid katastrofarbeten. Projektet är en del av kursen ME310, en årlig kurs och ett globalt samarbete med Stanford University där bland annat Volvo Construction Equipment utmanar studenter med verkliga problemställningar.
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BTH har fått resurser för en satsning på virtuell produktion där den nya tekniken kommer att användas både inom forskning och utbildning men även inom den starkt framväxande digitala filmindustrin.
