Niklas Timarsson develops important connections
After studying Mechatronics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Niklas applied for the Young Potential Trainee Program (YPTP) at Scania. “I kept the best parts of student life, but in an industry context to practise our ideas. I had many peers to connect and discuss with, and we quickly formed a tight group that still stays in contact with each other,” says Niklas Timarsson, Development Engineer at Scania.
The YPTP Program gave Niklas a good overview of the opportunities that are open for young engineers like himself. Scania is a large company and a part of the TRATON GROUP which widens the field even further. Niklas had the possibility to spend time at both the TRATON head office in Munich and at the American sister company Navistar in Chicago. “TRATON is the holding company with a spider-function that connects all the good resources in all parts of the heavy vehicle group, which gave me a great overview,” says Niklas. “And since I also love skiing it was terrific to spend the spring near the snowy mountains of Austria.”
Niklas’ programme included rotations to several central functions at Scania in Södertälje. At R&D he became involved in a new driveline project, before he moved on to the purchasing department to work with sanctions control and ethics in sourcing. Next stop was the department called Strategy and Business Development. “It was very interesting to see how Scania’s top management handled the disruptions caused by the pandemic and components shortage,” says Niklas. “I learned the importance of the good reputation Scania has in the industry in order to maintain good relations with business partners.”
Niklas moved to the Project Office to work with components technology for the next generation of electric vehicles. The YPTP soon led Niklas to a position as Development Engineer. “My group develops the common software platform for real-time systems, aimed for multiple brands in the group. And right now, I work mainly towards Navistar,” he says. ”Scania’s R&D resources are great assets in collaborative projects, but I can also see that we have much to learn from our engineer and business colleagues overseas.”
