Robotics and automation distance students at University West

The 3-day laboration takes place at PTC – University Wests tech lab in Innovatum District in Trollhättan. On scene, the atmosphere is informal in a way but also very realistic. From the outside, it is hard to guess what is hiding, but inside the workshop, you get the feeling of suddenly entering an industrial company. A group of students from various countries is here as a part of their Master's programs.

This course is about robot programming and later on, there will also be a second with a focus on PLC systems. Many of the students are already very well educated and some work as IT consultants, technical engineers, or mechanical engineers. Tuomas Pönni is originally from Finland and is one of the visiting students. He finds the application process in Sweden very easy and likes that you can study on distance.

“I work as an IT consultant and live in Stockholm. Society gets more and more automated and a robot driver's license is a way to secure the future. Distance learning is also perfect for me since I don´t have to move”, says Tuomas Pönni.

The students are currently working on programming and calibrating. At the end of each robot, there is a pencil attached and it is their job to calculate and calibrate until they get the pen to draw a desired figure on the paper. The level of concentration is high and there is also a very optimistic mood in the group. Anders Appelgren, the headteacher, says that though it is after lunch on the first day, many students have already completed 2 of 4 mandatory parts of the course.

Divyaraj Gadhavi and Rushik Patel are Master's students from India and now work as test engineers and mechanical engineers. They are both very optimistic about the future and have high dreams. Rushik would like to work in the automotive industry while Divyaraj is more interested in the aerospace industry, or space and rocket science, to be more precise.

“I think knowledge in Robotics will give med better possibilities in the future, that´s why I choose this course”, says Divyaraj Gadhavi.

They like Sweden a lot, except maybe for the cold winters. People are really nice and welcoming here, Divyaraj continues. Both Divyaraj and Rushik are learning Swedish through an SFI course and they seem very convinced of the benefits. Learning Swedish makes it 10 times easier to get a job in Sweden, even if you have finished higher education and the common working language is English.