Thesis Work on Encrypted Control

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This Position reports to:

R&D Team Lead

Your role and responsibilities

Recent advances in cryptography enable computations to be performed directly on encrypted data.

This opens the possibility of cloud-based controllers that never access the underlying process measurements or control commands in unencrypted form.

Such technology could enable secure optimization and control across organizational boundaries while preserving data confidentiality.

Details:

• Period: January 2027-June 2027, 5 months
• Number of credits: 30 ECTS
• Number of students for this thesis work: 1
• Location: ABB Corporate Research (Västerås)

The thesis will explore feedback control and optimization using encrypted signals in cloud-based control systems.

Goals:​

• Implement a controller operating on encrypted data for a lab-scale system, such as a ball-and-beam setup.
• Quantify the trade-offs between privacy, computational cost, communication latency, and control performance​​​

Qualifications for the role

• Background in automatic control, optimization or a related field.
• Experience with simulation and programming (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink or Python).
• Ability to work independently with scientific literature and hands-on experiments.
• No prior knowledge of cryptography is required.

More about us

Recruiting Manager Linus Thrybom, +46 730 80 9906, will answer your general questions. Supervisor Fredrik Ljungberg ([email protected]) will answer questions about the thesis topic and expectations.

Positions are filled continuously. Please apply with your CV, academic transcripts, and a cover letter in English.

We look forward to receiving your application!

A future opportunity

This role is part of our talent pipeline, which means it’s not currently open, but we’re always looking for curious minds, bold thinkers, and people who want to make an impact.

Click Apply to express your interest and be considered for future opportunities that match your experience and aspirations.

At ABB, we welcome people from all backgrounds and believe that diverse perspectives help us build a cleaner, smarter future.

Apply today or visit https://www.abb.com to learn more about how we help run what runs the world.