Thesis Work – Investigating the environmental impact of AI & Future Technologies at ABB Robotics

At ABB, we help industries outrun - leaner and cleaner. Here, progress is an expectation - for you, your team, and the world. As a global market leader, we’ll give you what you need to make it happen. It won’t always be easy, growing takes grit. But at ABB, you’ll never run alone. Run what runs the world.
This role sits within ABB's Robotics business, a leading global robotics company. We're entering an exciting new chapter as we’ve announced the plan for SoftBank Group to acquire ABB Robotics. SoftBank is a globally recognized technology group and investor/operator focused on AI, robotics, and next-generation computing. By joining us now, you’ll be part of a pioneering team shaping the future of robotics—working alongside world-class experts in a fast-moving, innovation-driven environment.
This Position reports to:
R&D Global Unit Lead
Are you interested in sustainability? Are you interested in analyzing the environmental impact of AI and software? Then come do a thesis with us at ABB Robotics!
ABB Robotics is a leading supplier of industrial robots and robot software, in addition to its equipment, and complete application solutions. We are found in 53 countries and have installed more than 500,000 robots, supported by the broadest service network, and offering in the industry.
Analyzing the environmental impact of a physical product is not new to ABB Robotics - we have Life Cycle Assessments for many of our physical robots for over 5 years. But as we peer into the future, it’s important to investigate how the environmental impact of ABB Robotics will evolve under the future technology of large, general-purpose AI models. Foundation models could improve the sustainability of robotics by allowing knowledge learned from large and diverse datasets to be reused across many robots and applications, reducing the need to develop and train separate models for every task. However, training and deploying these models can require substantial computational resources and energy.
Your Role and Responsibilities
The candidate will develop a methodology to quantify the environmental impact (energy, water, etc) of the future technologies throughout the whole life cycle (training, architecture hardware, data cost, inference/sensing) and identify hotspots, potential rebound effects, and evaluate different future scenarios. For example, when does AI and future technologies become a more sustainable? And which types of deployment architectures are better? We are offering this exciting master thesis opportunity within R&D sustainability team.
We are a company with many future technology experts, and are looking for a curious sustainability specialist interested in assessing and discussing with us!
Details:
January-June 2027
30 ECTS/högskolepoäng(hp)
One student
Distance/On site in Västerås
Your responsibilites
Literature study on the environmental impacts of AI and future technologies
Deep dive into ABB Robotics' current set up
Quantify the influence of AI and future technologies with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using SimaPro Software
Identifying the environmental hotspots
Depending on interest and initial results, evaluate the different technical scenarios (deployment architecture, infrastructure, materials, inferences) and environmental scenarios (renewable energy, etc.)
Document and provide recommendations for implementation
Live ABB’s core values of safety and integrity, which means taking responsibility for your own actions while caring for your colleagues and the business.
Your background
Engineering student in sustainability, environmental, or energy
Knowledgeable about carbon footprints/LCAs and SimaPro
Experience with Excel (PowerBi and VBA interesting, but not necessary)
Curious, self-driven, structured and analytical mindset.
Fluent English in speaking and writing, English is the corporate language and used for all documentation
Ability to work independently while collaborating with the team
More about us
Bring your very own sense of pride and purpose as you help us drive forward the Fourth Industrial Revolution – creating a sustainable future for our planet, and your career. Join ABB and harness the power of our diverse global network, as you collaborate with and learn from our world-class teams. Above all, challenge yourself every day. Let’s write the future, together.
More information: Supervisor Emma Brimdyr, +46724644189, will answer your questions. Recruiting Manger Alessandro Pelandi, +46724644059, Union representatives - Sveriges Ingenjörer: Eric Ramsel +46730822030.
Positions are filled continuously and start date is January. Apply with your CV, academic transcripts and a cover letter in English
Welcome to apply!
A Future Opportunity
Please note that this position is part of our talent pipeline and not an active job opening at this time. By applying, you express your interest in future career opportunities with ABB.
We value people from different backgrounds. Could this be your story? Apply today or visit www.abb.com to learn more about us and see the impact of our work across the globe.