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Media school for young researchers
Christmas concert in the spirit of Jazz
Questionnaire for Dynamo readers
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Do our faces reveal our personality?
Page 6-7
New ‘greenhouse’ for audio projects
Page 8-9
Growth culture is the way forward
Page 10-11
Partnership for more Arctic engineers
Carsten helping William climb the mountain
Page 12-13
Reform puts pressure on voluntary work
New opportunities to study in Korea
First MSc in fish and shellfish
Learn app development with IBM’s artificial brain
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Department basements have filled DR’s advent calendar
DTU a firm favourite with companies
Page 16-17
Who was Anker Engelund, actually?
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Super-student still aiming for the stars
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Uses concrete like the ancient Romans
Why we kept a low profile
Dimensioning All DTU’s study programmes lead to good jobs, which is why we have not been particularly hard hit by the dimensioning exercise.
By Anders Bjarklev
DTU-rektor@adm.dtu.dk
At the end of September, Sofie Carsten-Nielsen, the Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science, issued her controversial plan for what is termed the ‘dimensioning’ of higher education programmes. Study programmes that do not lead directly to jobs, but rather to a place in an unemployment queue, are to be allocated fewer places in future. Publication of the plan led to a vivid exchange of views both in the media and in less visible fora between the ministry and the educational institutions involved. DTU has barely raised its voice in connection with the issue—for three main reasons.
First, because we agree in principle with the minister’s mindset, i.e. that young people should not waste their time on studies that lead to unemployment. In recent years, the media have published numerous stories about university graduates who achieve excellent grades, but are nevertheless doomed to years and years without employment. This is naturally an untenable state of affairs, from both socio-economic and purely human perspectives.
Second, because DTU has remained largely unaffected by the dimensioning. We at DTU do everything we can to make sure we are not educating young people to join the unemployment lines. All departments have advisory boards featuring representatives of the business community who advise the separate departments with regard to education, research and innovation. DTU also has an employer panel, made up of one member from each advisory board, to counsel the University about issues including the quality of the study programmes and their relevance to society.
Third, because the initiative is working. Unemployment among new graduates in the months immediately after graduation is largely defined by the prevailing market conditions, and may inevitably be higher than that of the labour market in general during a given period. The issue does, of course, become serious if the new graduates remain unemployed for a protracted period, but this is simply not the case for our engineers.
We continuously introduce new study programmes or adapt and adjust existing ones—but only after thorough analysis of the current need. Nor have we given into the temptation to set up study programmes featuring new and exciting combinations of subjects simply to attract new students to DTU.
It would be nothing short of a betrayal were we to entice young people onto study programmes that would not give them an earthly chance of landing a job on graduation.
All that remains is to hope that the dimensioning leads to a scenario in which fewer students step out of university and into unemployment. Only time will tell if the initiative is a success.
Last meeting about the reform
Progress The third meeting about the study progress reform will be in English.
The new study progress reform affects all full-time students, and the last in a series of information meetings about its consequences will be held on Thursday, 4 December. The meeting will be held in English and is intended in particular for MSc students.
For students who commenced a BEng or BSc programme before 1 September 2014, and for students enrolled on the MSc programme (newly admitted students as well as students who are already enrolled), the rules concerning compulsory registration for courses/projects and exams do not come into effect until 1 September 2015.
For students commencing a BEng or BSc programme on 1 September 2014, the rules concerning compulsory registration for courses/projects and exams come into effect as from the start of their studies. A ‘commencement of studies’ exam is also being introduced, which students must pass within two months of commencing their studies.
About the event
Date: 4 December, 12.00–13.00
Where: DTU Library, Lyngby
Media school for young researchers
Media PhD students and young researchers can now take a short course to learn how to handle media contact.
Research has to be communicated, but this is often easier said than done. That is why a course in the art of understanding the working conditions of journalists and other media players will be held on 9 December, in the afternoon.
The ‘Mini Media School’, as the event is entitled, is a short course in how to communicate research. It is primarily intended for PhD students and young researchers who are keen to improve their media communication skills and find out more about how the media world functions.
Casper Dall, Head of Information, Christiansborg Editors, at the Danish newspaper Information, will be presenting the ABC of journalism along with an introduction to the media landscape, as well as explaining the realities of life in the ‘journalism boiler room’. In addition, Susan Knorrenborg, Opinion Editor at Information, will explain how to have readers’ letters published in the newspaper.
The course concludes with an exercise in finding the narrative in one’s own research.
About the event
Date: 9 December
Where: Building 101, Lyngby Campus, Meeting Room 1.
Admission: Registration via dtu.dk. Search for ‘Media school’.
Christmas concert in the spirit of Jazz
Singing Sinne Eeg and Mads Matthias will take centre stage at this year’s Christmas concert in Building 101 on Lyngby Campus.
The annual Christmas concert in DTU’s main building 101 in Lyngby will feature the singers Sinne Eeg and Mads Matthias. Accompanied by a band, they will be singing a selection of familiar Danish and international Christmas classics.
Sinne Eeg has already recorded five albums, and is recognized as being one of the very best female Jazz vocalists in Scandinavia. Since the release of her first album—Waiting for Dawn—in 2007, she has won several music awards, including the Danish Music Awards prize for best Jazz vocal performance in both 2007 and 2010. She also received the Danish Radio Jazz Award for 2009.
Mads Matthias, has released just one solo album so far: Free Falling, in 2012. In its review of the album, the Danish newspaper Politiken wrote ‘The search for the crooner of our age is over’. Mads Mathias spend his childhood in both Tanzania and Silkeborg, growing up in a home furnished with a piano and 34 other instruments. His principal ‘instruments’ today are his voice and the saxophone.
The other members of the band are Jacob Christoffersen (piano), Kaspar Vadsholt (bass), Janus Templeton (drums) and Gerard Presencer (trumpet).
About the event
Date: 9 December, 17.00
Where: The Administration Hall, Building 101 A, Lyngby Campus
Admission: Free, but registration is required.
Questionnaire for Dynamo readers
Survey Dynamo magazine is to be relaunched—but only after checking with its readers.
Dynamo—DTU’s external magazine—will soon be celebrating its tenth anniversary. The magazine will therefore, for the first time in its history, be conducting a survey to find out what readers think of Dynamo, and how thoroughly they read it.
The first part of the survey will involve all Dynamo’s readers, i.e. business leaders, engineers and public sector decision-makers. These readers will be receiving a questionnaire together with the December issue of the magazine.
To follow up on the quantitative survey, in-depth interviews will be conducted with 10–15 readers and the results obtained will form the basis for a relaunch of the magazine in 2015. The survey will be conducted in partnership with Søren Schultz Jørgensen from the communication agency Kontrabande.
All respondents will be entered for a prize draw whose first prize is an iPod.
2 December
Award winner to present symposium
Professor Søren Molin from DTU Biosustain won the Novo Nordisk Foundation award for Researcher of the Year in 2014. On 2 December, he will be hosting a symposium entitled Translational Microbiology in Biotech and Medicine. The symposium will be held at the Novo Nordisk Foundation headquarters in Hellerup.
3 December
Denmark to the North Pole
As the first nation in history, Denmark will be submitting a claim to the UN for the right to the entire seabed at the North Pole. In connection with this landmark, The Royal Library will be hosting a ‘North Pole Evening’ in The Black Diamond, starting at 19.00. Tickets on sale online at kb.dk.
5 December
Remember to apply for your student grant (SU)
The deadline for applying for student grants (SU) in 2014 is 5 December. If you miss this deadline, you cannot apply for SU again until January of the following year.
11 December
Socially responsible research
What can be done to promote societally engaging and socially responsible research that involves the general public as far as possible? That is the topic of a conference about socially responsible research entitled Responsible Research and Innovation. The conference, which will be held at the University of Copenhagen, is intended for researchers, companies, councils and institutions. Please register no later than 8 December at ku.dk.
15 December
70 years of PF photography
PF-Photo will be presenting an exhibition at DTU Library on Lyngby Campus to showcase a selection of pictures from the past 70 years. The exhibition will provide an historical snapshot of the period, and one of its aims is to outline the influence of the image medium on the observing eye. Come along and judge for yourself; the exhibition will run from 15 December until 9 January.
23 December
Christmas and New Year holidays
DTU will be closed as from and including 24 December 2014 up to and including 1 January 2015. Staff will be required to take 29 and 30 December as holiday or special holiday days. 23 December is a half-day holiday paid by DTU. DTU’s canteens will be closed for most of the Christmas holidays. For details, see Portalen.
Do our faces reveal our personality?
Facial analysisAppearance is extremely significant in determining how we assess a person’s personality. However, a new study based on test subjects from DTU suggests that people often form the wrong conclusions.
Is it possible to form an impression of people’s personalities simply by examining their facial features? This is the question that Karin Wolffhechel from DTU Systems Biology has been examining as a part of her PhD programme—and the short answer is ‘no’. Nevertheless, our faces do reflect a few specific personality traits.
For example, men with broad jaws will often be viewed as dominant, as they do indeed have a slight tendency to be. Similarly, it is likely that women whom other people assess as being adventurous and emotionally stable will also have aspiration as a clear feature of their personality.
Karin has found no evidence of unambiguous correlation, but that does not stop people drawing their own conclusions, of course. Because it is common knowledge that we instinctively rely on facial features when forming our initial impression of a person. And that is precisely why we often make mistakes and tend to generalize when assessing people’s personalities on the basis of their features.
“We discovered that people usually apply three general factors when evaluating a face: credibility, dominance and attractiveness. People largely agreed on the extent to which a person inspired confidence and appeared responsible and intelligent. We also noted that if a person was considered attractive, then he or she would typically be classed as more adventurous, extrovert, healthy and emotionally stable. Finally, people were in close agreement regarding how dominant a given person would be,” says Karin Wolffhechel. She continues:
“So it is clear that people are heavily influenced by the facial features of others. If, for example, you have a ‘neutral’ face that has a natural tendency to appear smiling, people will typically assume that you are a friendly person—even though this may be a false assumption.”
The study has now produced a model that can predict which initial impressions people generate. You can test the model online at face.cbs.dtu.dk.
As a part of the experiment, 244 staff and students at DTU had pictures taken of their ‘neutral’ faces. The same set-up and background were used for all the pictures. Reference points were then applied to the pictures to allow the calculation of coordinates to describe the facial features.
The test subjects were required to take a personality test designed to highlight five general personality traits— sociability, responsibility, extroversion, emotional stability, intellectual openness—and 17 subordinated features.
Finally, the test subjects were asked to evaluate pictures of 20 other participants, scoring twelve different personality traits and facial features on a scale of 1 to 9.
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See how others assess you.
Upload a photo which is a good likeness of yourself—with a neutral facial expression—to face.cbs.dtu.dk to receive an evaluation of the first-hand impression you are likely to make on other people. The page will annotate (i.e. mark) the image, and the distance between the reference points will reveal how you are likely to be evaluated with regard to 12 personality traits and facial features.
We have used a picture of Karin Wolffhechel here. Using the reference points on the face, it is possible to measure the facial features required to complete the analysis. These features include aspects such as the width of the jaw and the mouth, and the position of the eyes in the face.
News in brief
Students close to the Femern Tunnel
Since 2009 Femern Belt Development has been focusing on helping building and construction companies in Region Zealand to play an active role in the major construction projects that are to be implemented in the region in the immediate future. DTU is therefore now working to establish how students can, for example, obtain internships at companies linked to the project, participate in student partnership projects, or simply visit some of the local players. It is expected that the activities will be ready for the start of the academic year in 2015.
Model boosts knowledge about vitamin D
A new mathematical model describes changes in the concentration of vitamin D in blood and tissue in small pigs after they have had the vitamin mixed in with their food, or been illuminated with a light that imitates the rays of the sun. The model, which is contributing to increasing knowledge about vitamin D, has been developed as part of a PhD project at DTU Food.
Interior climate in schools still appalling
The air in 60 per cent of classrooms at Danish primary and secondary schools is ‘heavy’ and of poor quality. Those are the findings of a comprehensive new study of the interior climate. The study, entitled ‘Mass Experiment 2014’ was performed jointly by DTU and the Danish Science Festival. Pupils contributed to a corresponding Mass Experiment five years ago, in 2009. The measurements taken by pupils at that time revealed that the concentration of carbon dioxide was above permitted levels in 56 per cent of classrooms.
ESS generating billions for CPH
One of the findings of a survey conducted in November is that, in addition to contributing fantastic research, the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden, may generate annual revenue of DKK 2 billion for the Capital Region of Denmark. This financial boost may stem from the creation of local businesses and jobs, reinforcement of the research environment, a rise in the number of patents, and improved productivity at the companies using ESS.
‘Pocket-size’ chemical lab
Fluid transistor The subject of Kasper Understrup’s Master’s thesis has the potential to reduce DTU’s biochip expenses to a fraction of their current level.
“We’re pretty much in the same place the pioneers were back in the 1960s, when they sat hunched over their workbenches, developing the first computers. Computers as we know them today simply didn’t exist at that time, and no-one was quite sure what the possibilities were. But as soon as we find a specific way to use this, I’m sure it will skyrocket—just like the first computers did.”
That is how Kasper Grue Understrup describes the situation that he, as an MSc student on the Embedded Systems Engineering programme under DTU Compute, has found himself in while developing and describing a microfluidic lab-on-a-chip.
This is what is known as a ‘biochip’, i.e. a kind of chemical nanocomputer that can be programmed to mix very small volumes of fluids in specific ways. Once the system is fully developed—which may still take several years—it will prove invaluable in testing chemical reactions, in connection with the development of pharmaceuticals, for example.
“What I have designed is a system for ‘pocket-size’ chemical labs. The intention is that, at some point in the future, it will be possible to run a million identical chemical trials—and have the results ready the next day. I have defined the programming language, a compiler (that translates the programmed commands into actions) and a hardware platform that can be built up for specific purposes,” he explains.
“A few weeks ago, I read about two Danish inventors who headed off to Silicon Valley with an idea about creating a panty liner with the capacity to measure whether the user is deficient in specific vitamins or minerals, for instance. Fundamentally, this is what you will be able to do with a chip of this kind. Pregnancy tests are in the same ballpark, too,” adds Kasper Grue Understrup.
However, he is quick to emphasize that his invention will not be coming anywhere near ladies’ underwear for the foreseeable future, as it is primarily intended as a nanocomputer for laboratory use.
Multi-disciplinary
Working with biochips and nanocomputers is a complicated task where deep understanding of multiple disciplines—including chemistry, computer science and biology—is required to come up with a viable result. And it is precisely this broad understanding that Paul Pop, Associate Professor at DTU Compute and Kasper Grue Understrup’s supervisor, highlights as the very special feature of Kasper’s work.
“I am most certainly proud of what he’s achieved. It is usually difficult to find students who can work with this area, specifically because it demands in-depth knowledge of multiple fields,” explains Paul Pop, who adds that the result of Kasper’s work is quite a breakthrough:
“It’s important to our field, because up until now we haven’t had access to a programming tool like this,” he says, going on to explain that the tool they have been using thus far costs around USD 30,000 (or almost DKK 200,000), while Kasper Understrup’s new model will cost roughly DKK 3,000.
Kasper Understrup was presented with the 2014 Embedded Award for his Master’s thesis, an honour he has already put to good use in practice.
For Kasper Understrup himself, the award has had a measurable effect:
“I was looking for work—without much success—when I received the award. Within a week, I had been headhunted for a system developer position at the Internet provider one.com,” he relates.
As regards DTU Compute, the award helps to turn the spotlight on an area of research for which it is normally difficult to raise money, precisely because it encompasses multiple fields, as Paul Pop explains.
Kasper Grue Understrup himself says that he would love to return to DTU in the future to continue working on his programmable biochips.
LEARN MORE
Kasper Grue Understrup, kasperu@gmail.com
Paul Pop, Associate Professor, DTU Compute, paupo@dtu.dk
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Involved in the project
Kasper Grue Understrup completed his Master’s thesis at Embedded Systems Engineering under DTU Compute, working with a team of researchers including Ulrich Krühne, Søren Heintz, Jan Madsen, Martin Dufva and Henrik Bruus, and with supervision from Associate Professor Paul Pop.
New ‘greenhouse’ for audio projects
Audio solutions Audio entrepreneurs have the best possible conditions for developing start-ups in the newly opened Vækstfabrikken Lydens Hus centre. Students also welcome, too.
Students whose theses are centred around the field of sound now have a new opportunity to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Since 10 October, musicians, engineers, designers, technicians and games developers have had access to an audio lab, audio studio and bespoke ‘greenhouse’ processes at Vækstfabrikken Lydens Hus (Growth Factory, House of Sound) on Gl. Kongevej in Copenhagen.
In addition to office space, the entrepreneurs have professional sparring and a strong network at their disposal. The initiative is based on a range of partnerships with different organizations that have made themselves available to provide entrepreneurs with the best possible conditions for making their breakthrough on the market—both nationally and internationally.
Lydens Hus is backed by a variety of Danish organizations and companies active in the field of sound and music that are keen to provide the growth stratum within Danish audio with optimal conditions to grow and develop into actual businesses and enterprises. One of these organizations is The Danish Sound Innovation Network, which is located at DTU Compute and whose secretariat is in the Section for Cognitive Systems.
“Vækstfabrikken Lydens Hus is not exclusively reserved for technology geeks. It is also open to musicians and anthropologists, for example, and is thus intended to help create a longer value chain across traditional boundaries,” relates Eske Bo Rosenberg Knudsen, Senior Officer at DTU Compute.
“The audio solutions and products of the future demand interdisciplinary competencies. Multidisciplinary partnerships have a crucial role to play in creating new solutions that are viable on the global market.”
Engineering art and IT
One day a week, Eske Bo Rosenberg Knudsen advises entrepreneurs at Lydens Hus, where he is involved in firming up links with other parts of the audio ecosystem in Denmark. In this context, he draws on extensive expertise in the field of audio at DTU Compute and DTU Electrical Engineering, which is occupied with areas including data engineering—a field that combines knowledge about engineering art, computer systems, computer software and analyses of huge data volumes.
Through its participation in Vækstfabrikken Lydens Hus, DTU hopes to assure future involvement in additional student and innovation projects with the potential to benefit society. Jan Larsen is an associate professor at DTU Compute and Director of the Danish Sound Innovation Network. He has already identified significant perspectives in this area:
“Sound can be used to stimulate the brain and treat dementia and other mental disorders; this is sure to be highly relevant in the future when the need for health services increases in step with the progressive ageing of the population in general. We cannot afford traditional solutions any more, so we need to identify more creative methods. Sound is one of them.”
Learn more
Eske Bo Rosenberg Knudsen, Senior Officer, DTU Compute, eskn@dtu.dk
vaekstfabrikkerne.dk/kbh
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The team behind Lydens Hus
Vækstfabrikken Lydens Hus is powered by a circle of partners comprising the Danish Sound Innovation Network, Vaeksthus Zealand, Vaeksthus Copenhagen, the City of Copenhagen and Gramex, as well as a number of Danish companies and organizations active in the field of sound and music, including the Danish Museum of Rock Music, Dali, Copenhagen Business School, Aalborg University and Hi-Fi Klubben.
Current PhDs
A selection of the most recent PhD theses at DTU
Waste ash of great value
Refuse incineration is a key technology for utilizing energy from waste. In addition to energy, the process also produces ash—primarily in the form of slag. After processing, slag features good technical properties that make it suitable for use in building and construction projects. Before reuse, all the metal elements are removed and shipped for remelting and recycling. All in all, slag is a valuable resource. In her PhD project, Elisa Allegrini from DTU Environment has documented that the reuse of metals (particularly aluminium) can contribute significant environmental benefit. She also presents a cohesive method basis for including the environmental impact of washing ash for use in building and construction assignments.
Combating ice on bridge cables
Ice on cables is a major problem on suspension bridges in cold climates, generating three unwanted effects: First, the layer of ice may lead to large fluctuations, which may reduce the service life of the cables. Second, ice breaking off and falling from the cables is a safety risk. And third, this falling ice may have socio-economic consequences. In her PhD project, Joan Hee Roldsgaard from DTU Civil Engineering has developed a model that can be used to evaluate the likelihood of ice forming on bridge cables. It can also be applied in assessing the service life of the cables and in decision-making processes concerning the risk management of bridges exposed to the build-up of ice.
Illustration: bridge cables coated in ice
Danes travelling farther afield
Transport accounts for a high proportion of Denmark’s overall carbon accounts, and this share has risen significantly in recent decades. Long journeys constitute only a small part of everyday traffic, but make a large contribution to transport as a whole. In her PhD project, Mette Aagaard Knudsen from DTU Transport describes the development in Danes’ travel behaviour. Her findings illustrate, for example, that the share of international journeys has risen appreciably, while the number of national holiday journeys has remained relatively constant. Air travel, long weekends and holidays outside Europe are three areas in which particularly high increases have been noted. Her study also highlights a range of problems associated with collecting reliable data, and the close relationship between income and travel behaviour.
3D audio for hearing aids
In order to pinpoint the source of a noise, the brain localizes it vertically, horizontally and by distance so as to perceive it in 3D. Through hearing aids, however, sounds are often heard as if they are ‘inside the listener’s head’. In her PhD project, Jasmina Catic from DTU Electrical Engineering focuses on determining the features of a signal that are crucial to the perception of spatial sound. A simulated 3D source of noise played through headphones made it possible to manipulate various features of the noise, and to determine what actually plays a role in the perception of 3D sounds. The project may prove significant in the development of software for hearing aids designed to improve the user’s perception of spatial sound.
Don’t be afraid of failure
Commercialization The young entrepreneurs Christian Rasmussen and Cathrine W. Andersen learned from their mistakes when working to solve an online communication problem. Today, the American IT giant Cisco has bought their company, Assemblage. Here is the story of their journey to success.
2011, Lyngby
Christian Rasmussen: “I was working on my MSc thesis in software technology at DTU and tinkering with an interesting prototype at the same time. It had something to do with putting images up on the Net and sharing them with other people simultaneously. The idea came to me one day, when I was chatting with some friends, but couldn’t share pictures with them at the same time. Back then, it wasn’t possible to share pictures in groups like you can today.”
“This marked the start of my work on a prototype that lets people collaborate in real time, no matter where in the world they may be. I’m not interested in wasting my time. I want to make the very most of my life. And I’m sure there are plenty of others who feel the same way.”
Cathrine W. Andersen: “Christian told me about the idea in a café. It still a long way from the final version of the product at that time, but we thought we could come up with something smart based the latest browser technology—and I knew that I could contribute input based on the work from my BSc programme at Copenhagen Business School. Back then, the prototype functioned as an online whiteboard. When I released the image, it appeared on Christian’s screen.”
2012, Hong Kong
Christian Rasmussen: “Our aim was to design the product specifically for private consumers. When we heard about something called ‘Imageboard’, which was a big hit in Asia, we went to Hong Kong to draw inspiration from the concept that’s centred on putting pictures up on the Net and discussing them in a thread.”
“To call attention to our own prototype, we stood outside the universities, handing out key-rings marked with a link to our company, which was called ‘CanvasDropr’ back then. In the space of three weeks, we had users in 40 countries. These users tested the program, shared it virally and gave us feedback. This allowed us to correct anything that wasn’t working without delay.”
“It was an unconventional way for a start-up to get going, and so it attracted attention from the media in both Denmark and Asia. All this interest was the reason why we chose to devote ourselves 100 per cent to the project.”
“We’ve never had an actual business plan, even though we have always been taught that you really need one. But I don’t think that a conventional business plan fits in with an IT company. That may sound a bit naïve, but I don’t think it would have helped at all in our case.”
Cathrine W. Andersen: “On the other hand, it’s essential to have a vision and a spark. For us, it was a real plus to be able to carry on developing the product. The more errors we made, the better we could make it. Quite simply, we learned from our mistakes.”
2012, Copenhagen
Christian Rasmussen: “We we were sitting in our office in Copenhagen one day when we heard there was an investor looking to inject capital into our project. This meant that we could start working full time on our company. We spent the better part of a year developing the product, involving more users and generating more feedback. We also realized that it made more sense to target our product towards companies rather than private users. We shifted course in 2013, when we rebranded our company.”
“We decided to divide our product into three segments: meeting solution, presentation for teaching situations, and screen-sharing. The reason for this was that we noticed users were only utilizing individual features and not the entire palette we were offering. So instead of spamming users with all kinds of information, we were now targeting different groups, each with its own specific needs.”
“It was an unconventional decision and scared off all the venture capitalists in Europe. They thought it was essential to focus your product. But that didn’t work for us. At the same time we finished rebranding our company, which was now called Assemblage.”
2013, USA
Cathrine W. Andersen: “We went to the United States to build up partnerships. We met investors, who were quick to spot the brilliant feature of our product: the ability to share screens via your browser. They gave us good advice about how to fine-tune the product. We also met one investor who introduced us to some of the real heavyweights in the IT industry.”
“The investment environment in Silicon Valley is completely different to the one back home. People are skilled at networking, and investors are constantly hunting for ‘hidden gems’. As soon as one investor has ‘rubber stamped’ a company, everyone else wants to jump on the bandwagon. Our networking trip raised capital that allowed us to grow, and we also started receiving enquiries from companies looking to buy us out.”
2014, Denmark
Christian Rasmussen: “From January to June, things really took off. Our staff expanded from two to eight employees, and our growth rate was healthy. The time had come to decide which way we wanted to go.”
Cathrine W. Andersen: “We either had to come up with a large sum of money to continue developing our company, or accept one of the offers we had received and carry on operating under the wings of a larger organization. We chose the latter, and sold our company to the American IT giant Cisco in June.”
Christian Rasmussen: “It felt great to sell the company. That was what we had been working for, that was the goal. Although perhaps it wasn’t the goal after all. Success isn’t measured in the money we made from the sale, nor from the ‘honour and glory’ of selling our company. I think the best days are the ones where I can make a difference and do something that benefits people. That’s what I call success.”
Learn more
Christian Rasmussen, MSc Eng in software technology from DTU, chrasmus@cisco.com
www.cisco.com
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Innovative online program
The product that Christian Rasmussen and Cathrine W. Andersen have developed is called ‘real-time online collaboration’. It has to do with working with one or more partners ‘live’, pulling pictures, video clips or other files onto the screen, moving them around, correcting or presenting them so that everyone can see precisely what you are doing in real time. The content is presented instantly rather than having to be downloaded. It saves companies both time and money.
Possible quotes for highlighting.
“I’m not interested in wasting my time. I want to make the very most of my life. And I’m sure there are plenty of others who feel the same way.”
Christian Rasmussen
“The more errors we made, the better we could make it. Quite simply, we learned from our mistakes.”
Cathrine W. Andersen
Growth culture is the way forward
Discussion How can we improve in the field of innovation partnership? That was the topic at the latest meeting of Innovation Forum DTU.
The well-known Danish journalist Trine Sick mediated the debate when a range of innovation leaders came together for a themed meeting on innovation partnership at Innovation Forum DTU in November. The invited guests included decision-makers from both companies and knowledge institutions.
The background for the themed meeting was that the development of research and knowledge is playing an increasingly important role with regard to growth and innovation in society. This applies to Grundfos as well. The panellists included Lars Enevoldsen, Group Vice President for Global Research & Technology at Grundfos. He related that there are three specific benefits to be gained from working closely with knowledge institutions:
“We work with researchers for a number of different reasons. It is a way to help us gear our own research, it provides us with more knowledge about new technologies, and it allows us to recruit many graduates from the University.”
But how is it possible to assure growth opportunities in Denmark? Camilla Rygaard-Hjalsted, former Executive Director of Innovation Center Denmark in Silicon Valley, had the following advice:
“While I’ve seen many excellent partnerships between industry and the university environment in Denmark, the wheels tend to come off when it is time to take things to the next level: how can we create jobs, and how can we establish companies that grow quickly and strongly? Growth culture—risk culture—is a belief in ‘going big’ and learning from your mistakes. That’s the recipe for success.”
Learn more
For additional information, visit www.innovationsforum.dtu.dk
Watch the video at kortlink.dk/fa7m
New technology wins prize
Nordic Power Converters, one of DTU’s start-ups, won second prize at the 2014 Climate-KIC Venture competition. The award was accompanied by cash prize of EUR 20,000. Using completely new supply technology, the researchers succeeded in creating small power supply modules that can be integrated into a cable or the fitting of an LED light bulb. Climate-KIC is the largest public-private innovation partnership in Europe, working concertedly to finding solutions to climate challenges.
From dirty water to milk drink
A plastic bottle fitted with a carbon filter and a mechanical filter can clean dirty water sufficiently for it to be used as drinking water and mixed with milk powder. This innovative solution has hugely beneficial perspectives in areas without access to refrigerators or clean water. The solution was developed by a team of food science students and businesspeople, and took top honours at the innovation competition held at the FoodTech 2014 trade fair. A student from DTU Food contributed to the winning project.
Austria looks to DTU for inspiration
In the middle of October, DTU welcomed a 48-strong delegation from the Austrian state of Steiermark, led by Christian Buchman—the state’s Minister of Science—who was looking to draw inspiration from DTU’s work with innovation. DTU is placed among the leading universities on The Times Higher Education World University Ranking in the context of ‘Industry Income: Innovation’—i.e. the capacity of the universities to work with the business community in the area of innovation.
Scholarships awarded to DTU ideas
Three of the five scholarships under Alexander Foss’ Industrifond (the Alexander Foss Industrial Foundation) have been awarded to researchers linked to DTU. The foundation has been set up to support entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. The three recipients’ projects are: Swept Laser Modul, a laser technology for taking 3D-cross-sectional images of human tissue in real time; Specshell Inline Brew Analyser, a method for continuous analysis of the break-down of starch in sugar chains during the mashing process in brewing; and a solution designed to increase speeds in fibre-optic networks to up to 5 gbit/s—developed by Jesper Bevensee Jensen, a researcher at DTU Fotonik.
Number of patents 116
Smartest lake in the world
In a partnership valued at billions of dollars, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, IBM and The FUND for Lake George are working to map and understand the factors that affect Lake George in the State of New York. The lake features one of the most unspoiled and extraordinary ecosystems in the world, and the project—launched in 2013—involves using advanced data collection and analysis, visualization technology, 3D modelling and simulation, as well as historical data. The lake plays an important role in the state’s tourist industry and serves as an invaluable drinking water reservoir.
Mini-labs for high schools in developing countries
Working closely with UNESCO, Nanyang Technological University is currently developing mini-lab for high-school students in developing countries, where standard laboratory facilities are in short supply. It is expected that the first prototype will be ready in March 2015. 3D printers are being used in the work to develop the laboratory sets, and final year students at NTU will finish the work to adapt the lab equipment to the different subjects.
New wind tunnel for Eindhoven
The Dutch institute Technicshe Universiteit Eindhoven is to build a new wind tunnel which is scheduled for completion in October 2015. It will be what is known as an ‘atmospheric boundary layer tunnel’, and will be used for researching air flows around buildings, ships and sportsmen and women. In contrast to most other wind tunnels, TUE’s version will allow the simulation of air flows immediately above ground level. The new wind tunnel will thus allow precise simulation of wind resistance, load and other influences around the subject.
Swedish circuit sets new world record
Fewer wires, smaller antennae and faster video transfer. Those may well be the result of a new type of microcircuit recently developed by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology. The team, whose results were presented as ‘breaking news’ at a leading conference in the United States, designed the circuit to work with signals at a frequency of 140 gigahertz, where plenty of bandwidth is available. In laboratory tests, the team succeeded in transferring data at 40 GB/sec, which is twice as fast as the previous record at this frequency.
Improved wine thanks to new German knowledge
Most wines are made using around 20 different types of grape, each with its own distinctive aroma , attributable to what are known as ‘terpenes’—a range of chemical substances including cholesterol, for example. Researchers at the German institute Technische Universität München have now identified two enzymes that determine the content of terpenes in the different grapes and thus the intensity of the grapes’ aroma. This new knowledge may lead to the development of new strains of grape, and improvements to existing types.
Partnership for more Arctic engineers
Nordic Three Nordic Universities—DTU, NTNU and Aalto—are currently working together to develop a shared study programme in Arctic technology.
Three of the five universities in the Nordic Five Tech alliance—NTNU in Norway, Aalto University in Finland, and DTU—are now working to set up a shared MSc programme designed to accommodate the increasing demand for engineers skilled in the field of Arctic technology. The study programme will bear the title of ‘Master in Cold Climate Engineering’, and it is expected that the first students will be able to start their courses in September 2016.
The Arctic region is the setting for more and more activity. New sailing routes are opening up, and numerous countries are queuing up to search under ground for oil and minerals. Of course, such exploration will require new infrastructure, new buildings and careful monitoring of how the activities affect the environment. As Niels Andersen, Head of Polar DTU, explains, it also increases the demand for engineers with in-depth knowledge of Arctic conditions, along with the skill to assure sustainability in the numerous new projects.
“It is clear that many companies active in the fields of raw material extraction, logistics and transport are ready and waiting to exploit the opportunities in the Arctic region—and they are almost crying out for skilled personnel,” he says.
The Arctic study programme will be designed to train experts in subjects as disparate as the construction of motorways and buildings on permafrost, how construction in extreme climate conditions can be made more sustainable and durable, special conditions concerning drilling platforms in the far north, and how the new activities will affect the topography of the region.
The Nordic Master in Cold Climate Engineering programme will feature three overarching tracks: Land, Sea and Space. DTU will primarily be contributing to Land and Space, and the course material will be built up with input from Polar DTU, DTU Space and DTU Civil Engineering. The Centre for Arctic Technology (ARTEK) will also play a role in the work, in that one of the semesters of the two-year study programme will be sited in Sisimiut, Greenland. UNIS on Svalbard, the northernmost university in the world, will likewise be involved.
Learn more
Niels Andersen, Head of Centre, DTU Space, na@space.dtu.dk
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Master’s in Cold Climate Engineering
The Cold Climate Engineering programme is to be taught at DTU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Aalto University. Students will actually study at two different universities, and will receive diplomas from both.
It will probably also be possible to complete one semester on Greenland or Svalbard.
The study programme will be admitting students as from January 2016, with the first academic year starting in September of the same year.
The Nordic Council of Ministers has allocated DKK 1 million in subsidy to the new study programme.
Carsten helping William climb the mountain
Support Students at DTU with a mental disorder have the opportunity to work with a mentor in the form of a fellow student or an academic supervisor. That is how William and Carsten originally met.
When William Bang Lomholdt started kindergarten at the age of three, the educators soon noticed that there was something different about him. They said that he was not like the other children, and that he preferred to play on his own. Nine years later, he was diagnosed as suffering from infantile autism, with traces of Asperger’s syndrome. His parents were told that he would never be able to function normally in society. Today, at the age of 23, he has just started the third semester of his degree in Physics and Nanotechnology; and he is doing very well. This is due in no small part to Carsten Knudsen, Senior Executive Officer for the study programme at DTU Physics.
Carsten is William’s academic supervisor, a kind of ‘support person’ who, through weekly meetings, helps him to keep everything together when the pressure starts to rise.
“I sometimes have a tendency to focus fiercely on details, pushing everything else into the background,” explains William. At other times he finds it difficult to concentrate on anything. Occasionally, he has reached the point where things have almost become too much for him.
“My degree is something I really want to do, and do well—and my condition simply serves to amplify my innate perfectionism,” he adds. This is where Carsten comes into the picture, helping William to maintain an overview of the reading he has to do, the lectures he has to attend and the assignments he has to hand in—to ‘tidy up’ in other words.
It gives me a real boost.
Carsten is 49 years old and a former programme director at DTU Physics. So it makes sense to have him help the students. This is actually the main reason why he chose teaching as a profession in the first place. He takes a passionate approach to his role as William’s support.
“Whenever something challenging has happened in William’s life, we can see within a week that it helped to talk about it. It gives me a real boost. I’m more used to fleeting conversations with students, where we don’t follow up on the situation if they have found themselves in difficulties. But in William’s case, I’m with him all the way. This means that I get to experience the low points with him—and the high points as well,” he relates.
“So I feel I’ve made a difference.”
Special Educational Support (SPS)
A total of 51 students have applied for—or have already been allocated—a mentor from DTU, in the form of an academic supervisor or a fellow student. The scheme is run via the Special Educational Support (SPS) programme, which provides different types of assistance for students with different kinds of impairment.
William, who has to deal with his psychological issues on an everyday basis, is in no doubt that the programme pays dividends.
“Having someone like Carsten around allows me to think in terms of ‘this education mountain I have to climb’. I’m doing it for my own sake, but having an academic supervisor around helps me maintain my motivation. If you have a diagnosis like mine and have to tackle a study programme on your own it’s tempting to give up, but having someone to talk to keeps my spirits up.”
Carsten interrupts to emphasize that the mentor programme is not a universal panacea, and that success is dependent upon the student’s willingness to work with himself or herself. This is something William committed to from the moment he was told that he would never achieve anything of note. Because he always knew that he could—if he just had a little help. Today, neither of them is in any doubt that William will complete the course. As Carsten puts it, William doesn’t have any choice in the matter.
They plan to carry on together until William is in a position to stand on his own two feet—and perhaps even longer. As the two of them have become firm friends.
Learn more
Christina Busk Marmer, SPS-employee, aus-sps@adm.dtu.dk
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Support for studies
A total of 267 DTU students already receive or have applied for Special Educational Support (SPS), because they have a physical or psychological impairment. Of these, around 188 students are receiving assistance for dyslexia.
Types of functional impairment.
Open house event a great success
This autumn semester’s Open House event was a great success, attracting around 1,800 potential new students to DTU. Among the visitors were approximately 500 who live outside the Greater Copenhagen Area—including more than a few from remote parts of Denmark. The next Open House event will be held in the spring semester.
Photo byline (åbent hus.jpg): Caroline Jakobsen
New exchange agreement concluded
DTU has recently entered into a student exchange agreement with the University of British Columbia—one of the most prestigious universities in Canada. Under the new agreement, DTU and the Canadian university will be entitled to exchange as many as 50 students in 2016. The University of British Columbia is ranked among the top 40 in the world.
Photo byline (udveksling.jpg): Anne Mette Holt
Head of department bids farewell
Helle Rootzén, Head of Department, has chosen not to extend her contract as director, preferring to return to teaching and research instead. She will be stepping down on 1 February 2015, after which she will continue working at the department as a professor in the Section for Statistics.
Children’s University generating a lot of interest
On Saturday, 22 November DTU opened the doors to its Children’s University for the second time, and attracted a full house. The 530 tickets for the event sold out in less than an hour, and more than 190 children put their names on the waiting list. So it seems there is no shortage of enthusiasm for technology and the natural sciences among 9–12-year-olds.
Extended opening hours
The Student Information Offices are now open for an extra hour This means that you can contact Student Counselling, the Study Office and the SU (Student Grant) Guidance Office in person from 10.00 until 15.00, Monday to Friday.
PhD students honoured
Following three years of hard work, 147 new PhD graduates were duly honoured at this year’s grand PhD ceremony at DTU. The event is held annually for the year’s successful PhD students, their partners, main supervisors, co-supervisors, heads of department, members of DTU’s PhD Committees and the University Board of Governors. A number of awards are also presented at the event.
@MyDTU
Don’t forget that you can keep track of what students, staff and researchers are up to at DTU via the Twitter profile @MyDTU, which is passed on from one DTU personality to the next from week to week.
Reform puts pressure on voluntary work
Commitment The requirement for 30 new ECTS credits every semester may adversely affect involvement in voluntary work.
By Christian Engstrøm, student, board member, Polyteknisk Forening (PF student association).
At DTU in general, and among the student organizations in particular, we have been working for years to build up a culture of volunteering in the student body. No matter whether the topic is student politics, study start, or something else entirely, there is a shared joy associated with being involved in helping to make DTU the best place to be a student.
Being a volunteer in PF or one of the many other student organizations at DTU is a very similar and a very different experience at the same time. The volunteers make up such a valuable resource that DTU would not be the same in any respect without them. For example, volunteers have helped bring the best possible student environment to our auditoriums, our group meeting rooms and even our library.
Moreover, volunteer students sit on the departmental study committees (InstitutStudieNævnene—ISN), where they have the opportunity directly to influence the quality of the study programmes at their own departments when reviewing and discussing the anonymous course evaluations.
Performing voluntary work at DTU not only helps reinforce team spirit, but also boosts skills that cannot be obtained simply through attending lectures. These are skills and qualities that are sure to prove extremely useful in the context of future employment.
Taking on a volunteer role in a student organization demands a fair amount of resources. I am a member of the board of the Polyteknisk Forening (PF student association), holding the position of Education Policy Coordinator and serving as a member of the day-to-day management in our work on education policy. In 2014, a great deal of my time was devoted to working with the implementation of the study progress reform at DTU.
There is reason to fear that a reform which obliges students to obtain 30 new ECTS credits every semester, and forces us to take the first available resit for any exam we may fail, will have an adverse effect on the volunteer work that we students are otherwise keen to perform.
Students will lose the opportunity make the conscious choice to apply less input in one area in order to become more skilled in another. At the same time, disproportionate time pressure will be applied to students who fail a course.
Volunteer work is still some of the most entertaining, exciting and educational work I have done during my time at DTU. It is something I intend to continue prioritizing, and I have no hesitation in recommending all other DTU students to do the same.
So while it may become a little harder for individuals to find the time for volunteer work, this is the perfect excuse for more people to get involved and help us pull together. In this way, we students can ensure that DTU remains the best university in Denmark.
New opportunities to study in Korea
Exchange New agreements with Samsung and KAIST open up additional opportunities for students.
DTU has entered into two new agreements with KAIST—its partner university in Korea—and Samsung, which will open up new opportunities for researchers and students to take courses and work on projects with our Asian partners.
With KAIST, DTU has set up a special Data Interaction Cyber Programme, which gives DTU students in the field of Digital Media Engineering the chance to participate in online courses run by KAIST, combined with a one-term exchange visit at KAIST in Seoul.
The online courses take the form of direct video streams from the lecture rooms at KAIST, allowing students at DTU to play an active role in the lessons.
KAIST is a popular destination among DTU students, and DTU and KAIST have recently agreed to double the number of exchange places available.
The agreement with Samsung Construction & Trade—the original parent company of the Group best known for its electronic appliances—provides two DTU students every year with the chance to write their theses as a part of a company project in collaboration with Samsung C&T.
This will take the form of a three-month stay in Seoul, where the students will participate actively in one of Samsung C&T’s Research & Development projects, more specifically based in a department named Construction Project Technology.
This year, students have the chance to join projects centred around bridges, tunnels, construction, greentech and environmental systems. New research and development projects that students can participate in will be added every year.
Learn more
Pernille Bengtsen, International Partnerships Manager, Office for Study Programmes and Student Affairs, peben@adm.dtu.dk (for information about Samsung C&T)
Michael Kai Petersen, Assistant Professor, DTU Compute, mkai@imm.dtu.dk (for information about the Data Interaction Cyber Programme)
The agreement with Samsung Construction & Trade provides two DTU students every year with the chance to write their theses as a part of a company project in collaboration with Samsung C&T.
This will take the form of a three-month stay in Seoul, where the students will participate actively in one of Samsung C&T’s Research & Development projects, more specifically based in a department named Construction Project Technology.
First MSc in fish and shellfish
Freshly hatched Christos Dimitriou is the first person to have graduated from the Nordic MSc study programme: Aquatic Food Production. The programme has given him unique knowledge about shellfish.
After two years of study, Christos Dimitriou has become the first graduate from the Nordic MSc study programme: Aquatic Food Production. On Thursday, 30 November, he was presented with his diploma in the Sports Hall at DTU by Martin P. Bendsøe, Senior Vice President and Dean.
“One of the most fascinating things about the programme was the opportunity to study the Nordic countries that lead the world in the field of shellfish and innovation. The experience I gained at the university is unique. And, of course, I have had the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and cultures,” relates 27-year-oldChristos Dimitriou.
Christos arrived in Denmark in 2012 to start work on his MSc in Aquatic Food Production having completed his BSc in aquaculture and fishery management in Greece.
The MSc programme focuses on production and the preparation of aquatic foods, as well as on the entire value chain from aquaculture to the point where the fish are caught, prepared and served on consumer dinner tables.
The intention is to equip graduates to work with production management, quality assurance, development and control in the food industry, in the distribution sector and for public authorities.
Learn more
Caroline P. Baron, Associate Professor, carba@food.dtu.dk
kortlink.dk/dtu/f928
Learn app development with IBM’s artificial brain
Cognitive In 2015 DTU students will have access to Watson, the ultra-advanced IBM program that has beaten two American Jeopardy champions.
IBM’s advanced, self-learning computer program Watson is to be made available to MSc students at DTU as from the spring of 2015. As one of just 15 universities outside the United States—and the only one in the Nordic Region—DTU has been selected by IBM to teach a Watson study programme. The course will be offered by DTU Compute in partnership with IBM.
Watson’s artificial intelligence understands questions and compiles huge data volumes in a flexible manner inspired by the processes of the human brain—only much, much faster. Watson became world-famous in 2011, when it beat two American champions in the quiz show Jeopardy. Since then, IBM has employed Watson for many serious purposes, from diagnosing cancer and selecting the right treatment, over customer care, to e-commerce and analyses.
The concept of cognitive computing covers self-learning IT systems capable of interacting naturally with people. This is a well-established teaching and research area at DTU. Cognitive computing can, for example, be used to assist with the processing of big data.
The volume of data is expanding rapidly in all areas of society at present, and the interest shown by companies and authorities in cognitive computing is increasing at a corresponding pace. The American Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York estimates that a cancer specialist needs to spend 160 hours every week keeping up with the latest research findings, literature and knowledge about cancer and cancer treatment.
This is, of course, physically impossible, but it speaks volumes about the amount of information with which a cancer specialist needs to be familiar in order to stay up to date at all times. In a news item screened by the American news channel Bloomberg, a Watson app takes just 17 seconds to make a diagnosis and identify the best—and latest—treatment of a young female cancer patient.
Exciting opportunities
The Watson course at DTU will run for 13 weeks, and students will learn all about Watson and the underlying technology, including IT linguistics. Theory will be transformed into practical app development using Watson’s intelligence via the ‘Watson Developer Cloud’.
Professor Lars Kai Hansen from DTU Compute is partnering with IBM on the course, and he is quick to identify exciting opportunities for the students:
“They can pick up the baton from the research we are currently doing at the department in the field of metadata in music, and perhaps develop a ‘Watson DJ’ app. Or they can mine databases about conditions such as schizophrenia and develop apps designed to help relatives understand what the illness entails. No matter what, the course will give students a foothold in a technology that is currently developing at lightning speed—and one that society is sure to utilize for more and more purposes,” he says.
Learn more
Professor Lars Kai Hansen, DTU Compute: tel. +45 45 25 38 89, email: lkai@dtu.dk
www.ibmwatson.com
Department basements have filled DR’s advent calendar
Recycling When the Danish TV channel DR screens its family advent calendar (Julekalender) series this Christmas, it will be largely thanks to the help of several DTU departments that have donated all kinds of props for the sets.
What do you do when, on a hot day in August, you find yourself standing in an empty film studio in Amager, facing the challenge of creating an inventor’s workshop for DR’s traditional ‘advent calendar’ TV series from scratch? You write to DTU, of course! In any case, that is what Liv Sandgaard, Set-prop Manager at DR Fiktion, did when she was presented with this exact assignment, 18 months before the Danish TV channel’s traditional advent calendar (Julekalender) series was to hit the screens in December 2014.
The title of this year’s series is Tidsrejsen (Journey Through Time), and the series itself is light on elves and baubles, but heavy on science. The reason for this is that science is the passion of 13-year-old Sophie—the main character in the series—who gets together with her inventor-grandpa to build a time machine that she can use to travel back and forth through the ages. Of course, in true Julekalender style, this has major consequences, which may or may not jeopardize the very existence of Christmas. The setting for this drama was created with a great deal of help from DTU.
Recycling treasures
Gizmos, knick-knacks, bits, bobs and even a fair helping of junk—DTU’s basements are filled with all kinds of old bits and pieces, and what some people consider rubbish is often pure gold to others. Liv Sandgaard knows this from personal experience. Back in summer 2013, she found herself in something of a quandary having been handed the assignment of building up the scenery and sets for this year’s TV advent calendar. And then she had an idea:
“One of the sets we had to create was an inventor’s workshop—which is, after all, precisely what DTU is,” she relates.
She mailed a cautious enquiry to DTU’s communications department, which posted it on Portalen. This resulted in an inbox full of responses from a total of eight departments, all offering to contribute this, that and the other to ‘grandpa’s workshop’, which—in the context of the series—has stimulated Sofie’s interest in science. It was also the first set that the team of scenographers started to build.
Take whatever you need
All kinds of flasks with a variety of labels, glass bottles fitted with pipettes, boxes upon boxes of cables, electrical units, old instruments, various types of technical equipment, a copper stove and even a molecule model are just some of the items DR gathered up at DTU and carried away in packing boxes.
Liv Sandberg relates that she encountered nothing but friendliness at DTU, where people were more than happy to donate all kinds of items—and to tell the story behind them:
“It’s a huge help when enthusiastic people are keen to share their knowledge about various gizmos, and take the time to assist you. It is often difficult to explain precisely what we can utilize as props, and most people have no idea that we can use the things they have lying around in their basements. But we really can, so having the chance to rummage around was a real help. I and everyone else in the scenography team would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone at DTU who made a contribution,” says Liv Sandberg.
The set was packed away more than a year ago, but it will shortly come to life again, when DR presents an episode of Tidsrejsen every day until 24 December.
Learn more
Read about DR’s Julekalender series and see pictures at dr.dk. Use ‘tidsrejsen’ as your search key.
DTU a firm favourite with companies
Analysis Danish Companies have an excellent impression of DTU as a partner, and are already planning to extend their partnerships.
DTU leaves the other universities trailing in its wake in the Confederation of Danish Industry’s new survey entitled Danmark tilbage på vidensporet III (Denmark back on the trail of knowledge). This is one of the findings of a survey of the 400 most research-intensive and innovation-active companies in Denmark.
The participating companies were asked to evaluate the eight Danish universities as partners, and the results demonstrate that DTU clearly distances itself from the other universities—in particular with regard to the companies’ experiences of partnerships, and their plans to expand partnerships.
DTU is the best-known partner university among the companies asked, with slightly more than 50 per cent stating that they have experience in this area. Second and third places were occupied by Aalborg University and Aarhus University, with which almost 40 per cent of the companies had partnership experience.
When it comes to future partnerships, most of the companies—regardless of their size—have their sights fixed firmly on DTU: the survey reveals that fully 65 per cent of the companies asked expect to maintain or increase the level of partnership with DTU over the coming two years. For Aalborg University, this figure is 47 per cent, while for Aarhus University it is 46 per cent. The fewest companies—around 16 per cent—expect to work with Roskilde University (RUC).
The analysis also reveals widespread satisfaction with the partnerships between the companies and DTU. In this respect, DTU shares first place with Aalborg University. More than 70 per cent of respondents rate both universities as good/very good partners.
And now for the less good news ...
The analysis also reveals that a fair number of the companies have started to look outside Denmark for university partners. The report conclusion states:
‘There are as yet no indications of any reduction in partnerships with Danish universities. However, it seems that Danish universities are missing out on an increasing number of partnerships, which are being set up with foreign universities instead.’
According to the Confederation of Danish Industry, around 25 per cent of the companies expect to do more work with an overseas university over the coming years.
‘The most commonly cited reasons for locating research activities abroad include a desire to be linked to international environments (73 per cent) and the fact that overseas universities maintain greater commercial focus (70 per cent). Partnerships as a part of EU framework programmes are cited in 68 per cent of responses as being—very much or to a large/some extent—the reason why it was decided to place investments in research and development abroad.’
Learn more
You can download the analysis report free of charge from the Confederation of Danish Industry website at www.di.dk
New agreement with Haldor Topsøe
DTU and Haldor Topsøe A/S have entered into a new agreement on ceramic electrolysis cells (SOEC). Haldor Topsøe will thus continue to manufacture and design ceramic electrolysis cells in partnership with DTU Energy Conversion. One of the stated aims of the Danish government is to have wind energy play a more prominent role in Danish energy policy. This naturally increases the need for electrolysis, which is used for storing electricity generated by wind power, and for preparing fuel for the transport industry. The agreement between Haldor Topsøe and DTU Energy Conversion will also prove significant when, in 2015, Haldor Topsøe A/S is to produce a 40 kW SOEC unit for converting biomass and wind energy into synthetic fuels.
Investigation into wind turbine accident
At the end of October, two blades broke off a Vestas wind turbine at the Roslev site near Skive in Jutland. This extraordinary damage was duly reported to the Energy Agency’s Secretariat for the Danish Wind Turbine Certification Scheme, which is administered by DTU Wind Energy. Peggy Friis, Senior Executive Officer for the secretariat, is a member of the accident investigation board, and has launched an investigation into the steel used in the bolts that snapped. The turbine’s alarm and service report will also be reviewed, and the secretariat is considering introducing a programme of random examinations of a select few turbines of the same type.
New infrastructure pays dividends
At a hearing held on 11 November in the Danish Parliament’s Transport Committee, Professor Mogens Fosgreau from DTU Transport gave a presentation about research into the economic effects of investments in traffic infrastructure. The Danish Ministry of Transport has recently commissioned a social-economic analysis which reveals that the Great Belt Bridge—which was built at a cost of approximately DKK 34 billion—is expected to generate around DKK 380 billion for Danish society over a period of 50 years. There is thus evidence to suggest that traffic infrastructure projects have the potential to generate greater societal dividends than the economic models used today would indicate.
The environmental impact of Danish fishing
Current knowledge about the environmental impact of Danish fishing has been collated in a report from DTU Aqua, which also presents a qualitative assessment of environmental consideration in the key types of fishing. The report is intended for everyone interested in the marine environment and fishery. For example, high-school students working on projects involving fishing can make use of the chapters that describe where Danish fishing is performed today, as well as the volumes and species caught. An initial version of the report was used as input for the Danish AgriFish Agency’s working group on coastal fishing.
Who was Anker Engelund, actually?
Road names Have you ever wondered about all the people who have given their names to roads on Lyngby Campus? Who were they, and what did they do? Find out more about them here.
Henrik Dams Allé
Professor and Nobel Laureate
Henrik Dam, 1895–1976, chemical engineer, Professor of biotechnical chemistry and Nobel Laureate. Henrik Dam’s main area of interest was in biochemistry, the ‘new science’ of his age. He focused his research on areas including the sterol metabolism—particularly the sterol known as cholesterol—and defended his doctorate in 1934. His thesis was the result of research into chicken nutrition, and one of his observations was that feed containing no fat caused bleeding in chickens. Henrik Dam later called the fat he was examining ‘vitamin K’. In 1943, he became the first DTU researcher—and the only one to date— to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of vitamin K.
Knuth-Winterfeldts Allé
President and reformer
Eggert Knuth-Winterfeldt, 1912–1978, MSc in chemistry from the University of Copenhagen, Professor of physical metallurgy at DTH, Dr. Techn. and president of DTH and DIA in the period 1959–75. His presidency was distinguished by a number of reforms, including the introduction of the modular study programme, which meant freedom of choice for the individual student and reinforced research through application of the fundamental attitude that teaching and research should be accorded equal emphasis. The move to Lundtofte was also completed under his leadership. Eggert Knuth-Winterfeldt played a key role in the establishment of DIA, which merged with DTU on 1 January 1995.
Søltofts Plads
The creator of the modern chemistry study programme
Per Søltoft, 1912–2003, chemical engineer, Dr. Techn., Professor of technical chemistry and Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Per Søltoft played an active role in the move to Lundtofte, and will be remembered in particular as the creator of the modern chemistry study programme. In the 1950s, he worked single-mindedly to raise the level to international standard, and was particularly inspired by the concept of ‘chemical engineering’, which allowed the study of industrial chemical processes on foundations of mathematics and physics. As from the mid-1960s, the study programme was on a par with those taught at the best American universities.
Anker Engelunds Vej
The great Nordic bridge builder and president
Anker Engelund, 1889–1961, civil engineer, Professor of structural engineering, and President of DTH in the period 1941–59. Anker Engelund began his career at DSB (the Danish National Railways), with responsibility for the project planning and construction of bridges all over Denmark. He became known as ‘the great Nordic bridge builder’, which referred to the large number of bridges for which he was responsible, the quality of the work, and his original solutions. In parallel with his practical work, he taught structural engineering and iron constructions, while in his role of president, he was responsible for appreciably expanding the area. When he stepped down, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by DTH ‘in recognition of his meaningful efforts in the field of supporting structures’. Anger Engelund is also remembered for inspiring the establishment of the Engineering Academy of Denmark and for acting as a driving force behind the acquisition of the Lundtofte site in Lyngby.
Nils Koppels Allé
The architect responsible for Lyngby Campus
Nils Koppel, 1914–2009, architect and Royal Building Inspector. Nils Koppel was considered to be one of the most significant architects in Denmark from 1950 onwards, so when the decision was taken to build DTH in Lundtofte, he was chosen as the architect. He supplemented his education by studying under the world famous architect Alvar Aalto, and then opened his own firm of architects together with his wife, Eva Koppel, who was an established architect in her own right. Their company was awarded high profile assignments including Gladsaxe Theatre, Gladsaxe High School, Langelinie Pavilion, the Panum building, the H.C. Ørsted Institute and a large number of housing projects.
Asmussens Allé
Pioneer in magneto-chemistry
R.W. Asmussen, 1903–1984, MSc in chemistry, holder of the doctorate for the theses entitled Magnetokemiske Undersøgelser over uorganiske Kompleksforbindelser (Magneto-chemical Investigation of Inorganic Complex Relations) and professor. R.W. Asmussen was the first chemist in Denmark to start applying magneto-chemical investigation methods systematically to study the structure of inorganic complexes. Han was a professor at DTH for 30 years, and as provost and President of the Lundtofte Committee, he made his mark on the construction of Lyngby Campus.
Ørsteds Plads
The father of electromagnetism and first president
H. C. Ørsted, 1777–1851, pharmacist and professor of physics. The driving force behind the creation of Den Polytekniske Læreanstalt (The College of Advanced Technology) and its first director (i.e. president). One of the greatest ever Danish natural scientists, famous for a number of scientific advances, including the discovery of electromagnetism in 1820. H.C. Ørsted was fascinated by the correlation between natural laws, morals, truth and aesthetics from the perspectives of philosophy and theology. This led to a belief in the significance of the natural sciences in educating the population, and to the creation of the Society for the Dissemination of Natural Science. He was also interested in language, and added a number of new words to the Danish language.
Richard Petersens Plads
Introduced the electronic calculator
Richard Petersen, 1894–1968, MSc, D.Phil and Professor of applied mathematics. Richard Petersen is remembered in particular for his active participation in the work to spread the use of electronic calculators, and he is credited with introducing electronic data processing in Denmark. He chaired the committee under the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV), which traced the development of the modern calculator. At DTH, a great many students came to know him as an incredibly committed lecturer. In collaboration with A.F. Andersen and Harald Bohr, he published the Lærebog i Matematisk Analyse I-IV’ (Textbook in Mathematical Analysis I-IV), which remained in use long after his retirement. He was also the driving force behind three departments in the field of applied mathematics at DTH.
Vagn AA Jeppesens Vej
Reinforced partnership with industry
Vagn Aage Jeppesen, 1919–1975, mechanical engineer and Professor of mechanical technology. Vagn Aage Jeppesen is best-known for significantly reinforcing the partnership between DTU and industry. He was the instigator behind the establishment of the independent Department of Product Development (IPU) in 1956, which is still translating DTU research into products with the capacity to strengthen the ‘development and competitiveness’ of Danish industry. Vagn Aage Jeppesen developed a way of teaching construction that comprised academic method integrated with the solution of specific construction assignments. He is remembered in particular for teaming up with Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet) to develop the dialysis machine, otherwise known as the ‘artificial kidney’.
Ole Nørgaards Have
The landscape architect behind the green areas of DTU
Ole Nørgaard, 1925–1978, architect, landscape architect and creator of DTH’s outdoor areas. He formed a company with Professor C. Th. Sørensen, the garden designer, after which his innate sense for grand landscape lines and urban planning concepts were given full freedom to develop. Ole Nørgaard was linked to a number of projects, including the expansion of the Danish motorway network in the 1960s, and the design of the sculpture garden at Louisiana Museum of Art and new Albertslund. The idea behind the DTH campus was that the whole installation should be viewed as a clearing in a forest, with a central axis in the form of a broad avenue running through the entire campus, serving as both an access route and a parking area.
The Runways
Two giant halls in Building 101
‘The Runways’ is the name given to the two giant (100 x 15 m) halls in Building 101. However, a story about actual runways is linked to the site, which was home to Lundetofte Airstrip in the period 1917–59.
The airstrip was originally established by First Lieutenant Jeff H.A. Hammelev to replace the Army Flying School at the Kløvermarken site in Amager. Following a tragic start, when First Lieutenant Hammelev was killed in an air crash on the day of the official hand-over, the airstrip experienced a turbulent existence. It was initially used for exercises, but two years after its official opening it was rented out and used for flight demonstrations following the American model, and for hiring out aircraft to drop advertisements and newspapers in rural areas. However, following a case of smuggling that involved flying silver coins to Sweden, the airstrip was declared bankrupt.
The military returned to the site and used it for training new pilots and military police, and the company Cub-Aircraft Co. Ltd. established an assembly facility there to produce American Taylor Cub sports aircraft. Engine-powered flight operations at the airstrip came to a definitive end in 1949, and during the 1950s, the site was used as a base for gliders and model aircraft. The final gliding flight took place on 13 September 1959, shortly before excavation work commenced for the construction of DTH. On Henrik Dams Allé, a memorial plaque is positioned on the wall between Buildings 204 and 205, close to the place where the original flying school building and the two hangars stood.
The aircraft in the library hall has nothing do do with the history of the airstrip; it is a KZ III from 1946, owned by Cimber Air and on loan from the Danish Museum of Science and Technology.
New professors
Peter Heegaard, Innate Immunology 1/5-14
Graham Belsham, Veterinary Virology 1/6-14
Hans-Jørgen Albrechtsen, Public Health Engineering 1/10-14
Per Goltermann, E-learning within Concrete and Structures 1/10-14
Gregers Jungersen, Adaptive Immunology and Vaccinology 1/10-14
Anniversaries
Kaj Bjarne Jakobsen, Associate Professor, DTU Electrical Engineering, 25 years on 1/1-15
Jan Tidemann Ferré Jensen, Senior Executive Officer, IT Services (AIT), 1/1-15
Leif Boldt Eiersted, Laboratory Technician, DTU Vet, 40 years on 1/1-15
Hello
A few months ago, Hitesh Kumar Sahoo completed his Master’s in nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania and started looking for a PhD project at a university somewhere else. He has now arrived in Denmark—more specifically at DTU Fotonik—where he will be developing a laser source for a micro-electromechanical system. The project is a perfect fit for Hitesh, who has already worked with systems of this kind as a part of his education, and is keen to learn about photonics in this context.
“It’s rather unusual to find an entire department devoted to photonics, and that there are so many fascinating competencies gathered together at DTU. I’m looking forward to learning a lot here,” says Hitesh, who continues: “But I’m going to be busy. There are a lot of experiments to be done in Danchip before I reach my goal. It’s a shame that they’re closed for so many days over Christmas.”
Hitesh will, however be taking a break from his studies in February, when he will be returning to India to marry an Indian woman he met in the United States. She is an architect and also hopes to find work in Denmark—the country known for producing world-famous architects.
Back in 2004, Yaohui Chen arrived in Denmark with a degree in engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, ready to start work on his Master’s programme at DTU. Having successfully completed his MSc, he stayed on as a PhD student and subsequently as a postdoc at DTU Fotonik, working on different projects focused on the interaction between light and matter. His studies in this field included investigating nano-optical structures and components based on semiconductors which are used in the area of ultra-fast communication, for example.
“It’s been a delight to be a member of DTU Fotonik’s research staff, and I’ve enjoyed an excellent working relationship with my supervisor, Professor Jesper Mørk. I now hope that I can find a job in the private sector here in Denmark, because I want to give something back to the Danish society which has provided me with an excellent education,” says Yaohui Chen.
Super-student still aiming for the stars
Ambitions Naja Nørgaard Nielsen finished high school in the media spotlight on account of her extraordinarily high grade point average. She is currently studying space technology and geophysics at DTU and still dreams of becoming an astronaut.
Imagine that a national news channel transmitted live from your school on the day you graduated, and that a host of journalists from other media were there as well. That they were waiting outside the examination hall interviewing your family and friends while you were taking your final exam. And that the moment when you officially finished high school was almost staged to ensure the cameraman caught your best side.
Well, that was what actually happened to Naja Nørgaard Nielsen when she finished her last high school exam in June 2013.
The reason for the overwhelming attention is that Naja is what is known as a ‘super-student’. This is a designation invented by the Danish media and applied to high school students who finish their exams with an exceptionally high grade point average.
During the days leading up to her final exam, Naja Nørgaard Nielsen herself was well aware that she was on the point of receiving a truly impressive exam certificate, but she never imagined that anyone outside her own family would make a big deal of it.
So she barely gave it a second thought when one of her friends asked if she could write to a couple of journalists to tell them she knew someone who would soon be graduating high school with the best possible grade in every subject.
“I honestly didn’t think anyone would have even the slightest interest in it,” says Naja Nørgaard Nielsen.
But she soon changed her mind when the journalists started calling early in the morning of her last day of exams.
Surreal experience
Fortunately, Naja’s last exam was in physics—her favourite subject—so she did not feel that the journalists’ interest added any extra pressure. It was just a little strange.
The moment her physics teacher congratulated her on her result—top marks, again—and placed her graduation cap on her head was particularly special.
“Of course, I was incredibly happy and proud, but at the same time it was all a little surreal. I couldn’t really savour the moment because there were so many people around that I didn’t know, but I nevertheless had to deal with,” she recalls.
One of the key questions the journalists asked over and over again had to do with what Naja Nørgaard Nielsen was planning to do next; what was she going to study? Her answer to this question was the same as it has been ever since year 8: she wants to be an astronaut and make Denmark proud.
Setting the bar high
It is no coincidence that Naja Nørgaard Nielsen has always been hugely interested in space. Her father is an engineer whose specialist area is space research and through him she was introduced to Andreas Mogensen, Denmark’s only astronaut (to date), whose first space mission is scheduled for 2015. It was a meeting that served to make her dream of going into space even more tangible to her. It is no longer a pipe dream to aim for the Milky Way if you are born in Denmark.
Of course, Naja Nørgaard Nielsen is well aware that she has set herself an incredibly ambitious goal; but, as she explains, that is precisely what motivates her.
“An ambitious goal keeps me on track and reminds me why I have made the decisions I have made,” she says.
A fresh start
It is only around 18 months ago that Naja Nørgaard Nielsen finished school, but it is a very different young woman—from many perspectives—who is now studying geophysics and space technology at DTU.
She has moved into a student hall in Virum and has toned down ever so slightly the rigid homework schedule which, as she herself explains, largely accounted for her success in high school.
Instead, she has started to participate actively in the social life associated with studying at university, and she enjoys being with other people who share her interests.
“Coming to university gave me the chance to make a fresh start, which was really great. For example, I have become a counsellor and a member of the academic council. And I’ve met all kinds of other students with the same interests as mine, and who don’t give you funny looks if you tell them that you’re reading a new physics text book by choice. I’m much more comfortable in myself than I used to be,” says Naja Nørgaard Nielsen.
Nevertheless, starting life at university wasn’t all fun and games for the former super-student, who had to get used to the difference between studying at school and at a higher education institution.
“It’s a very different way to learn. At university, you are left to your own devices to a much greater extent, and have to take responsibility for your own education. There’s no-one to check whether you turn up to your lectures and have read the required texts. It took a bit of getting used to,” she recalls.
In addition, she found herself being challenged academically, which was not so much the case at high school.
Fortunately, she soon found out that she was far from the only person having to come to terms with a new situation. One of the things that proved to be a real help was the DTU counsellor scheme, whereby an older student from the same study programme is linked to the new students throughout the first semester. As a result, Naja Nørgaard Nielsen had no hesitation in signing up to be a counsellor herself, even though she knew it would take up a lot of her free time. She thought it was important to pass on the experience.
Naja Nørgaard Nielsen is no longer racking up the top grades like she used to back in high school. But she doesn’t mind too much. Because she has picked up so much else.
“I’ve become part of a fantastic community, and got to know myself a bit better. This will prove invaluable, I’m sure, if I’m to achieve my dream of becoming an astronaut.”
Uses concrete like the ancient Romans
Inspiration Roman construction style inspired Professor Kristian Hertz to create ultra-light concrete structures. He has now patented the method.
One day towards the end of the 1990s, Professor Kristian Hertz from DTU Civil Engineer was walking around Hadrian’s Villa just outside Rome, when he asked himself a question: “What would I do if I were a skilled Roman engineer who suddenly found himself in the twentieth century, with all our contemporary building materials to work with?” The answer he came up with was: “Ultra-light structures”.
In the same way as the ancient Romans, Kristian Hertz combines several types of concrete in the same structure. But he does so by making a frame of strong concrete, which he then protects and stabilizes with light concrete. In this way, the strong concrete carries the load and can be placed precisely where it will provide the greatest benefit in the structure. This makes it possible to replace traditional concrete and steel structures with cheaper, lighter and more eco-friendly elements.
“When teaching the students, I make a point of telling them where the technology comes from. People find it easier understand what they are working with if they know how the construction technique arose, and when the people who learned to make concrete experienced their ‘light-bulb moment’,” explains Kristian Hertz.
In 2020, he founded the spin-out Abeo, which translates roughly from Latin as ‘out with the old’. Shortly afterwards, he successfully patented his ultra-light structures and—subsequently—the ‘string of pearls’ structures that are now used for building bridges. Today, the first ultra-light floor elements are being mass-produced and used in a variety of new building projects including Gl. Hellerup High School, the Innovest building and apartments on Krøyers Plads in the Christianshavn quarter of Copenhagen.
“The advantage of the ultra-light structures is that they grant architects much more flexibility, while providing much better soundproofing than standard floors. This means less noise disturbance between the storeys in a building. Moreover, tests have demonstrated that the new elements are able to withstand fire for four times as long as standard units,” concludes Kristian Hertz.
Yik Yak
Recommended by Michael Reibel Boesen, AppGarage DTU, DTU Compute
Do you ever find yourself wanting to share something that may only concern the people you happen to be sharing an auditorium with? Then the solution is Yik Yak, a location-based, anonymous bulletin board. It is a kind of hyper-local Twitter, where you receive a live feed from what people in your immediate vicinity are saying, and can post statements of your own. You decide whether to move Yaks up or down the list, in true Reddit style. You can also peek at what other people are saying in other forums.
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android and (soon) Windows Phone
Frank Skovsgaard and Ari Lamhauge are taking a BEng in Mechanical Engineering. For their final project, they are working closely with the mechanical engineering company Kirkholm to produce a prototype machine for measuring out portions of IKEA’s popular meatballs.
“We wanted to do something involving automation and energy technology. An engineer at a company we maintained good links with following our internship spotted that IKEA could cut a link out of its meatball process—by introducing a machine to measure out portions of the meatballs onto the plates. You can buy portions of 5, 10, 15 or 20 meatballs, so we were asked to develop a machine that can measure out set numbers meatballs precisely.
Using the system we designed, an operator can pour a whole tray of hot meatballs into the machine—and the trick is then to put them in order so that they can be counted. It’s impossible to count anything that isn’t properly organized.
A little conveyor places them in a straight line, resting on thin bars. They then pass by an optical sensor one by one, and the sensor sends input to a PLC that uses a program to start and stop motors when sufficient meatballs have passed. These meatballs are then sent through a system of tubes, buffer tanks and a dosage mechanism to ensure that the right portions are placed on the plates.
The prototype has been designed in CREO, and we are currently using a laser cutter and a 3D printer to make some of the parts.
It will also be simple to convert the machine to distribute crowberries and gravy. This would actually be easier to work with than the meatballs, because it is a liquid and therefore not quite as ‘fragile’.”
Work it out
Combine the numbers 5 8 8 9 to make a calculation that produces the result: 54. You must use all four numbers in the calculation. You may only use each number once. You are allowed to use all four mathematical operations and brackets.
Solution: (8/8 + 5) x 9
Logic exercise
The assignment features a chart divided into fields; some are black, others are empty. Some of the black fields are marked with numbers. The objective is to illuminate all the empty fields by positioning lights in some of them.
Each light illuminates the field in which it is located, as well as all the fields in line with it—both horizontally and vertically—unless a black field blocks the way.
No light may illuminate any other light. A number in a field indicates how many of the fields (max. 4) adjacent to the field in question contain a light.
Black fields that do not contain numbers may—but do not necessarily have to—be adjacent to fields containing lights.
Solution:
Guess a quote
“Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.”
Solution: Immanuel Kant