Master Thesis at Group Trucks Purchasing – Motor Drive System

The transport industry is developing in a higher pace than ever before and we at Volvo Group want to shape the future of transportation. We are fully committed to the Paris agreement targets and our long-term ambitions are clear. We will become 100% fossil free, 100% safe and 100% more productive. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do in the Volvo Group.
You love our planet, you love to drive change and you love to move forward. By 2030 more than 35% of our global shipments of vehicles should be electric. Furthermore, we want to lead the way to a fossil free society. Would you love to shape this future of transportation together with us?
To enable this exciting future, we are looking for master thesis students to join us in defining Volvo Group sustainability agenda in the Motor Drive System team. Join us and make a difference for our society!
The Purchasing Motor Drive System team
You will be part of a passionate team, creating business value in an open and multicultural, dynamic environment with highly innovative products. We are team players, with energy and creativity, who drive change and strive for the best in order to deliver results. We like challenges, having fun and are committed to customer and Volvo Group success. We work closely together with our cross functional stakeholders both in the internal and external ecosystem and we believe we are here to make a difference. After finalizing your master thesis with us we assure you that you will have a strong CV for a career within Purchasing and a proven expertise in new technology management.
Description of thesis work
The master thesis will be performed in close collaboration with segment leader within the Motor Drive System Purchasing team but as well with other stakeholders within the full Volvo Group.
The Motor Drive System business is characterized by a dynamic environment with fast moving technology, new business models, varying demands from customers and a full focus on quality, safety, and sustainability amongst others. We strive to be in the driver seat of this development, and this is where you come into the picture. We are looking for you who are eager to bring your knowledge from the academia and combine it with real business insight to support us in developing and setting the course for our society’s future electric transport solutions. With this in mind, we have identified the following area for your research during the spring:
Area of investigations : Rare Earth Elements and more especially magnets from mining to final product.
Eco system definition and evolution foreseen
Typology of market
Value chain definition
Capacity (bottleneck/allocations’ rules/etc
Barriers for new sourcing of Rare Earth Elements: Chinese dependency, potential alternatives and added values for Volvo (governmental/legal/Industrial/resources/…)



Specific actions : launch RFI to magnets manufacturers, interviews with mining key players and also our tier ones.




Suitable background
The ideal student(-s) will possess good communications skills in English, shows a high level of initiative, is self-driven and has excellent analytical capabilities.


Are you curious to hear more about the position? Or the department? Or do you have other questions? Contact any of us:
Carine Campoy-Perez carine.campoy@volvo.com, Purchasing Segment Leader Motor Drive System
Helena Larsson helena.larsson@volvo.com, Purchasing group manager Motor Drive System


Thesis Level
Master thesis
Number of students
1 or 2 students.

The thesis can start January 2023 and run for one semester.
Language
English




Please note:
This assignment is a student thesis. In order for your application to be considered you should currently be a university student eligible to complete a Master thesis as part of your university program.
Students can apply by themselves or in an already formed group.
Above presented topics are to be defined based on existing information and suggestions by all involved parties