Congratulations Raj Machchhar, Doctor of Philosophy!
- Post by: Tobias Larsson
- 18th September 2025
- No Comment
Raj Jiten Machhchar successfully defended his PhD thesis “Changeability Assessment in Complex Systems to Support Early-Stage Design Decisions” in front of a full crowd of people in the room and some 30 people online. Raj made a popular presentation of his research and took the audience through his findings and application cases within mechanical engineering and automotive industry, and then landed in a summary of his findings.
Raj has focused on model-driven decision support systems (DSS) in the context of complex engineering systems (CES). It systematically identifies and explores the challenges faced in integrating and utilizing DSS during the early stages of design. Through literature review and empirical case studies within an industrial setting, the research highlights barriers such as the difficulty in integrating heterogeneous simulation models, the uneven maturity of DSS across domains, and the lack of intuitive interfaces and real-time feedback mechanisms. Ultimately, the thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of practical challenges to support both researchers and practitioners in developing more user-centered and fit-for-purpose DSS in complex design environments.
Raj has been in highly collaborative applied research environment taking part in several research projects throughout the course of the PhD; Model Driven Development and Decision Support, eTWIN – Digital-Twin enabled Transition into Electromobility and Autonomy in Construction Equipment, VaViM – Validation of virtual models used for simulation of autonomous vehicle systems, ASPECT – A System for Electric and Connected Transport Solutions, TRUST-SOS – TRUSTed – Site Optimisation Solutions, and also Future Fossil Free Rock Loading Solution with funding from KKS, VINNOVA, Swedish Energy Agency.
Faculty opponent was Dr. Danielle Soban (Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland) and the grading committee consisted of Professor Dan Högberg (University of Skövde, Sweden), Professor Caterina Rizzi (University of Bergamo, Italy), and Senior Associate Professor Mehdi Tarkian (Linköping University, Sweden).
Professor Soban invited Raj into a deep conversation around the work he had performed and by this creating an interesting dialogue that took the audience through both the academic and industrial aspects of the highly work done by Raj via industrial cases. Some challenging questions forcing Raj into reflections on the research activities and their industrial application, especially around the concept of changeability.
After the opponent, grading committee, and audience have had the chance to bring up their questions, the grading committee left the room for their discussion and eventually returned with the verdict; a pass!
We gratulate our newest PhD on an important milestone in his career, and future success in the upcoming career with our partner Volvo Construction Equipment!
Present was also a representative from our research partner Volvo Construction Equipment; Bobbie Frank (specialist Future Customer Ecosystems) and he reflects;
“Volvo CE has been part of Raj’s PhD journey, where we have seen great results and high potential in site, fleet and machine optimization to help create customer value through increase of operation efficiency by optimizing fleet configuration and site design. This has been done with the aspects of robustness and efficiency, which are key in the industries we are acting in. Volvo CE will employ Raj to continue his work towards industrialization and implementing researched methods in the development, which emphasizes the value we see in Raj’s work and the great collaboration with the research team at mechanical engineering of BTH.”
PhD thesis crew; Department Head/Supervisor Johan Wall, Supervisor Professor Alessandro Bertoni, PhD Bobbie Frank (industrial partner Volvo CE), Raj Jiten Machchhar, Professor Dan Högberg (grading committee), Senior Associate Professor Mehdi Tarkian (grading committee), Professor Tobias Larsson (supervisor/examiner), Professor Caterina Rizzi (grading committee), Opponent PhD Danielle Soban.
Abstract
The early design phase of complex, capital-intensive systems is critical for shaping their architecture and value proposition. However, such systems face numerous challenges from technological, economic, market, and regulatory domains. In addition, considering system-of-systems introduces new hurdles as the focus shifts from measuring performance to assessing overall effectiveness. Together with the growing trend of servitization, where traditional products are combined with value-added services to deliver functions, a lot of uncertainty is introduced during design decision-making. To handle these uncertainties, systems engineering literature advocates for incorporating lifecycle properties into the system that enable the system to deal with these uncertainties once deployed. Systems that consistently meet evolving stakeholder expectations, despite the changing contexts, are called value-robust systems. Changeability is one such property that allows the system to achieve value robustness by changing internally in response to changes externally. During the design stages, the goal is to identify and integrate options that would enable the system to exercise change and sustain value under all conditions.
In this light, this thesis aims to support the integration of changeability in complex systems by facilitating its assessment during the early design stages. To achieve this goal, it first identifies the existing methods and challenges in changeability assessment for achieving value robustness. To address these challenges, it proposes the Changeability Assessment in Systems during Early Design (CASED) method, which supports development teams in creating value-robust systems in the face of uncertainty. CASED is one of the core contributions of this work, allowing a holistic consideration of identification, quantification, and valuation of changeability during early design stages. It maps the expected mean value and expected standard deviation for each design as a function of changeability level, which serves as a guide for decisions concerning changeability. Additionally, this thesis explores the use of Extended Reality technologies to address perceptual complexity by visualizing operational scenarios and proposes designing for changeability as a mechanism for creating value-robust circular systems.
Keywords: Uncertainty, Changeability assessment, Value robustness, Early design stages, Systems Engineering, Product-Service Systems
Download full thesis here: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-28429