During the Nobel Calling week, it was possible to visit some of KTH Laboratories through organised tours. So, my friend Chengchien (WeChat blogger) and I decided to join two different tours and explore KTH facilities. Here is what we found!
PDC Centre for High-Performance Computing
PDC is the most powerful supercomputer in the Nordic Countries. It is extensively used both for industry and research through multiple partnerships between KTH and other universities and companies (Volvo, Saab…). Did you know that the lab’s cooling system transports 15 litres of water per second? That’s because supercomputers use a lot of energy and they heat up a lot!
Anechoic chamber
“Anechoic” literally means “with no echo”, which exemplifies quite well this room’s scope. We are not talking about acoustic echo, however, but electromagnetic. Indeed, the walls of the room are covered in carbon and are built using a blue foam-like material capable of absorbing virtually all electromagnetic noise/disturbance. This chamber is used to test antennas, mainly for telecommunications purposes, and the collaboration with industry is once again remarkable (ESA, Ericsson…).
Fusion Experiment EXTRAP T2R
Located right next to the anechoic chamber lies the EXTRAP T2R, a nuclear fusion experimental facility. Here, researchers study how to confine fusion plasma in a stable way to produce nuclear power from fusion. Plus, the wall-plasma interaction is also studied. After a small theoretical introduction, we had the chance to walk very close to the fusion experiment and wow, the complexity of the machine was truly impressive!
Smart Mobility Lab and Integrated Transport Research Lab
The Smart Mobility Lab (SML) and the Integrated Transport Research Lab (ITRL) focus on the future of transport and traffic. In particular, the latter is actively collaborating with Scania to find and develop new sustainable transport systems, whereas the former aims to employ artificial intelligence to design self-driving transport systems and test them.
Sustainable Power Lab
The last lab we visited was the Sustainable Power Lab, which focuses on electrical engineering. Great emphasis is put on the sustainability aspect, which remains one of KTH’s top priorities. Various experiments are currently going on in its facilities, namely aimed at developing and testing new electrical machines. There was also a section solely dedicated to high-voltage research, where insulation and electrostatic were the main research fields!
And that’s a blast! I hope you found this post interesting and, maybe, a little inspiring – remember that the application period opens in just a few days! Who knows, maybe next year you’ll have the chance to visit the labs by yourself ;).
Take care, and see you at the next post!
// Lorenzo
Its a very interessino post!!
Well done Lorenzo. Your University is so beautiful and your passion about engineering will can open your future to high level everywhere you want to work. Good luck and see you soon.
Thank you very much Daniele!