Master's Thesis: Failover Readiness Validation for Redundant Industrial Networks

About the role

ABB is offering a master's thesis in Spring 2027 (commonly January to June) on failover readiness validation for redundant industrial networks. The project reports to the R&D Team Lead and focuses on assessing and predicting the readiness of redundant routers in industrial automation networks such as ABB System 800xA, so that early warnings can be raised before redundancy is compromised. It is open to 1-2 students, based in Västerås with the possibility of a hybrid workplace.

Key responsibilities

• Survey existing redundancy mechanisms in industrial networks and identify what readiness information is currently available and what is missing.
• Design a lightweight probing agent that periodically collects readiness indicators from the redundant router without interfering with operational traffic.
• Develop a readiness scoring model that combines the collected indicators into a single health score.
• Validate the approach on a lab testbed by injecting realistic degradation scenarios and evaluating detection accuracy, probing overhead and alert response time.

Required profile

• Motivated master's student interested in designing future industrial communication solutions.
• Academic background in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or Network Engineering.
• Knowledge of computer networks, e.g. routing protocols, Ethernet and TCP/IP.
• Familiarity with common industrial communication protocols; OPC UA knowledge is a plus.

Required skills

• Programming in C++ or Python for code implementation and data analysis.
• Basic statistics or machine learning for building the readiness scoring model.

To apply, send your CV, academic transcripts and a cover letter in English through the application form.