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Challenged by ‘alternative facts’
New Head of DTU Bioinformatics
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The hunt for rainforest’s secret recipes
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DTU gets licenced drone pilots
New quantum collaboration prepares DTU for future
My opinion - More research in innovation projects
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Students behind most start-ups in 2016
No more condensation on new sealed glazing units
Cross borders - News from DTU partners
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What happens when your fridge goes online?
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Study forum for new engineering students
More women for IT study programmes
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Working hard at General Engineering
New platform for smart city solutions
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Digital solutions help patients to better health
Denmark leads Nordic region in residential fires among the elderly
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New centre to boost security and defence
Lightning images seen around the world
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“You have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes”
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Challenged by ‘alternative facts’
By Anders Bjarklev
support Fact-based research is crucial for democracy.
Twenty years ago I worked with talented colleagues to develop technology for telecommunication. We told each other we were helping create a foundation for a better world, as our mission was to give the world as much bandwidth as possible. We thought that the more information that could be sent out into the world, the better the basis populations and their leaders would have for making wise decisions, for the benefit of all.
These days, during the darker hours, you could think that we may have been a little naive. We technology people have never had much to do with content, but if someone had told us then what the Internet would be used for in 2017, we would have hardly believed them.
Don't get me wrong, I see the Internet as a gift to the world. It has given us incredible economic and social progress, and has made life easier and richer for most of us.
But there is a downside, and we are seeing that extensively now, with the Internet being used to spread 'alternative facts'. Falsehoods are nothing new in themselves. But the Internet's total global reach combined with a loose approach to truth has put the social institutions charged with finding the truth and disseminating information under intense pressure.
This applies, for example, to the free press, which is struggling financially and finding it difficult to fulfil its role as the ‘Fourth Estate’. But the credibility of the universities is also being debated, and we are seeing recognized research findings being questioned almost on a daily basis.
We researchers draw on factual knowledge when we discuss and assess each other's results. This is true whether we work with engineering, science, or social science. It is always facts that decide who is right. And that is how it should be if society is to make correct and lasting decisions on the basis of our research.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel there is much recognition of the importance of the universities for democracy from policy makers. They talk about audits and quotas and so on, and we are mostly cited as a cost.
I would like to see more people stand up and say that the universities and their fact-based research are essential for the preservation of a free society, and should be supported with all available resources.1 MAR
New exhibition at DTU Library
Experience the ‘Sound—wireless communication in intelligent user-targeted design’ exhibition at DTU Library in Lyngby. The exhibition has broad coverage, from theoretical illustrations of what wireless communication can do today, to fractal antennas, the contribution of smart phone technologies to hearing aids, etc. The exhibition closes on 26 April.
7 MAR
Linden-Vørnle talks drones
Michael Linden-Vørnle, astrophysicist and head of the DTU Space Drone Centre, will talk about the development of drones and drone technology, and present his views on where drones are headed and how we should prioritize research and legislation to ensure we get the best from the exponential reality of drones. DTU Library, Lyngby, 4:30-5:45 pm.
8 MAR
Medico Bazar 2017
The annual Medico Bazar, where companies, investors, professors, and students get the opportunity to network, will be held in the Oticon Hall. Visitors will get the chance to meet over 100 companies, ranging from humble start-ups to large companies with hundreds of employees.
10 MAR
SpringJoint with DÚNÉ
DÚNÉ no longer needs much introduction. The band will open as one of this year's big names at SpringJoint on 10 March. DJ duo TooManyLeftHands will then take the stage, and finally house DJs will keep the party going. Read more on Facebook about tickets and registration.
17 MAR
Friday rock concert with Ghost Iris
Ghost Iris coming to S-Huset. The band released the most streamed metal album in 2016, and according to critics is a hot Danish counterpart to international djent bands like Monuments, Volumes, and Periphery. The Copenhagen quartet plays progressive metal with a few added metalcore elements. The concert starts at 10:00 pm and admission is free. Read more on Facebook.
22 MAR
Food talk on insects
The first FoodTalk and BugBio will focus on insects in food products. Inspirational presentations on food innovation, student start-ups, insect snacks, refreshments, and beer as well as networking in Skylab.
28 MAR
Learn about heat storage
ATV invites you to an after-work meeting on heat storage from 3:00-6:00 pm at Lyngby Campus, Building 101, room S12. There will be presentations from DTU Energy, DTU Civil Engineering, SEAS-NVE and Ramboll Energy, and time to discuss questions such as: What is the need and capacity today, and in 10-20-30 years? What is the product? Who is the customer? Register by 17 March. Read more at dtu.dk/kalenderen.
New Head of DTU Bioinformatics
Appointment Professor Haja Kadarmideen is the new Head of Department of DTU Bioinformatics.
Effective from 1 March, DTU has appointed Professor Haja Kadarmideen as the new Head of Department of DTU Bioinformatics. The new department head is an Australian and leaves a position as a professor and group leader for Animal Breeding, Quantitative Genetics, and Systems Biology at the University of Copenhagen.
Haja Kadarmideen’s core competencies are quantitative genetics, genetic epidemiology, bioinformatics and integrative system biology. He was born in India, where he studied veterinary medicine (DVM) and veterinary genetics (MVSc) before completing a PhD in statistical genetics at the University of Guelph (Canada) and Wageningen University (the Netherlands).
The new head of department moved to Denmark in 2010 and worked at the University of Copenhagen as professor and group leader for Animal Breeding, Quantitative Genetics, and Systems Biology, and served as head of the externally funded Danish-Indian BioChild Consortium, which focuses on obesity, and the Danish-Brazilian GIFT Consortium, which focuses on animal reproduction.
MSc day Find out more about DTU’s MSc study programmes at the MSc day on 16 March.
Graduating from your BSc soon, or just beginning to plan your MSc? Then it might be a good idea to visit the information day and hear more about DTU’s MSc programmes.
On the day you can meet and hear all the heads of studies talk about the various MSc programmes, meet students from the programmes, hear about studying abroad, international study programmes, and Climate-Kic, and get advice from the Student Counselling Office, PF or the career centre.
The event is for students already studying at DTU, as well as students and graduates from other universities who want to know more about DTU’s MSc. There will be sandwiches and soft drinks for those who spend their lunch break at the event.Location: Meeting Centre in Building 101, DTU Lyngby
Time: 16 March 2017, 11:00 am-1:00 pm
Admission: anyone interested
Dr.Techn. Thesis on polymers with a range of applications.
Associate Professor Anne Ladegaard Skov will soon defend her doctoral thesis on ‘dielectric elastomers’—flexible, siliconic polymers that can behave like muscles under the influence of electric charge.
These are already being used in movement sensors, but may also eventually be used for ophthalmic implants, artificial skin, soft robots, and—on a larger scale—to harvest wave energy. They can convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice-versa, without any need for gearing or standby consumption.
Over the past five years or so, Anne Ladegaard Skov has published a number of articles on optimizing the properties of dielectric elastomers, so they become more reliable, and can make the transition from costly production requiring a large amount of solvents, to more efficient and profitable production.
This could pave the way for commercial deployment of dielectric elastomers in many more applications. Find out more at l.dtu.dk/bborAbout the event
Location: Building 101, Lyngby Campus
Time: 17 March, 2-6 pm
Admission: All are welcome.
HRH Crown Prince Frederik at DTU’s biggest celebration
Commemoration Day ‘Queue party’ starts at 5 pm on 30 March.
It will soon be time for the year’s biggest event at DTU: Commemoration Day This will be held on 28 April and HRH Crown Prince Frederik will attend the official ceremony. Everybody who wants to attend the official ceremony must be seated in the sports hall by 5 pm.
Over a period of about 90 minutes, President Anders Bjarklev will speak, academic awards will be handed out, honorary doctors will be promoted, this year’s doctorates will be celebrated, and gold medals will be awarded.
The internationalization prize, the prize for scientific advice, and the working environment prize will also be presented. This year’s Commemoration Day lecture will be given by Professor Jan Madsen from DTU Compute, who will talk about digital transformation.
There will also be an artistic performance by Dreamer’s Circus—a three-man band that will play Nordic folk music. They received awards for ‘Talent of the Year’, ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Artist of the Year’ at the 2013 Danish Folk Music Awards.
Once the official ceremony is over, tables will be set for dinner. There will be tables set up wherever there is room—just like last year.
After dinner, the party will begin in earnest. Throughout the evening, The Minds of 99, Gulddreng, the New Big Band featuring Anna David and Bobo Moreno, Blå Mandag Jazz Band, and Faustix will play on stages around Building 101 and the Oticon Hall. The DTU Dancing association invites everyone to dance in the Library.
The ‘queue party’ starts at 5 pm on Thursday 30 March, and ticket sales open the following day at 9 am. The ticket price for dinner and the ball is DKK 275, while a ticket for the ball alone costs DKK 150.
Young researchers receive millions
Five DTU researchers under the age of 40 will receive a total of almost DKK 46 million from Villum Fonden and can now accelerate their research projects. Villum Fonden’s Young Investigator Programme is behind the major grants to the five young researchers from DTU Chemistry, DTU Physics, DTU Fotonik, and DTU Compute. The projects being funded, which typically run over 3-5 years, will also involve the employment of other young researchers to assist.
Robot to aid COPD patients
Innovation Fund Denmark has granted DKK 7 million for the further development of a new robot that will ensure COPD patients receive the right amount of oxygen. The robot is being developed jointly by DTU Electrical Engineering, the PACTOR IT consultancy firm, and Senior Consultant Ejvind Frausing from Hvidovre Hospital. The robot can monitor the oxygen level in the blood of COPD patients. Given that people suffering from COPD, unlike healthy people, cannot tolerate elevated blood oxygen levels as it causes them breathing difficulties, it is essential to make sure that patients have the right blood oxygen level. This is currently controlled manually by a nurse, but DTU, PACTOR, and Ejvind Frausing intend to change this.
Microbes behind antimicrobial resistance
Microbes in the intestine can ‘disarm’ antimicrobial agents, leading to antimicrobial resistance and incurable infections. A new method makes it possible to detect resistance genes quickly and thereby choose the most effective type of antimicrobial treatment. This is the result of research from DTU Biosustain, which has developed a rapid and inexpensive method called poreFUME, which can shed light on the pool of resistance genes in the intestine. The method will be capable of providing a quick overview of antimicrobial resistance genes, allowing more rapid and targeted treatment.
Danish wind turbine sets world record
A Danish wind turbine at the Østerild Test Centre recently set the world record for energy production from a commercially available offshore wind turbine. The type V164-8.0 MW wind turbine, made by Vestas, is designed to harvest energy offshore, and has reached record production of 9 MW. Peter Hjuler Jensen, Deputy Head of DTU Wind Energy, reports that the 222-metre tall wind turbine is only the beginning. Theoretical work is already being done on wind turbines over 300 metres tall that can produce more than twice as much power.
Red algae forms coral-like reefs in Greenland
In rare cases, red algae grows in coral-like formations. Helle Jørgensbye, a PhD student at DTU Aqua, and Jochen Halfar from the University of Toronto have conducted the first mapping of coralline algae in Greenland. The results have just been published in the Polar Biology magazine. The two researchers identified 21 reefs of this kind in Greenland. In reality, they are free-growing coralline algae that grows to form coral-like reefs. However, while coral is formed from marine invertebrates, coralline red algae is a plant.
Calcium New research project will generate more knowledge about the technologies that can remove calcium from drinking water in Danish Water Works.
Consumers are increasingly demanding drinking water containing less calcium. This can be achieved by softening the water from those parts of Denmark where the water is hard. A new research project involving DTU, Greater Copenhagen Utility (HOFOR), and the consultancy company Niras has resulted in a tool that utility companies can use when making a decision about water softening.
Several international analyses have demonstrated the socio-economic benefits to a centralized approach to drinking water softening. Both the economy and the environment benefit from longer life cycles for domestic appliances, a reduced need for washing detergents, and consumers using fewer chemicals and spending less time decalcifying shower cabins, electric kettles, and coffee machines.
“France, Sweden, and the Netherlands have long since removed calcium from their water supply. Denmark will now start to do the same. It is therefore highly relevant to carry out a research project that systematically examines the various technologies and draws on international experience and knowledge,” explains Camilla Tang, who is affiliated with the consultancy company Niras—and DTU Environment.
In the coming years, the young super researcher—who has already won several awards for her work—will create the basis for a scientific decision-making tool. The task is not as simple as it sounds—among other things, the choice of technology depends on groundwater quality, the size and design of the individual waterworks, and the possibility of using the calcium that is removed from the water.
Currently, there are several available technologies—e.g. a so-called pellet reactor, where the calcium is precipitated through added grains of sand, ion exchange and membrane filtration—which can be implemented in different places in the existing water treatment process.
Which of these methods is most optimal for softening water will depend on the plant, operating economy, water waste, energy consumption—and the resulting water quality.Brøndby first
Several water utility companies are currently considering whether to soften their water and HOFOR—which is responsible for water supply in eight municipalities in the Copenhagen area—has decided to remove much of the calcium from the very hard water in the Greater Copenhagen municipalities.
“The work will be phased in so we can continually adapt based on the experience gained. In the course of 2017, we will start softening the water in Brøndby. We have already asked consumers in the area, and they are very excited at the prospect of spending less time decalcifying water in the home,” says HOFOR planner, Per Sand Rosshaug.
“At the moment, we’re examining the possible applications of the calcium removed from the water. Originating in the groundwater, the calcium is a very pure product of interest to foreign buyers who use it in chicken feed, among other things. However, with sustainability in mind, we don’t want to export but rather sell the calcium locally. We have already signed an agreement with Faxe Kalk and are hoping that the research project will help to identify further possibilities.”Decision-making tool
Camilla Tang will have access to data from Brøndbyvester Waterworks. Currently, other water utilities in Denmark are also considering softening their water.
Like HOFOR, Niras contributes financially to the research project. The company also provides important data from its Dutch partner Witteveen+Bos—one of the world’s leading water softening experts.
“Looking to the future, it is important for us to have access to the best possible scientific information when advising Danish water utilities on water softening. The new research project will provide us with the necessary decision-making tool—for even though it may sound simple—the quality of groundwater as well as several other technical supply factors are key in determining how the best to remove the calcium from the water—and whether it is even a good idea to do so,” explains business executive Jens Brandt Bering from Niras.Learn more
PhD Camilla Tang, PhD student, DTU Environment and Niras Catang@env.dtu.dk
Hans-Jørgen Albrechtsen, Professor, DTU Environment, hana@env.dtu.dk
The hunt for rainforest’s secret recipes
Amazonas A new research project from DTU Bioinformatics will map the genetics of the rainforest’s potent plant compounds, making them available to research and industry.
The temperature is boiling hot. The air humidity is close to the 100 per cent and we are wearing long trousers and big chunky boots to protect us from aggressive mosquitoes and creepy-crawlies as we move through the jungle. We are on the outskirts of the world’s largest expanse of tropical rainforest—the Amazonas. Despite the presence of huge, hairy, spectacularly coloured spiders and ants the size of matchboxes, we are here to study the plants. For within the mass of interweaving green vegetation there are very likely substances that can treat incurable diseases—substances which the pharmaceutical industry can scarcely dream of.
The local guide leads us through the jungle, stopping at each growth, explaining at length precisely the plant’s unique gastronomic qualities or medical properties. We are in Brazil with a team of researchers from DTU Bioinformatics to initiate an extremely ambitious project—the genome sequencing of the rainforest’s plant life.
“The aim is to utilize all the latest technologies we have at our disposal (next-generation sequencing, proteome, metagenome and metabolomics analysis as well as fluorescence spectroscopy) to explore and preserve the rainforest’s incredible biodiversity and genetic wealth before it’s too late,” explains Professor Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén, who is leading the project.
For the rainforest is undeniably under threat. Every year, the Amazonas is shrinking by about 25,000 square kilometres (an area the size of Jutland) due to deforestation intended to make way for farming land. Unfortunately, the very discovery of the medical applications of the rainforest’s valuable plants, for example, has led to certain plant species being endangered. However, this is where this project is decisively different, says Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén:
“We only need a single leaf or a spoonful of soil for our analyses in order to map which substances the plants produce and how they do it. We will also examine the micro-organisms present, as they contribute to the overall gene pool. You might say we are trying to ‘trick’ the plants into giving up their secret recipes so that we can start producing valuable substances by means of synthetic biology—thereby helping to maintain the forest ecosystem rather than interfering with it.”Chemical warfare
Professor Birger Lindberg Møller from the University of Copenhagen is an expert in the bioactive natural substances of plants and a member of the team in Brazil. He explains how the many interesting substances produced by the plants form part of an advanced chemical warfare, enabling the plants to defend themselves against attacks from microorganisms and insects, for example.
“At the Center for Synthetic Biology, we are in the process of developing methods to produce complex substances in algae—e.g. using sunlight. The challenge is mapping the biochemical synthesis and developing the system in the algae. But once this has been done, the production process is relatively simple, and our plan with this project is to initiate a production in Brazil which will benefit the country in the form of revenue and jobs—and hopefully provide a viable alternative to deforestation for the purposes of livestock farming,” explains Birger Lindberg Møller.
The plan is to begin mapping the genes of some of the plants which we already know offer a specific medical or biotechnological potential—e.g. plants such as Jaborandi, Açaí, and Jambu (see fact boxes). That said, the project must also identify plants which are currently undiscovered.
“Together with highly skilled Brazilian researchers, we’ve already started to sequence the group of plants called Jaborandi, which are currently under threat due to their medical properties,” explains Associate Professor Bent Petersen from DTU Bioinformatics.
“We would never be able to complete a project such as this without a really great research partner in Brazil, and in fact it was our meeting with Guilherme de Oliveira from Vale Institute of Technology (ITV) in Belém that actually crystallized the whole project in our minds.”Supercomputer at DTU
It was none other than Guilherme de Oliveira who hosted the event throughout the week the team was in Brazil. Immediately after landing, the team was shown around the ITV campus. The Danish researchers visited the laboratories with plants and sequencing machines for genetic analyses—and the basement—so Peter Løngren, Head of Supercomputing at DTU Bioinformatics, could inspect the department's server capacity.
The Brazilian server is not overly impressive—nor does it need to be. Even though the project will generate huge volumes of data, all the complex calculations will be processed by the Computerome supercomputer at DTU, which will be set up to handle the pan-continental cooperation with the help of cloud technology.
The project is not just about generating large volumes of data, but also about processing and applying these data in a smart way—among other things using artificial intelligence. And this is why a group of bioinformaticians who normally sit behind a computer screen at DTU are now relocating to the jungle.
The goal is to train computers to recognize interesting plants or substances—either based on their appearance or their genetic profile— in order to create an intelligent workflow that makes the almost insurmountable task of sequencing the Amazonas a little more manageable.
Facts about the rainforest
Five per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered by rainforest
Fifty to seventy-five per cent of the world’s total biodiversity is found in the rainforest
Only approximately one per cent of the rainforest’s biodiversity has been properly mapped.
Seventy per cent of all anticancer agents identified by the US National Cancer Institute comes from the rainforest
Twenty-five per cent of all substances in the pharmaceutical industry in the West comes from the rainforest.
It is estimated that up to 50,000 species disappear every year—whereas only approximately 10,000 new species are identified. This means that a wealth of biodiversity is being lost.
Rainforest plants in the medicine cabinet
Jaborandi – Pilocarpus microphyllus
Leaves from the Jaborandi plant are used to extract the substance Pilocarpine, which, among other things, is used to treat the serious eye disease glaucoma. The high demand for this substance has meant that the plant is currently listed as an endangered plant species.
In cooperation with the Section for Plant Biochemistry at the University Copenhagen, a research project at DTU Bioinformatics will now identify the genes involved in the biosynthesis of Pilocarpine with a view to subsequently establishing a photosynthesis-driven production of the substance—e.g. in algae.
Jambu – Acmella oleracea
The rainforest also features exciting new plants, which are used in Brazilian cuisine—e.g. Jambu. The green leaves form part of a traditional Brazilian soup with prawns called Tacacá, and the plant is also used in the making of the Brazilian distilled spirit, Cachaça.
The interesting thing about Jambu is that it is more of a physical experience than an actual taste. Moments after ingestion, the plant produces a strong acidic taste in the mouth. This is accompanied by a strong tingling sensation, and finally heavy saliva production. The active ingredient in the plant is the substance spilanthol.
The local population uses the plant to treat toothache, among other things. However, several new studies indicate that the substance may have antimicrobial and anti-cancerogenic properties and that it can be used in the fight against the Zika virus and malaria mosquitoes. Acmella oleracea is therefore an ideal candidate for further study and analysis.Açaí – Euterpe oleracea
Açaí berries come from the açaí palm tree, which grows along rivers in the Amazon rainforest. The berries, which are harvested in the wild and in plantations, are an important part of the local population’s diet. However, at the turn of the millennium, the berries were brought to the USA, where they were immediately proclaimed as the new ‘superfood’—reportedly possessing cholesterol-lowering and anti-aging properties due to a high content of antioxidants.
Consequently, açaí became one of the fastest-growing food ingredients ever, and supermarkets are now full of products ranging from ice cream to facial creams advertising their açaí content. It has also been claimed that the açaí berry can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other chronic diseases. However, such claims have not been scientifically documented.
The Brazilian research institution Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Ministry of Agriculture) is conducting research into açaí. The team visited Embrapa and the possibility of a cooperation regarding the gene sequencing of açaí palm is currently being investigated.
Molecules from intestinal bacteria protect health
Billions of bacteria and microorganisms in our intestines—our intestinal microbiome—play an important role in relation to human health. Janne Marie Laursen from DTU Bioengineering has investigated how specific molecules produced by intestinal bacteria (endotoxins) affect the immune system in the intestines and help develop resistance to insulin—an important factor in type 2 diabetes.
A newly developed method was used to see which bacteria produce different variants of endotoxin. It showed that contrary to expectations, there are far more bacteria in the intestines producing a non-harmful variant of endotoxin than bacteria producing a harmful variant. The method also showed a correlation between insulin resistance and the quantity of endotoxin-producing bacteria in the intestines. Further analyses showed that a particular fatty acid can shut down production of pro-inflammatory proteins and instead produce other proteins that maintain healthy intestinal tissue.
This knowledge will eventually allow people to be treated by changing the composition of intestinal bacteria that cause lifestyle diseases.
Better industrial production of graphene
There are great expectations of graphene—an extremely stable material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. It is currently used in a number of products, but applications where it can have a major impact—such as transparent electrodes in solar cells and flat screens—are still some way off. Graphene is currently produced via a chemical process whereby it is deposited onto copper. It is then necessary to move the thin graphene layer to another surface before it can be used. This often leads to defects.
Patrick Rebsdorf Whelan from DTU Nanotech is addressing this challenge and has developed new ways to transfer the graphene. In contrast to the existing method, where the copper substrate is etched away, they leave it intact, so it can be used to grow a new layer of graphene. Using these methods, the electronic properties of graphene are also better transferred than using the standard method.
The thesis also shows that the electronic properties of the transferred graphene can be mapped using a method that can be used in industrial production, thus ensuring that the transferred graphene is free of defects.
Natural process solves widely different challenges
Clean water, clean energy and the transition to a bio-based economy are some of the major challenges facing our society. An advanced new filtering process called biomimetic direct osmosis can help to address them. The process builds on a biological cell’s need to transport water in and out of the cell, without allowing anything else to pass.
Protein channels called aquaporins allow water to pass by means of osmosis, whereby the water attempts to dilute a concentrated solution (typically salt). The process can be mimicked by inserting aquaporin proteins into a synthetic membrane. By placing a saline liquid on one side of the membrane, and the fluid you want to filter (e.g. waste water) on the other side, water will be transported from the wastewater over into the saltwater, leaving the contamination behind.
Niada Bajraktari from DTU Environment has looked at five applications for biomimetic osmosis and found that they offer promising results in relation to treating municipal wastewater, concentrating bio-products, and energy production based on strong saline solutions.
DTU gets licenced drone pilots
Certificate DTU Space now has two officially certified drone pilots who have been trained so they can legally fly drones in densely populated areas.
Since September 2016, it has been a mandatory requirement for those wanting to pilot a drone in areas with buildings and infrastructure—e.g over DTU’s campuses—to acquire a ‘licence’. At the same time, Danish law has further specified that only professional and not private individuals are permitted to fly drones in densely populated areas.
DTU Space Drone Service has recently graduated its first two licenced drone pilots who comply with all statutory requirements for operating drones weighing up to 25 kg.
“The drone certificate is not unlike a car driving licence. You have to be 18 years old and have completed a three-day course with theoretical training,” says student Philip Lind, one of the centre’s two new pilots.
“Among other things, you must be able to read a so-called VFR (Visual Flight Rules) aeronautical chart containing all relevant information about Danish airspace—and demonstrate your practical flying skills. Both parts of the course end with a theoretical and a practical exam—just like when you learn to drive.”
Via DTU Space Drone Service, all DTU researchers and students can seek assistance for the part of their research projects that include drone-based measurements. If you do not have your own payload—i.e. the equipment the drone flies with—you can borrow it from Drone Service. Flight payload may include standard RGB cameras, LiDAR, thermal, multispectral or hyperspectral imaging cameras.
A high-precision navigational solution can also be fitted to the drone along with the remaining payload. So far, environment and climate monitoring projects are among those that have benefited from the Drone Service.Can lift 1.5 kg
“You could say that Drone Service removes the flying barrier—the whole practical side involving legislation, servicing of the drones, and the ability to fly. Our drones are subject to safety checks at least once a month. We are always involved in preparing the drones for flight, testing rotors and control signals, and in general ensuring that all safety requirements are complied with,” explains Researcher Jakob Jakobsen, who is responsible for the service.
“The drone itself weighs five kg and can carry up to 1.5 kg of equipment for measuring or photography. It can, therefore, cause severe damage if it collides with people or objects on the ground. This is why safety and pilot experience are essential,” explains Jakob Jakobsen.
DTU Space Drone Service has several Hexa Multirotor drones at its disposal that possess the same properties and flying capabilities as a helicopter. The drone is fitted with a payload-box onto which measuring or photography equipment is mounted.
In addition to flying drones, DTU Space possesses extensive expertise and experience in developing payloads for scientific studies.
Learn more
Jakob Jakobsen, DTU Space, jj@space.dtu.dk
Philip Lind, DTU Space, philip@lindonline.dk
Facts about drones
Denmark has almost 400 licenced drone pilots.
A drone licence costs approximately between DKK 10,000 and 15,000 and is issued by the Danish Transport, Construction and Housing Authority.
Drones are allowed to fly to an altitude of 120 metres.
Safety distances to airports must be observed.
Special permission must be obtained for all flights above residential areas, as such flights may infringe privacy.
In July 2017, legislation governing drone operation outside the cities will be introduced.
New quantum collaboration prepares DTU for future
Funding Quantum DTU—a new collaboration initiative—aims to ensure that DTU leads the field when funds for quantum research are being distributed.
Over the next ten years, quantum technologies will become part of and revolutionize our everyday lives in relation to computers, sensors, encryption and much more. From 2018, EU’s coming flagship project—backed by EUR 1 billion—will focus on quantum technology, while several European countries also invest massively in the area. To help DTU get a share of the funding, Professor Ulrik Lund Andersen, DTU Physics, has taken the initiative to establish the Quantum DTU collaboration group which spans DTU.
“Innovation Fund Denmark has contributed DKK 80 million to quantum research, and more funds are likely to be allocated to further research over the next few years,” says Ulrik Lund Andersen. Six departments are so far involved in the collaboration, but the hope is that more will join.
Other Danish universities, such as the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University, also have leading international quantum technology researchers. The idea behind Quantum DTU is to create a strong interdisciplinary research environment which will strengthen DTU’s position in the battle for research funding.
The collaboration also aims to draw attention to the fields in which DTU has some of the world’s leading researchers. This is true within, e.g., communication using light, sensing using light and diamonds, and the development of new materials and light sources.
“We have world-class laboratory facilities in these areas to support our future research and collaboration with the business community. This collaboration will be supported by networks with relevant businesses and other research groups, both in Denmark and abroad,” says Jesper Mørk.School for PhD students
Another key aim of the Quantum DTU collaboration is to educate more quantum technology engineers, who will be in high demand in the future. This will be done by offering all DTU students quantum technology courses supported by the new Quantum Lab located in Nanoteket, and by improving the new MSc programme in Quantum Engineering.
Quantum DTU will also establish a PhD school with a joint theoretical and practical programme for all PhD students whose projects focus on quantum technology—regardless of their department.
The quantum collaboration also aims to communicate relevant and readily understandable information to the rest of society.
“We want to explain what quantum technology is, and provide practical examples of how businesses can use it. Some elements of quantum technology may almost seem mysterious, such as when we talk about entanglement—a special type of correlation between quantum particles. It is also difficult to comprehend the enormous number of calculations that a quantum computer is able to carry out over a short period of time—and which we can secure by encrypting them. This is something that we would like to explain and make understandable,” says Ulrik Lund Andersen.
Learn more
Ulrik Lund Andersen, Professor, DTU Physics, ulrik.andersen@fysik.dtu.dk
Jesper Mørk, Professor, DTU Fotonik, jesm@fotonik.dtu.dk
Learn more at www.quantum.dtu.dk
My opinion - More research in innovation projects
Balancing act Innovation takes time, and this can prove challenging for researchers whose careers are based on scientific articles and citations.
Per Skougaard Kaspersen, Postdoc, DTU Environment, pskk@dtu.dk
Innovation and closer collaboration with the business community are hot buzzwords politicians often use to describe their visions for the university world. As university employees, we, too, appreciate this cooperation.
It is both exciting and instructive to be in contact with the end users of our research, enabling us to target our future efforts so that they will be most relevant for society—just as it is a great pleasure to see how one’s work can be applied in solving a specific problem for a company or society.
DTU is one of the Danish universities with most experience in business collaboration. In recent years, increased focus in this area has resulted in innovation projects accounting for an ever larger part of the working hours of the University’s employees.
It has thus become essential for innovation projects to be closely linked to research and the production of scientific articles which are important yardsticks for measuring the quality of the work of our entire university, the academic units, and the individual researcher. Otherwise, young employees such as myself whose future university career and possible promotions are based on the number of scientific articles and the citations of these, may find themselves severely challenged.
A possible solution could be increased and more formalized focus among managers and employees on a good balance between innovation and research. This can be done by identifying strategic goals for the scope of innovation projects and regular checks of the individual employee’s and department’s distribution of innovation projects so that the volume of business partnerships does not interfere with research development.
As a university, we must also make innovation project owners aware that our contribution in creating innovative solutions for society’s problems can only be assured if there is a direct correlation between the innovation projects and the allocation of resources for research. This applies, among other things, to the EU’s Horizon 2020 innovation projects, but also to many Danish initiatives.
I wouldn’t care to envisage a world devoid of innovation projects and I firmly believe that through a process of internal and external dialogue we can ensure that innovation projects don’t restrict research. An ever greater share of DTU’s financing will be represented by external funding—and we should therefore, at the earliest opportunity, take the necessary steps to ensure a good balance between research and innovation—now and in the future.
Danish Cancer Society hands out DKK 10 million
The Danish Cancer Society wants to strengthen the talent base in Danish cancer research. A total of DKK 10 million has therefore been allocated in 2017 for up to five talented young cancer researchers to implement projects within any aspect of cancer research. Funding can be applied for by young researchers who received their PhD no more than 8 years before the application deadline. Applications can be made for up to DKK 3 million over 2-5 years. Application deadline: 20 June. For more information, see l.dtu.dk/831f
Mobile phones helping to combat depression
Over 10,000 Danes are admitted to hospital each year with depression or mania. The RADMIS project now aims to reduce this number using a mobile phone. The project is the initiative of DTU, Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen and IT company, Monsenso. The team is investigating whether the use of mobile phones can reduce the risk of re-hospitalization. Patients can remain in contact with the hospital after discharge by using an app to submit information each day on symptoms of depression and mania—such as mood, energy and sleep. Find out more at kortlink.dk/kmng.
Floating magnets kick-start electric trains
The idea of using a floating magnetic flywheel to reduce peak load on the electricity grid when train services in Denmark are fully converted to electricity is to be tested. An electric train at a standstill faces the same challenge as a car or supertanker—it requires a large amount of energy to get a stationary object in motion, while the energy requirement decreases once it is moving. The flywheel and control systems are being developed by DTU Energy, DTU Electrical Engineering, Banedanmark and the WattsUp Power company. Find out more at l.dtu.dk/alx5.
Young DTU engineer on Forbes list
Andreas Hougaard Laustsen, a postdoc at DTU, is one of the few Danes to have found his way onto US financial media organization Forbes’ prestigious ‘30 under 30’ lists in 2017. He is listed among the 30 most talented young people in the fields of science and healthcare. This acclaim is due in part to the fact that he co-founded Biosyntia ApS and VenomAb IVS, engaged in the development of biocatalysts for fermentation of fine chemicals and the development of snake antivenom, respectively.
17 patent ideas were submitted by DTU between 1 January and 20 February 2017. 24 patent ideas were submitted during the same period last year.
Students behind most start-ups in 2016
Entrepreneur The number of DTU start-ups increased yet again in 2016. There were 67 companies founded, compared to 54 the year before. Students were responsible for the largest share. DTU’s Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship believes this is due in part to entrepreneurial environments such as DTU Skylab.
A record number of start-ups have yet again emerged from DTU. A total of 67 new companies were created in 2016—44 by students and 23 by employees. This represents an increase from 2015, where 54 companies were established—31 by students and 23 by employees.
The result is pleasing to Marianne Thellersen, Senior Vice President for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
“We've seen strong growth over the last few years, and I wondered whether the number of new companies might stagnate. But the number has risen once again this year, which is very impressive. All the new start-ups are examples of how DTU can provide new technology for the benefit of society. They can help create growth and jobs.”Belief in an idea
Marianne Thellersen notes that the large number of student start-ups is due in part to the current social trend that it is ‘hip’ to be an entrepreneur. This trend is being supported at DTU through entrepreneur environments like DTU Skylab and Scion DTU science park, where students from different fields meet.
Other initiatives also target students, such as an entrepreneurs’ dinner and advice from mentors, lawyers, and accountants. The ‘student start-up of the year’ has also been honoured for the past four years at DTU’s Commemoration Day.
“I think Skylab has had a major impact on the large number of new student start-ups. Creating communities where people spend time with other entrepreneurs makes a difference. They find like-minded people here who believe in the model created at DTU, and that it is possible to create something that can help change the world.”Three student categories
The student-driven start-ups fall into three categories. The first is those inspired by the tuition, where students have worked with innovation in specific cases. Nordic Algae is an example of this, which has developed an automatic seaweed cultivation and harvesting system for Danish coastal waters.
The second category contains students driven by a leisure interest or who have come up with an idea through the University's various extracurricular entrepreneurship activities. Sentar is an example of this, which works to prevent back and neck pain.
The third category is students who have established a consultancy firm. An example of this is Aerosphere, which develops security solutions for drones.
The employees’ start-ups are more product-oriented. These number more companies working with big data, the Internet of things, analyses, methods and equipment. Many sell not only a physical ‘gizmo’, but also a service or process which collects and analyses data. Students are often involved in the employees’ start-ups, and several also have external team members.
“It’s positive to see that many entrepreneurs think holistically, and have understood that it’s important to have a broad qualification profile when you go out and establish a company. Technical competence alone is not enough. You must also have commercial competence.”Learn more
Marianne Thellersen, Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, mthel@dtu.dk
Start-ups in 2016
Employee start-ups
Nicestsolutions
Aqubiq
CyperCrypt
Senserna
Mlytico
AquaGreen
Global Lighting Standard
Spectro Inlets
Biocon International
Odity.bio
ADoN Biomarkers
BioScavenge
Golgi
GoSeqlt
Torque Therapeutics
Unibrains
CemGreen
Konduto
Immumap Services
Droneconsult
Biophero
Vaccex
OSAA Innovation
Student start-ups
Jagder
Fabelwood
SubBlue robotics
Nordic Algae
Cold Brew
Split
Kroejer&Pauk
Sentar
Aerosphere
Invenio
MyID
Cloud Polish
Feedwork
Arn Design
Loklindt Holding
WingM8 Consulting
LiseHJ-Photography
InnoBuild
Fabricius Productions
Panterra
LeVego
WareKon
Mainweb
Perlsø Holding
MHTech
CarstenSConsulting
eKristensen
Sunless Dawn
DevLabs
Paulin Delvaux
Anbopa Consulting
D Consulting
UniversalStrength
Vinggaard & Højfeldt
Foopla
Soceed
IW28
BAZA
Alex Amasa Olsen
Seneberg Consulting
Makethat.dk
Nyt
SL-SUIT
Admee
No more condensation on new sealed glazing units
Insulation Modern low-energy windows insulate so well that condensation can form on the outside. DTU Energy, Velux and Polyteknik aim to solve the problem using advanced plasma technology.
Low-energy windows with three layers of glass can insulate so well that condensation forms on the outside under certain weather conditions. This problem can be overcome using a special coating on the outer glass, but this has required rare and expensive materials to date. DTU Energy has joined forces with the companies Polyteknik and Velux to develop a cheaper coating which can create a much larger market for condensation-free low-energy windows. The project, named SmartCoating, is receiving funding from Innovation Fund Denmark.
Condensation occurs when the air is cooled so much that the water vapour it contains forms water droplets. On poorly insulated windows, this is normally a problem on the inside surface. The inside pane is so cold that condensation forms when the moist indoor air comes into contact with it.
However, this problem rarely occurs with low-energy windows. These insulate so well that the temperature of the interior glass is close to the room temperature. But because of the good insulation properties, the outer layer of glass can conversely become so cold that the water vapour in the outside air condenses on it. This is the same phenomenon as when a vehicle windscreen is misty in the morning.
The problem can be relieved by depositing a thin electrically conductive layer on the outside of the glass. This helps prevent the glass from radiating its heat energy to its surroundings and thereby cooling down. Unfortunately, the material being used today—indium tin oxide (ITO)—is very expensive. Indium is a rare element, and there is great demand for ITO, which is also used in products like solar cells and touchscreens.
The SmartCoating project aims to instead develop a coating using the much cheaper material AZO (aluminium zinc oxide). DTU Energy has demonstrated on a small scale that a film of this material can achieve the desired properties, but it is a challenge to develop a process that can apply a uniform coating to a large area such as a window pane. This will be a key element of the project.
“We’ve succeeded in bringing together a very strong team for the SmartCoating project: Polyteknik has in-depth knowledge of plasma depositing technologies on an industrial scale, perfectly complementing DTU Energy’s extensive insight into plasma processes and thin film characterization. The third partner, Velux, has advanced testing facilities and extensive knowledge of the window market. The project therefore covers all the necessary competences,” says Senior Researcher Eugen Stamate from DTU Energy, who is heading the project.Learn more
Eugen Stamate, Senior Researcher, DTU Energy, eust@dtu.dk
Cross borders - News from DTU partners
Hackathon for food solutions
EPFL of Switzerland has just held its inaugural OpenFood Hackdays, which brainstormed food-related challenges and solutions to them. The 110 participants had the chance to explore an app that helps people shop for healthy food, a website that brings together local food producers, and another that helps beer connoisseurs find the beer that tastes best to them. Read more at kortlink.dk/psh2.
Mobile bicycle motor
Researchers at TUMCREATE, a research unit under TUM in Germany and Nanyang in Singapore, have developed an electric motor that can be fitted to almost any bicycle and transform it into a 'Pedelec'—as they are known in Germany. The electric motor is so light that it can be easily carried around before and after use. According to TUM, many cyclists—especially in towns and cities—could benefit from having an electric bicycle, but they are too expensive to leave unattended at railway stations, etc. Read more at kortlink.dk/psh3.
1000 times better chips with nano-LEDs
Data connections within and between microchips have increasingly become a bottleneck during the rapid growth in global data traffic. Optical connections are an obvious solution to the problem, but to date the necessary light sources have been unavailable in nanoscale. This is something researchers at TU/e in the Netherlands have now remedied. They have created a light source with the required characteristics—a nano-LED which is 1,000 times more efficient than its predecessors, and can handle transmission speeds of several gigabits per second. Read more at kortlink.dk/psh4.
New technology aims to reduce horse-jumping injuries
Ten students at Chalmers University in Sweden have found a new focus area: equestrian sports. Last year, the Technical University and Gothenburg Horse Show jointly premiered a new type of hurdle which aims to eventually reduce horse injuries. At this year's show, a new version of the hurdles will be presented that uses a laser to measure the distance from the horse's take-off point to the obstacle. This information on the horses’ take-off can be linked to studies of the impact of strain in horses’ legs, and potentially allow horses to be bred with a different technique and constitution that can better handle the strain. Read more at kortlink.dk/psh5.
Norwegian fingerprint solution at USA’s borders
Biometric information such as a person’s fingerprints, face, ears, or walk is the most reliable way to identify individuals. But storage of this data involves major security risks. CrossMatch, a US company which provides security solutions for biometric data at USA’s borders, has therefore purchased a patented solution developed by researchers at NTNU in Norway. Using the Norwegian solution, a virtually infinite number of passwords can be generated based on a set of fingerprints etc. These can then be used for identification without the direct use of fingerprints. Read more at kortlink.dk/psgz.
What happens when your fridge goes online?
Connected The Internet of Things is on the verge of revolutionizing our daily lives, but also involves major challenges. DTU can put itself at the forefront of research efforts.
Imagine that your oven at home registers that you left work 10 minutes later than planned, and therefore waits ten minutes to put your dinner on. Then imagine that you get stuck in traffic halfway home and are delayed another fifteen minutes—and that your oven therefore turns down the heat so you can still arrive home to a perfectly cooked dinner, ready to eat.
This is pure science fiction today, but not unthinkable in the not too distant future. Many are predicting that the Internet of Things (IoT)—the connection of physical objects to the Internet—will be the next big online revolution, and Lyngby is one of the places people are already closely watching this technology.
“There’s a lot happening right now. We are seeing strong demand for IoT solutions internationally. It’s therefore very important for education and knowledge institutions to keep up. IoT is expected to see amazing growth, so many people are currently looking at how they can get a piece of the pie. If we can take a bite first, we’ll be in a leading position internationally,” says Daniel Bachmann, CEO and founder of IoT Denmark, which recently created IoT coverage across Denmark through the Sigfox network.
The example of the oven, which communicates with the access card reader at your workplace and notes the traffic information for your route home, comes from Alfred Heller, Associate Professor at DTU Civil Engineering and Deputy Head of CITIES (Centre for IT-Intelligent Energy Systems).
Like many others—he predicts that the Internet of Things will become one of the most important infrastructure research and development areas of the future.
“It represents the entire digital future—that we can create an efficient and sustainable future with disaster prediction and so on. But we’re at a very early stage, so for me it’s still a playground. We must first of all get used to using the technology,” he says.Computer monitoring
Being able to monitor everything from vehicle transport and electricity consumption to waste containers, in a network which can automatically communicate, calculate and plan, offers countless opportunities for safety, efficiency and savings.
The City of Knowledge & Urban Development, DTU and Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality are currently running a trial involving monitoring the use of the municipality's cars via IoT. The aim is not to pry into the behaviour of employees, but to see whether money can be saved through better scheduling or by monitoring when vehicles need service etc.
Henrik Lehrmann Christiansen is head of studies for the Master of Science (MSc) at DTU Fotonik and Associate Professor in mobile communications. He says:
“IoT is not a new concept as such, but it is becoming more prevalent. One of the challenges is that a huge number of appliances would have to be fitted with transmitters and receivers. So we are very interested in the whole communications infrastructure, and are particularly looking at capacity, security, reliability and energy efficiency,” he explains.Man attacked by electric razor
But the trend is not without hazard. There are two areas in particular that raise concern and careful consideration when our devices go online —hacking and data security.
The first is the most obvious. If an entire fleet of cars is on the Internet, it paves the way for some unpleasant possibilities if the wrong people can hack in and gain control.
The horror scenario from Stephen King’s cult classic, ‘Maximum Overdrive’, where an unknown alien force brings all machines to life and instils them with a fatal hatred of humans, suddenly does not seem quite as unthinkable as when the film was released in 1986.
And closer to reality, the recent US presidential election has shown that not only terrorists—but also foreign governments—do not hesitate to use hacking as a weapon against other nations. So do we really live in a world where we want to let an online razor anywhere near our throat?
“There is a potential hazard that people can in principle hack into anything, and for example cause an autonomous vehicle to drive up onto the footpath. The second challenge is privacy—that people can see when you are home and who you are with," notes Alfred Heller.
Henrik Lehrmann Christiansen from DTU Fotonik agrees: “In principle, watching the movements of the municipality's vehicles represents strong surveillance of our employees. And when we one day put our nuclear power stations on the Internet, there will also be potential problems there,” he says.Great potential for DTU
However, Daniel Bachmann from IoT Denmark seeks to calm the waters, especially regarding his Sigfox-network. Given that only very small 12-byte data strings are transmitted in a closed network, using signals that only the recipient can decode, he does not see any risk in the system—but there is enormous potential, also for researchers and students at DTU:
“It’s important to recognize that we are very good in Denmark at finding good qualitative solutions to challenges that others might struggle with. We see a huge need for cooperation between the educational institutions and commercial players, and are working very hard to give people good and inexpensive conditions for testing. We will do almost anything to help new companies start using our technology. It's also in our interest. And this applies particularly to students,” he says.
The Internet of Things (IOT) is already in use in a number of places, but the potential is so great that an experimental platform in the real world is needed, and this is where DTU, Lyngby Storcenter shopping mall—and Lyngby in general—come into the picture.
“Being researchers gives us slightly better opportunities than companies, because part of our job is simply to show what is possible, without having to worry too much about legal issues etc. It’s a relatively new role for us as researchers to have to go out and demonstrate what you can do, but it’s an important role,” says Alfred Heller from DTU Civil Engineering.
“It will probably not be something we think much about as consumers in the future, but IoT is one of the building blocks of a world of digital services, and it's going to be everywhere I think.”Learn more
Henrik Lehrmann Christiansen, Associate Professor, DTU Fotonik, hlch@fotonik.dtu.dk
Alfred Heller, Associate Professor, DTU Civil Engineering, alfh@byg.dtu.dkRead more at www.knowledgecity.dk, www.iotdanmark.dk and www.sigfox.com
An antenna stands 45 metres above the ground on the roof of the Lyngby Storcenter shopping mall. It does not draw much attention to itself, but it holds the key to our hyper-intelligent everyday lives of the future.
It and a similar antenna at DTU are connected to the Sigfox network, a sophisticated global network to be used for the Internet of Things—the equipment and infrastructure network many predict will become one of the biggest technological development areas of the future.
The antenna is only a small part of a bigger plan to make Lyngby Denmark's leading test city for the Internet of Things (IoT), among other initiatives.
“It’s no coincidence that we want to make Lyngby into a test laboratory for IoT—it’s very much because DTU is based there. With a research and educational capacity of that calibre, it makes good sense to try to bring the university, the municipality and the private players together,” says Caroline Arends, Director of the City of Knowledge partnership, which is coordinating the work.The future belongs to telecoms
The initial purpose of the antennas is to monitor the Municipality of Lyngby-Taarbæk’s vehicles, so their movements within the municipality can be optimized. But longer term there are a wealth of possibilities for what can be connected to the network.
“Examples we are looking at right now include waste containers that can tell us if they need emptying, and water pipes that report leaks. The entire supply segment in our society has great economic importance, and a lot of work with IoT is being done in this area,” says Caroline Arends.
There is also a major focus on the antennas at DTU:
“Many people only look at the units sending information, such as whether a garbage bin needs to be emptied. They often forget what lies in between—that the data has to be transmitted. That’s what we are looking at. You could say we are building the roads,” says Henrik Lehrmann Christiansen from DTU Fotonik.
“The quantity of information continually rises, and people just expect that you can exchange whatever you want, but someone has to develop these systems. Eventually, even washing machine manufacturers will need engineers specializing in communication, so telecoms engineers will be in high demand in the future.”Facts about the Internet of things
The Internet of things (IOT) was first mentioned in 1999. Development has been at a slow pace since then, but in the past few years it has started to gain speed.
Antennas for IoT have been set up 45 metres above the ground at the top of the Lyngby Storcenter shopping mall and at DTU in Lyngby as a part of the City of Knowledge Internet of Things project.
The antennas in Lyngby are running on the Sigfox network, which differs from the normal Internet by running a 'narrow-band' service with very small data volumes. It is not dependent on connection to the Internet, GSM or any other network and requires very little power.
Career Centre ready to hold workshops
The spring semester has begun and the Career Centre is again offering a number job-related workshops that will help prepare you to find a student job, an internship or an ordinary engineering job. Book a place at l.dtu.dk/l9HC.
Dana featured in children's book on whales
Thomas Diget Tarby, Chief Officer on DTU's marine research vessel, Dana, and his daughter are the main characters in a children's book titled ‘Anna and the Sperm Whales’. The story targets children aged 5-8, and teaches them about the life of sperm whales at sea. Dana is owned by DTU and is Denmark’s largest marine research vessel. The book costs DKK 99.95 and is available at the North Sea Oceanarium shop and a number of bookstores in Hirtshals and Hjørring. For further information, see l.dtu.dk/q1vv
Novo Nordisk Foundation scholarships
The Novo Nordisk Foundation will award up to 25 scholarships in 2017. The goal is to create close contact between ambitious students and the research environments at Danish universities, hospitals, and other knowledge institutions, where the students get the chance to immerse themselves in research projects. The aim is to make the students aware of the possibility of a future career in research. There are application rounds in spring and autumn. The next deadline is 23 March 2017. For more information, see l.dtu.dk/4rk7.
Teaching seminar open for registration
The next DTU Teaching Seminar is coming soon. With a keynote presentation by Dr Tim Stratford of the University of Edinburgh, the seminar will focus on how engineering students can learn ‘design thinking’ during their study programme. The teaching seminar is arranged by LearningLab DTU in collaboration with the deans of the departmental study committee members, heads of studies, educational coordinators, and other interested lecturers. It will be held Friday 21 April 2017, 8.30 am – 1.30 pm in the Glass Hall, Building 101A, DTU Lyngby Campus. Find out more at l.dtu.dk/jjzk.
Study forum for new engineering students
Help In the study café at the Department of Physics, older students help new students find their feet in the new academic setting.
It is 8:00 am Wednesday, and no morning classes are scheduled. But over the next four hours, first-semester students from Physics and Nanotechnology, and Earth and Space Physics and Engineering will stream into the joint study café.
The two study programmes share virtually all the same introductory courses, and the Mechanical Engineering and Physical Modelling subjects cause problems for many. But they can get help in the study café from older students who know the ropes, and perhaps from peers who have already solved the problem they are struggling with.
This has been the case since the 2015 autumn semester, when the year’s vector group decided to revive an earlier study café and was offered rooms by DTU Physics. “When you come to the University straight from school, where you can get all the help you need, it can be difficult being thrown into demanding assignments. Many feel out of their depth. They simply need helpers—someone to ask,” says Mark Kamper Svendsen, who was part of the Vector 15 group.
Asbjørn Meldgaard Moltke, one of the regular café helpers, adds:
“The assignments may not be the hardest in the world, but it’s difficult to get into the engineer mindset and work out how to structure them. There is no subject called ‘Learn to think like an engineer’. This is what people can help each other with.”
The café has also been a great success. A large number of the year showed up—between 30 and 40 freshers each time. But over the autumn, the number of questions declined because people began to help each other instead of asking the older students.
“This is just what we hoped would happen,” says Mark. “The whole idea was to bring the year together and create a culture of academic exchange.”Passing on the baton
Mark and Asbjørn believe the study café has helped reduce the drop-out rates for their year groups. But it has been a challenge to find students willing and able to serve as unpaid tutors for four hours each Wednesday. The effects of the Study Progress Reform can be felt.
Asbjørn and Mads Carlsen have carried the meet-ups, while Mark has played more of practical role, organizing rooms etc. All three have enjoyed it very much and have been pleased to get to know the new students. They have also learned a lot from having to explain the material to others and do repetition with the basic knowledge. It has been an excellent incentive to get up early on Wednesday morning.
“Some courses are difficult and not always fun, but it’s basically great to be studying mathematics and physics. We all feel this, and it's fun to share our enthusiasm with others,” says Mark.
With these words, he hopes he can pass the baton on to new students who will carry on the café model when his year gets busy completing their studies.Learn more
Mark Kamper Svendsen, sixth-semester Physics and Nanotechnology student, markkamper95@gmail.com
More women for IT study programmes
Equal opportunities On 8 March, 25 high school girls with an interest in mathematics will meet with six female IT students. A one-year mentor scheme aims to raise awareness of the IT study programmes among girls.
Globalization and a desire for continued growth demands more highly skilled IT specialists and advanced IT users. All available talent must be brought into play. The Danish government has therefore set a goal of promoting interest in IT and programming among women. DTU is now entering the fray and is kickstarting—very symbolically on international women's day—a one-year mentor programme for high school girls with an interest in mathematics, technology and IT.
25 first and second-year high school girls selected from applicants will be assigned to 6 female students from various IT study programmes at DTU. They will meet 10 times over the following year at various events planned in collaboration with the mentors along the way. These could be talks, workshops, company visits, or anything else that can help the girls learn more about what it is like to study and work with information technology.
One of the mentors, Katrine Bjørn Pedersen Thoft, is studying Software Technology in her fourth semester. She only discovered that IT was a great way to use mathematics after two semesters studying Mathematics and Technology. She would like to save other women having to make the same discovery. She also wants to show that IT can be of interest to women, even if they get surprised reactions when they talk about choosing an IT study programme.
“There is much more to IT than sitting behind a computer. There is a phase with problem solving before you begin programming, and you can use it in many different sectors,” she says.
The project is being organized by the Office for Research and Relations, and Senior Officer Christina Madvig Christensen will monitor the activities and evaluate the results. Similar projects will also be considered for other study areas with a skewed gender distribution.
“The aim is not for all the girls to study at DTU, but to become aware that it can also be fun for girls,” she says.
Learn more
Christina Madvig Christensen, Senior Officer, AFR, cchr@adm.dtu.dk
Read more at l.dtu.dk/oiyo
Working hard at General Engineering
International The General Engineering English-language study programme, launched just over six months ago, is a melting pot of students from all over the world. DTU Avisen has met some of them.
In the newly refurbished Auditorium Building 303A, where the vast majority of DTU graduates had their first lectures in introductory engineering, I meet a group of young men. They are speaking English, and not broken school English, but fluent and articulate.
I am in the company of second-semester General Engineering students. The study programme that had its very first intake in summer 2016, and which required a grade point average of 10.8 to be admitted. General Engineering is also the first English-language BSc ever at DTU, and half the students have an international background.
Even among the international students, Ben Crowley is particularly international. With roots in USA and having studied in Frankfurt, Germany, he felt the need to see even more of the world. This ended up taking him north to DTU.
“I wanted to see more of Europe, and I thought a lot about where I wanted to go. Then suddenly DTU and General Engineering came up, and it looked brilliant! So I applied and got in. DTU has a great international environment, and I don’t feel like an outsider even though I don't speak Danish,” he says.
Lasse Helm is Danish through and through. He notes that the international students bring a lot to the study programme. He also suspects they might start with a bit more knowledge than his fellow Danish students.
“The international students seem to have received more education where they come from. Many of them commented in any case that they were already familiar with some of the things we did in the first semester, which I had not come across before,” he explains.Head of studies enthusiastic
Luise Theil Kuhns, Head of Studies, is very enthusiastic about the new study programme. She notes that there is an excellent study environment in General Engineering, and that the academic level has met expectations so far.
“Our students work very hard. I’m pleasantly surprised by how energetic they are. They bring a high level of energy and enthusiasm, and are very talented,” says Luise Theil Kuhn, Head of Studies.
But there are also challenges. The international students come from a wide range of backgrounds, and some had difficulties with the Danish group work model.
“It was hard for some to take the Danish approach on board, but they have learned it. Some of the international students were a bit reticent when we started this summer, but a great social environment has developed over the past six months,” she notes.
And the social environment means a lot to the students. Ben Crowley explains it with the example of informal Danish Friday drinks:
“You can go out and enjoy a quiet beer with your fellow students when the day’s lectures are over. It helps create a good atmosphere,” he explains with a smile.
New platform for smart city solutions
MSc thesis idea The Smart City Hub platform aims to bring together students, companies, researchers and public authorities with an interest in smart city solutions.
Smart City and big data are making waves in Denmark. City of Knowledge & Urban Development is therefore launching a common platform for the development of smart city projects and solutions. The platform is called Smart City Hub, and invites researchers and students to solve challenges in cooperation with businesses and Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality.
“Smart City Hub is an informal platform for everyone who enjoys developing ideas with others in a relaxed after-work atmosphere. The hub aims to bring the many players together in a light-hearted forum where they can work together to create some different and useful solutions,” explains Alfred Heller, Associate Professor at DTU Civil Engineering and the man behind Smart City Hub.
“The hub provides a range of infrastructure, such as an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, a data cloud and a computation platform, which participants can use to realize and demonstrate ideas,” explains Alfred Heller. He encourages people to bring along their robots, sketches, tools, prototypes, algorithms, and data, and test them in contexts they were not originally designed for.Outlandish input
Smart City Hub was held for the first time at DTU on Thursday 9 February. Stig Brinck, Expertise Manager at NIRAS, presented the day's topic: Smart City Network. He is in no doubt about what NIRAS gets out of spending a Thursday evening in the company of students from DTU and representatives from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality.
“It’s very valuable for us to hear fresh input and crazy ideas from students who may think differently to the way we do. We draw inspiration from being here too. Afterwards we can contribute by taking a commercial approach to the outlandish ideas and develop products that can be used in industry,” says Stig Brinck.
Smart City Hub also provides the opportunity to link up companies looking to solve a challenge with students looking for an MSc thesis topic. Researchers and lecturers at DTU form a natural bridge between these groups and thus fit nicely in the hub. This interaction provides all parties with a sounding board and allows a greater degree of interdisciplinary thinking,” says Stig Brinck.
Smart City Hub is hosted by City of Knowledge & Urban Development and facilitated by Alfred Heller, Associate Professor at DTU Civil Engineering. The plan is to hold a hub with a new topic every 14 days.
Entrepreneurs celebrated in Skylab
Acclaim 67 new start-ups with roots in DTU were celebrated in DTU Skylab.
Marianne Thellersen, Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, hosted the second annual Start-up Celebration. An event where she and President Anders Bjarklev and the entire Skylab team pay tribute to the entrepreneurs DTU has fostered in 2017.
“Every year I'm asked how many new businesses have flowed out of DTU. Even though I’m careful not to aim too high, we end up seeing more and more start-ups emerging from DTU and Skylab year after year,” said Marianne Thellersen.
There were both champagne and soft drink toasts—and then the winners of the title ‘Spin-out of the year 2016’—Relibond— took to the small stage. They talked about the many ups and downs you go through when you choose your own destiny and start your own business.
“There are so many challenges in the beginning. We took part in Danish Tech Challenge in 2015, and we were really excited then. We have now come further in the process, and there are times when it feels impossible. But there is light at the end of tunnel—at least we hope there is," explained Martin Sander Nielsen, who founded Relibond with Christian Michelsen. The company is working on creating better underground power cable connections.
President Anders Bjarklev also gave a brief talk in honour of the attendees. He spoke of the importance of boldness, persistency and hard work.
“All of DTU is proud of you, who are doing something extraordinary. Being innovative is in many ways at the core of the engineering profession, and it's fantastic that you’re seizing the opportunity and working hard with your ideas. I sleep soundly at night, knowing that you are out there to create jobs and make the world a better place,” he said to great applause from the audience.
Building defects must be dealt with early
Niels-Jørgen Aagaard, Head of DTU Civil Engineering, is on a new Standing Construction Panel together with representatives from the construction industry—from property developers, consultants, contractors and suppliers to research and education staff. The aim is to establish an open experience and knowledge sharing forum, where participants talk about possible faults and failures they are seeing and hearing about in the construction industry. A kind of early warning system which will hopefully make it possible to address major problems as they arise.
Driverless ships at sea
Just as self-driving cars are coming to the roads, unmanned ships may also soon be a reality at sea. Driverless ships are expected to help make shipping operations cheaper, safer and more reliable, but it is important to manage the new development so that it happens responsibly. The Danish Maritime Authority has therefore initiated a preliminary study on driverless ships, which is being headed by the DTU Maritime Centre. The reason driverless ships are now becoming a possibility is primarily due to improvements in advanced sensors, robot technology and methods. The project aims to explore the common level of knowledge and propose activities to help make autonomous ships in Danish waters a possibility. The study is being financed by The Danish Maritime Fund, and Professor Mogens Blank is the academic head.
From surplus heat to district heating
With very limited investment in new pipes, surplus heat from Danish companies can be used to heat Danish homes—if the distance between the company and the district heating network is not too great. This is the verdict of an analysis carried out by DTU Mechanical Engineering and DTU Management Engineering. Their analysis shows that at least five per cent of Denmark’s national district heating consumption can be met using waste heat from industry. The current figure, according to the Danish District Heating Association, is just three per cent. If waste heat from ventilation and cooling processes is included, the potential may be significantly greater.
Light in Østerild being dimmed
Following a year of discussions, DTU has been granted permission to switch off the strong warning light at the national test centre for large wind turbines in Østerild at night, while a linked radar system has not detected aircraft within a 5.5 km radius. A low-intensity red light must still be maintained around the clock and a white light during the day. The radar-controlled night illumination trial will run from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2022.
Energy flexible buildings
DTU is participating in a project under the auspices of the IEA (International Energy Agency) on energy flexible buildings. As we introduce more renewable energy sources into the system, it will be necessary to change from consumption-driven energy production, to consumption determined by the current energy production. In practice, this means that energy consumption must be flexible, and buildings can play a role in this. For example, most buildings have a thermal mass in their structures which makes it possible to store a certain amount of heat, and a domestic hot water tank can also be used to store heat. The Danish Technological Institute is heading the Danish contingent, which also includes Aarhus University, Aalborg University, and DTU Civil Engineering, represented by Alfred Heller and Carsten Rode.
Digital solutions help patients to better health
Report Personal health technology will play a greater role in the future healthcare system, which will be characterized by a growing number of chronic patients and a strong patient-centred focus. A new report predicts great growth potential for life science companies.
The healthcare sector is facing major challenges. As people live longer, and many continue to have unhealthy habits, we are seeing an increase in age-related, lifestyle, and chronic diseases. At the same time, the healthcare system is being squeezed by requirements to provide better treatment combined with pressure to find cost savings.
This is the verdict of a recent sector development report prepared jointly by industry associations (Medicoindustrien, the Danish IT Industry Association, and the Confederation of Danish Industry) and leading DTU experts. The report highlights a number of research and development projects and makes recommendations to help boost the development and use of new technology in the healthcare sector.
The development of new healthcare technology opens up great opportunities for improving existing solutions and developing new healthcare technology products which can contribute to public health services. One example is sensors—previously only available in the clinical laboratory with trained personnel, but now available for patients as portable digital healthcare technologies.Sharing in the business success story
Although the Danish market for healthcare technology is often described as one of the best in Europe at developing and testing medico equipment, Danish companies are being challenged by healthcare technology industries in other countries which have grown significantly over the last ten years.
“Danish companies have every opportunity to take part in the business success story. There are strong companies and research environments to draw on, as well as flexible collaboration with the public health system. But we need to make even more progress than we have made over the past ten years,” says Jakob E. Bardram. He is a professor at DTU Compute, Director of the Copenhagen Centre for Health Technology (CACHET), and chairman of the working group behind the report.
“The established companies need to expand, strengthen and combine technologies. There are also a lot of new opportunities for innovative new products and services that can document the effect of the companies' products and show that patients experience an improvement. In future it will be crucial to be able to point to ‘real world evidence’ for both companies and the healthcare sector.”Knowledge about patients
As a result of this trend, the life science and medico sectors are increasingly linking information and data from individual patients and products together in digital solutions and platforms. This data particularly benefits pharma and medico companies. One of them is Novo Nordisk, which is a member of the Medicoindustrien industry association. Thomas Miller, who heads a research unit for medical devices in Novo Nordisk, says:
“Digital health is a discipline that is developing rapidly and constantly delivering new insights, new technologies, and new applications for existing technologies. We want to use these advances to improve treatment for all the patients living with diabetes every day."
Platforms and digital solutions
Knowledge institutions such as DTU can help the sector by developing health technology platforms and digital healthcare technologies that collect, analyse, and process data, and help patients to become more successful with their own treatment.
For further information:
Jakob Bardram, Professor, DTU Compute, mobile phone: +45 2555 0446
Peter Huntley, Director, Medicoindustrien, mobile phone: +45 2326 4064
Freddy Lykke, Chairman of Health IT committee, IT-Branchen, mobile phone: +45 5116 5216
Mette Rose Skaksen, Sector Director, Confederation of Danish Industry (Health), mobile phone: +45 2949 4410
Denmark leads Nordic region in residential fires among the elderly
Fire A final project from the BEng programme in Architectural Engineering has shown that fire safety in Danish homes is not as good as in Norway and Sweden.
Denmark unfortunately takes first place in Scandinavia in relation to deaths due to fires in aged housing. This is the verdict of a new final project from the BEng programme in Architectural Engineering, which can help to qualify research into fire safety in private homes.
The first step is to identify the risk factors involved in fires in private homes, and then the groups with the greatest risk of dying in these fires. This is exactly what Peter Bach Gummesen has done in his project, 'Residential fires—a background analysis'.
The analyses in the project generally show that the largest number of fire-related deaths in private Danish homes were among the 50-66 year age group, and that men are more likely to die in a fire than women. This applies to all three Scandinavian countries.
The study also focuses particularly on the risk of fire in aged housing. This part of the study shows that Denmark unfortunately holds the Scandinavian record for the most fire-related deaths in this type of housing.
From 2015-2017, a total of 288 people died in connection with fires in private homes in Denmark. Of these, 76 were living in sheltered housing according to Peter Bach Gummesen’s data. 1.5 per cent of the Danish population lives in aged housing, versus 0.8 per cent in Norway and 0.9 per cent in Sweden (2015 figures). Even taking into account the higher percentage of people living in aged housing in Denmark compared to the other two countries, the figures show that the risk of dying in a fire is greater in Denmark.
Anne Dederichs, Associate Professor at DTU Civil Engineering, was the project supervisor, and believes that the results could help qualify the approach to research in fire safety in private homes.
“The next step is to work out what causes this disparity. Then we can look at how we can prevent these fires from occurring. But the first step is to analyse the data we have available. That’s why we need projects like Peter’s, which give us a basis for making decisions,” says Anne Dederichs.
Both Sweden and Norway have acknowledged the problem with residential fires, and are devoting research funding to the area.Learn more
Anne Dederichs, Associate Professor, DTU Civil Engineering, and@byg.dtu.dk
New centre to boost security and defence
Centre Security DTU aims to pool DTU's security and defence expertise.
DTU has established a new centre—Security DTU—to bring together the university's knowledge in relation to security. The centre will primarily involve the departments which have longstanding collaborative relations with the Armed Forces, relevant public authorities, and companies in the security and defence industries. These include DTU Space, DTU Compute, DTU Mechanical Engineering and DTU Electrical Engineering. The centre has been established with support from the Thomas B. Thriges Fond.
The centre, which opened on 1 February, pools the University’s resources in areas such as cyber security, defence technology, military and civilian monitoring in the Arctic regions, and rescue, environmental emergency contingency plans, and security in connection with natural disasters.
“With a sharper focus and better collaboration between different competence areas, we will strengthen DTU’s security activities and be better able to serve the Armed Forces and other external partners in this field,” says Kristian Pedersen, Director of DTU Space, where the new centre is located.
Kristian Pedersen sees Security DTU as a natural extension of the longstanding collaboration in the field of defence, which is now being expanded and strengthened. Henning Heiselberg, who has just been appointed, is head of the centre. He is looking forward to getting started on the job. The initial focus will be on setting the framework for the centre’s activities.
“The centre will make it easier for both authorities and companies to utilize DTU’s extensive expertise in this field, and enter into collaboration with the University when required,” says Henning Heiselberg, who has extensive experience in the field of defence and security.
The new centre director leaves a position with the Danish Ministry of Defence’s procurement agency, and the Danish Armed Forces’ programme for purchasing new aircraft.Learn more
Kristian Pedersen, Director of DTU Space, kp@space.dtu.dk
Henning Heiselberg, Centre Director, DTU Space, hh@space.dtu.dk
Lightning images seen around the world
Photo Russia, India, the UK and USA. ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen's spectacular images of blue lightning have been shared around the world.
When ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen filmed a thunderstorm over India from the International Space Station during a rest break, he saw something he had never seen before: blue lightning, which is lightning from thunderclouds at an altitude of 50 kilometres.
In January, researchers from DTU and the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) published a study in the Geophysical Research Letters journal. This described for the first time how active thunder clouds in the stratosphere actually are. Using the results, uncertainty in climate models can eventually be reduced.
The images have since been published online in The Mirror, Indiatimes, Daily Mail, Spiegel, The Sun, Mashable, Russia Today and other outlets. The Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet summarized the many publications in an article in February with the title: 'Danish astronaut took amazing pictures, now being shared around the world'.
“The observations emphasize how little we know about the many different physical processes taking place at the top of the clouds and their influence on the atmosphere’s dynamics and climatic variations,” says Torsten Neubert, Senior Executive Officer at DTU Space.
“The great attention attracted helps make this point to the public and to our colleagues in related fields. It’s helping us to gain new contacts and new partnerships across traditional disciplinary boundaries.”
New professors
Ivan Mijakovic, Microbial Proteomics with a focus on Protein Phosphorylation, DTU Biosustain
Sonia Coriani, Physical Chemistry, DTU Chemistry
New heads of studies
Taeseong Kim is the new Head of Studies for European Master in Wind Energy, replacing Morten Hartvig Hansen.
Vedrana Andersen Dahl is the new Head of Studies at Health and Informatics, replacing Rasmus Reindhold Paulsen
Anniversaries
Jørgen Fenhann, Senior Researcher, DTU Management Engineering, 40 years on 1 March
Kurt Schaldemose Hansen, Senior Researcher, DTU Wind Energy, 40 years on 1 March
Niels-Ebbe Dam, Associate Professor, DTU Diplom, 25 years on 1 March
Otto Anker Nielsen, Professor, DTU Management Engineering, 25 years on 1 March
Hello to
Rikke Straarup Voulund is a new librarian at the Office for Innovation and Sector Services, where she primarily works with information resources and borrowing materials. She is also helping to test a new library system for handling all of the library's resources, to be operational from 2018. Rikke supplemented her librarian education with an MSc in Visual Culture from the University of Copenhagen, and is happy to help with any visual communication tasks that arise. After three years working as a logistics coordinator for a company, she is very pleased to have come 'home' to her field—particularly in a setting like DTU, which she sees as ‘very sound and organized’. “I’ve been given a great reception, well-organized down to the smallest detail—my name was already on the door when I arrived,” she notes, smiling.
Goodbye to
Thomas Beuchert Kallehauge joined DTU Biosustain three and a half years ago, with an MSc and PhD from Aarhus University. His work here has included optimizing CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells, used to produce antibodies and other complex proteins to treat conditions like cancer and haemophilia. His postdoc position expired, and Thomas could also see that the industry was not yet ripe to implement his research concepts, so he chose a new direction with a job at Aalborg University’s Centre for RNA Medicine in Copenhagen. The work here does not target the industry, but seeks to directly make new drugs for clinical use."If we're very lucky, there will be an opportunity to create a spin-out down the track and escape the postdoc treadmill,” he hopes.
“You have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes”
Added value Anders B. Møller, Head of Operations in Campus Service, is not content with DTU's buildings functioning in isolation. They must also work together in a sustainable manner.
It started with a problem. Søren Linderoth, Head of Department, came to Anders B. Møller—technical project leader at Risø National Laboratory at the time—to say that the humidity levels in the fuel cell laboratories were too high. The problem could be solved using more cooling, but that would also cost more energy.
Anders had just read a report on storing heat in water and happened to know that some boreholes had previously been drilled to see whether there was potential for this kind of experiment. There was not, as the water in the bores flowed too quickly into Roskilde Fjord. But Anders felt they probably could be used to solve the current problem of cooling the fuel cell laboratories. So he and a few employees started to think about how to tackle the issue.
“We virtually set up a scout camp, and it was so much fun that it was hard to stop and go home in the evening,” he recalls.
A groundwater cooling system normally works by pumping water up and then down again after use. But here beside the fjord, it was possible to employ an alternative solution, which used less energy and created more value. It was sufficient to pump the water up, run it across a cooling surface, and then release it into the fjord, where the birds could also benefit from the slightly warmer water during the winter.
“The system has a very high efficiency level. We can actually take as much energy out of a cubic metre of water as from a cubic metre of oil. In hot weather, we can get back 70 times the energy we put into the pump. It almost sounds too good to be true, but it is isn’t. And the system has run smoothly for almost eight years,” Anders explains.Broad experience
24 years earlier, Anders started his career by training as stainless steel machinist and working in his father's company. And he could have stayed there.
“If I had taken over the company, I would probably have had a bigger bank balance today. But the horizon was too small—I wanted to go out and learn, and try my hand at other things,” he says.
So he trained as an engineer, supplemented with an electrician’s licence and refrigeration handling licence, and made a plan: He would sail on ships until he received his chief engineer stamp in his seafarer's discharge book. He worked out that the quickest way to achieve this was to sail the DSB ferry routes. So he took a job with DSB and made sure to get on as many different ships as possible, and try out as much as possible. Once he had earned his chief engineer title, he resigned from his position.
His employers said he was crazy, but Anders did not know what they were talking about. He just wanted to move on.
His next stop was Junckers Industrier’s power station. Seven years later he went to Danfoss, where he worked with automation. He then spent a few years at Siemens, selling SCADA and energy technology solutions.
“That was a new direction, which I enjoyed. Sales is very much about communication and matching expectations. About putting yourself in the customer's shoes—and I've always liked doing that,” says Anders.
But then he became aware of the position of technical project leader at Risø National Laboratory.
“I started in August 2000—just as the reactor closed. That was a very sad day for me. I'd been looking forward to getting closer to nuclear fission, which I thought was the most ideal energy source after fusion energy.”
But it did not take long before Anders was just as engrossed in wind energy and all the other things people worked on at Risø. He has been an active player since then, every time new instruments have to be installed—such as the cyclotron at the Hevesy Laboratory, the vanadium battery in SysLab, and most recently the wind tunnel, just to name a few.
“Construction of the wind tunnel started here in my office. Senior Researcher Christian Bak and I sat down and did som calculations, and worked out that we could build it for substantially less than the DKK 150 million a turnkey wind tunnel would have cost. It’s extremely satisfying to see it taking shape now,” says Anders.Holistic view
A few years after the merger, Anders Møller became technical manager at DTU, and head of operations in 2012, with responsibility for ensuring that all DTU buildings are kept well maintained and functioning as intended. He is therefore also heavily involved in the many new building projects on Lyngby Campus.
The project consultants for the latest development, Building 202, argued that it should have its own independent refrigeration system, which could reuse the heat from the instruments. But Anders would have none of this. Building 202 and all the other new buildings have to be connected to the central cooling water ring, which connects most of the buildings and lies alongside the electricity, compressed air, heat and steam supply lines.
Within the next few years, the 200 area will get an ATES system, also at Anders’ initiative, with several groundwater wells that can be used for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Once this is operating, calculations show it will halve DTU’s heating purchases from the outside grid.
“We will work with Compute and Electrical Engineering to develop an algorithm that controls how the heat pumps interact with the other systems, spot prices in the electricity market, etc.So it will also be a kind of test lab for students and researchers,” notes Anders, who also has big plans for all the supply system’s meter data:
“We will put all the CAS’ building meter information in a database, available for loan from the library. They are the experts in lending out resources, so they can also lend data to students and researchers,” he notes.
A requirement to install solar cells on many of the new buildings is also something Anders will exploit to benefit more people.
“Instead of putting a solar cell system on each building, we will build a central plant close to DTU Electrical Engineering, who have long expressed a desire for one for research and teaching purposes,” he says.
Anders thinks holistically, and is gradually converting DTU into a smart campus and living laboratory.Manager, swimmer and DIY guy
When you manage 11 section heads and 150 people there are constant decisions to be made. Anders can only take a few steps outside his office before being stopped and asked about something. His working day starts with phone calls in the car on the way from his home in the Vallø to one of DTU's many sites, and normally ends the same way driving home.
“There's always a deadline, each one runs into the next. DTU can completely consume you. You can work yourself to death if you don’t manage your time.”
But Anders is very careful to—and pleased to be able to—surround himself with capable employees who understand the general direction and can therefore make their own decisions.
“My staff are the ones who do most of the work and add immense value to DTU,” he says.
He is also good at unwinding in the evening—lying in his hammock and watching the deer wandering around outside his windows. Or swimming 80 laps in the swimming centre—if he is not sailing his boat out to catch a few fish in Køge Bay, or experimenting with imported coffee beans in his own small roastery.
But the best relaxation is renovating the house, which has been completely streamlined with a heat pump, ventilation system and lighting that can be remote-controlled from his phone.
“I love that sort of thing,” says Anders with a smile.CV
Anders B. Møller is 53 years old, married and lives in Vallø. He has four adult children and a grandchild on the way in March. He has already bought the child's first pair of rubber boots.
2015: The Head of Operations became responsible for the physical working environment following a reorganization, and established a new Working Environment, Emergency Response and Sustainability (ABB) section
2012: Head of Operations, DTU Campus Service
2010: Technical Manager, DTU Campus Service
2000: Project Leader, Risø National Laboratory
1990-2000: Worked with CHP, automation and sales at Junckers, Danfoss and Siemens
1988: Added an electrician’s licence and refrigeration handling licence to his machinist qualification
1983: Completed training as a stainless steel machinist
SoMe since the last issue—March
Another semester has begun, and this is also true for exchange students. Like last semester, there will be takeovers from students studying abroad every Tuesday throughout spring until the end of May. These are students from various corners of DTU, who have gone out into the world, and there will be snaps from Asia, Scandinavia, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. If you are not already following DTU, you can find us via username ‘dtudk’.
Martin Sorensen, Food Technology regarding BugBar. As told to Andreas Johansen.
“The world is facing some fairly major problems in terms of feeding everyone. They say there are seven billion people, but we eat for eight. And that figure is only going to rise! I therefore want to create a more sustainable product, which is also healthy and tastes good. I met Daniel Nørgaard by chance, and he had the same thoughts. We are now in the process of making a bar which—in addition to rolled oats and cranberries—will contain insect flour from crushed mealworms. They have amazing nutritional value, with a lot of vitamins and protein. Right now we are looking for someone with a flair for sales and branding, so we can eventually get the product out into stores.”
In the late 1950s, architects Nils and Eva Koppel were given the task of designing a new campus for DTU (DTH at the time) at Lyngby. The building project was finally completed in 1974. The picture shows architect Nils Koppel in conversation with HM Queen Ingrid, when the first stage of this huge construction project was officially opened on 28 September 1965.
“This is actually the standard normal”
Said by a lecturer. Quote collected by PF.
Each of the following clues leads to its own word. What do these words have in common?
1. A form of normal distribution curve.
2. Samling af genstande af porcelæn, fajance eller andet materiale, beregnet til at blive brugt sammen til at dække bord med.
3. Rods with a small plate, operated by foot.
4. A type of point for which the sign of the derivative is the same on both sides of the point.If the above are not enough, here is one more extra clue:
5. Etage på et skib eller kommando til hunden om at lægge sig.
6. Possibly the world's greatest invention. Round and suited to rolling.
Parts of a bicycle. 1. Bell.
2. Frame.
3. Pedals.
4. Saddle.
5. Tyre.
6. Wheel