Commission a Master's thesis
A Master's thesis is an effective way for a company to use academic research to develop its business.
Eden Telila's master's thesis contributed to Ramboll's geotechnical toolkit
Collaborating with Aalto University on a master's thesis provides a student with a real-life case to study and a company with solutions drawn from the latest research, as demonstrated by geoengineering alum Eden Telila and Ramboll.
At Aalto University, master’s theses in technology are often completed in collaboration with companies, allowing the company to access the latest research and gain fresh perspectives on its operations through a student nearing the end of their studies.
Eden Telila, a recent graduate of the Master's Programme in Geoengineering, completed her master’s thesis with the geotechnical engineering department of the global engineering, architecture, and consultancy company, Ramboll.
The thesis deals with the undrained shear strength of soil, a key concept when designing underground structures that describes how well the ground can withstand short-term loads. Results of field vane tests form the basis for undrained shear strength calculations, which are often done manually: a time-intensive and error-prone process, made especially laborious when dealing with large amounts of data and multiple cross-sections.
In her master’s thesis, Telila developed an application to automate parts of this processing workload. The geotechnical issue was thus accompanied by a Python programming task to implement the application. Here, the work was helped along by what Telila learned during elective courses she completed at the Department of Computer Science.
'The work demonstrates that tailored independent software solutions can be developed in geotechnical design to meet specific needs with results that are efficient, affordable, and user-friendly. The application is likely to become a fundamental tool for the company's geotechnical engineers,' says thesis advisor and Ramboll Team Leader Matias Napari.
The inspiration for Telila's thesis came from her interest in automation.
'During the second year of my master’s programme, I was working as an intern at Ramboll,' Telila explains. 'My advisor and I were discussing automation and came up with a potential thesis topic that could solve a challenge in geotechnical design work.' That idea was refined into a master’s thesis topic in discussions with Aalto University Associate Professor Wojciech Solowski.
Eden Telila worked on her thesis both at the company and the university. 'Ramboll provided data and the practical perspective, while my professor helped me with the scientific aspect and the writing process,' Telila says. The work was punctuated by meetings with a working group including experts from Aalto and Ramboll.
At Ramboll, Telila got both an interesting thesis topic and work experience from a leading company in her field of study.
'Through the thesis work, I gained both technical and professional skills that will certainly help me on my career. I not only had a focused working environment to work on a technical problem, but also learned about industry practices, from office culture to professional communication and time management,' Eden Telila concludes.
Department of Civil Engineering
The Department of Civil Engineering aims to build the structures of tomorrow through research, education and collaboration.
Geoengineering, Master of Science (Technology)
As one of the top-ranked programmes in its field, the Master’s Programme in Geoengineering provides world-class education in the disciplines of geotechnics, rock mechanics, highway engineering and construction. As geoengineering is a discipline involved with soil and rock, working as the primary basis for our built environment, one could call it the hidden science of everyday life. Simultaneously, Geoengineering graduates play a key role in urbanisation and circular economy, fighting climate change and the growing use of natural resources. Thanks to their highly appreciated knowledge and skills, as well as the programme’s close collaboration with the industry, graduates tend to find great job opportunities with ease.
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