Thesis Work 30hp - Recycling of coated copper wires for electric motors

Introduction:
Thesis work is an excellent way to get closer to Scania and build relationships for the future. Many of today's employees began their Scania career with their degree project.

Background:
Electric machines are one of the major components for the electrification of the transportation system and heavy vehicles. The durability of e-machines is highly dependent on the insulation system, which consists of polymeric materials. Nowadays, advanced thermoplastic materials are replacing conventional solutions as coating for copper wires in e-motors. The challenge, however, is finding solutions to recycle these materials from scrapped e-machines in production, workshops, or at the end of life when they are subjected to destruction.

Objective:

• Determine how the electric cable insulation can be recycled and reused in similar or other applications.
• Develop methods/protocols to remove the insulation from wires without degrading the polymers.
• Determine ways to reprocess the coating polymers using compression moulding, injection moulding, and extrusion wire coating together with an industrial collaborator.

Job description:

Thesis work

Education/program/focus:
Polymer Technology, Materials science, Chemical Engineering

Number of students: 1

Start date for the thesis work: January first 2026
Estimated time required: 20 weeks/ 6 months

Contact persons and supervisors:

KTH:

Mikael Hedenqvist, Professor, head of the Polymeric Materials division, mikaelhe@kth.se

Traton:

Öystein Krogen, Head of Materials for electrification, Traton SE/AB  oystein.krogen@scanai.com 

Negin Yaghini (supervisor), Development engineer, Materials for electrification, Traton SE/AB negin.yaghini@scania.com

Application:
Your application must include a CV, personal letter and transcript of grades

A background check might be conducted for this position. We are conducting interviews continuously and may close the recruitment earlier than the date specified.