The business community found inspiration at the Xjobbsmässan

On 27 May, the annual Xjobbsmässan was held at Campus Arena, where approximately 140 students from the School of Engineering (JTH) at Jönköping University (JU) presented their thesis projects to employers and other visitors.. Interest in the students' work was high with nearly 400 visitors makingtheir way to the fair.

“We have been organizing the fair since 2012, and it is always fun to see all the fantastic thesis projects our students have developed in various fields. 70-75 different projects are presented here today,” says Patrik Cannmo, Head of Education at JTH.

During the Xjobbsmässan, companies have the opportunity to connect with students who are in the final phase of their studies, gain inspiration, and perhaps even spark new ideas. For students, the fair is a great opportunity to showcase their graduation jobs and establish valuable contacts with future employers.

Networking can lead to jobs

One of the companies that took the opportunity to mingle with the students was Norconsult, represented by road designer Albin Storm. Albin graduated from the Civil Engineering programme at JTH in 2023. As a former student, he thinks it is especially valuable to be at the fair this year.

“I'm here to network and meet students. It is important for us to collaborate and create opportunities to be more visible. Maybe this is where I will meet a future colleague,” he says.

Albin Storm also participated in the Pre-Career Forum held at JTH on the day before the Xjobbsmässan.

The purpose of the Pre-Career Forum was to inform and prepare companies for Career Forum External link, opens in new window., which is one of JTH's largest annual events, aimed at connecting businesses with students.

“We will be exhibiting at Karriärum this autumn. It was perfect to already get an idea of what is important to consider before it,” says Albin Storm.

Caisa Björndal, business developer from Södra Munksjö, has visited the Xjobbsmässan for many years.

This time she was there to meet students and to present two scholarships.

The scholarships awarded by Caisa's company were in the fields of construction technology and logistics, and these were two of the 49 scholarships awarded during the day.

“It's really interesting to see how the students have approached their projects and to be able to find inspiration for our own business. I also think it's a simple thing to do to acknowledge the students who have spent several years here in Jönköping,” says Caisa Björndal.

Forest machines and Danish furniture design

Isak Ragnarsson has studied product design with a specialization in industrial design at JTH. He has redesigned the interior of a forestry machine cabin for the company Terry, which manufactures small forestry machines.

“Their current cabin was quite outdated, had little storage and was not very attractive, so I redesigned the entire interior to be vacuum moulded in plastic. I've thought about storage and making it feel modern. I also thought about improving the user experience and moved the ventilation, put up both cup and snuff holders and a folding keyboard,” says Isak Ragnarsson.

During the day, Isak was looking forward to showing the prototype to Terry who hadn’t seen it in real life before.

“After graduation I'm going to look for some jobs, but I havn’t secured anything yet. I could see myself working with something like this in the future, because I think this is really fun,” he says.

Students Molly Rothzen and Linnea Wernald have both studied product development with a focus on furniture design at JTH.

“We have built a product proposal for a piece of furniture that pays tribute to Danish designer Grete Jalk. Our entire work revolves aroundforgotten female designers throughout history. In our thesis we also address a bit both in the past and present why female furniture designers in many cases have not reached the same iconic status as their male counterparts,” says Molly Rothzen.

The duo researched various designers before deciding to honour the influential, but for many unknown designer Grete Jalk.

“We have tried to adopt her design language and key words in our design of a display cabinet. We hope that we have picked up the mould from Grete's stylish expression,” says Linnea Wernald.