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Seven female doctoral students boost Primus’ research
30 Sep 2021
In the past year, seven women have been recruited to University West’s teams researching Production Technology and Industrial Work Integrated Learning. “Having a better balance between female and male colleagues is valuable. More perspectives and greater diversity enrich our research environment and culture. This is important for creating innovative development,” says Lennart Malmsköld, head of the Primus programme at University West.
Women have long been under-represented in production technology research. University West is working actively to create an equal balance between women and men across all the university’s activities.
“We see many advantages from more women joining our research teams. A more even distribution between women and men produces a better working environment. This is a long-term, deliberate strategy which is borne out in recruitment, as it is across the university as a whole.
“Today almost half of all graduate students in the Primus research environment are women. The number of women researching or gaining PhDs in our fields of research is growing every year. This is a very positive trend for our research environment and for the technology industry overall.
“The fact that our newly employed doctoral students come from several different countries also increases our diversity. There are no fewer than 24 nationalities and five religions represented in our current research environment.”
New doctoral students for 2021
Linda Squillaci, an industrial doctoral student focusing on powder-based additive manufacture using lasers as an energy source. Linda is studying for a doctorate at University West while participating in the new industrial graduate school Smart Industry Sweden. Linda studied at the University of Rome and the University of Sheffield, and worked as a materials engineer at GKN Aerospace in the UK and as a test engineer in Sweden. Read more about the research project
Lina Gharabei, a doctoral student in production logistics focusing on the wood industry. Lina is involved with the Tillverka i trä (Build in wood) project in which the University’s researchers are developing logistics models using new technology and new solutions. She was educated in Jordan and has long experience of project management in the construction industry. Watch a video about the research project.
Nicole Tobisková, a doctoral student in augmented reality (AR) technology, focusing on how technology can be used to train and guide workers in different aspects of their job. Nicole is part of the research team studying how AR technology can be used in the wood industry to make operators’ work more efficient. She was educated in Prague and joins University West from Umeå University. Watch a video about the research project.
Ritva Rosenbäck, a doctoral student in logistics flows in the health sector. Ritva’s research is linked to the care of COVID-19 patients and the factors affecting healthcare capacity in the pandemic. Ritva studied at the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University and has long experience of production planning in healthcare and other sectors. She has also written a book on production planning in the health system.
Ksenija Peggar, a doctoral student in Industrial Work Integrated Learning. Ksenija is part of the Verb research project, which focuses on virtual modelling of cutting processes. She studies the skills development and the learning processes in work to implement digital tools in industry. Read more about the research project.
Gökce Aydin, a doctoral student in welding technology with a focus on laser metal deposition. Gökce is involved in the Tapertech project, in which researchers work to tailor the performance of high-strength steel components through additive manufacturing with arc and laser. She studied in Turkey and Germany and has experience in the materials science of steels and material characterisation. Read more about the research project.
Liene Zaikovska, a doctoral student in production technology with a focus on process simulation for powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (PBF-AM) using lasers. Liene is part of the university’s AM research team and is connected to the PODFAM project, which studies how additive manufacturing can be used to build 3D geometries in metallic materials. Liene graduated with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from University West and has worked as a research engineer at CEVT and GKN Aerospace. Read more about the research project.