Celebration

DTU paid tribute to extraordinary efforts

DTU Commemoration celebrated the previous year's research results, the extraordinary teaching and student start-up with, among other things, a joint song and award ceremony. With the participation of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik and the Minister of Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund.

DTU Commemoration 2023 was attended by the Crown Prince, where DTU pays tribute to its students, staff and partners. — DTU Commemoration 2023, where DTU pays tribute to its students, staff and partners, was attended by the Crown Prince. Photo: Magnus Møller

Thursday 04 May 2023

Nasrin Billie

Together with almost 1,400 students, employees, business executives, and university representatives, HRH The Crown Prince participated in DTU Commemoration 2023 held on Friday, 28 April. The Crown Prince attended the academic ceremony, where DTU celebrates the past year’s academic achievements, the innovative engineers of the future, and the employees who help shape them. Furthermore, we pay tribute to our unique partners, whose support for the University is invaluable.

Like last year, coloured lights from spotlights, light bars, and floodlight projectors set a festive mood in the darkened sports hall. The light show shrouded the stage in blue lighting and projected DTU’s logo onto the wall in the middle of two giant screens, showing the participants’ arrival on the red carpet in colourful dresses and sharp suits. Green and red stripes of light adorned the other walls and ceiling.

The giant speakers suspended from the ceiling and, not least, the large lenses on the ubiquitous cameramen’s video equipment underlined the extensive video production that forms the basis of the academic ceremony, which was once again streamed live, making it possible to participate in the celebration from home.

Outside on the red carpet, DTU President Anders Bjarklev, Provost Rasmus Larsen, and President of Polyteknisk Forening (PF student association) Natasha Hougaard welcomed the many guests, who, in addition to The Crown Prince, also included Christina Egelund, Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science.

In between the honorary awards, singer Pil entertained the guests with songs from her critically acclaimed debut album.

Highlights from the academic ceremony

President Anders Bjarklev opened the academic ceremony with a speech. — Speech by DTU President Anders Bjarklev. Photo: Mikal Schlosser

President Anders Bjarklev kicked off the academic part of the festivities by talking about how, in the past year, DTU has had to contend with inflation, an energy crisis, and a new threat situation. And a tight financial situation has meant that DTU has had to say goodbye to competent colleagues.

“It has not been—and is not—easy. I would like to highlight and thank my colleagues for their collaborative spirit and the great concern they have shown—for each other and for DTU.”

Anders Bjarklev also made it clear that DTU is ready for a fresh start: educating new students, commencing new projects, and initiating research collaborations, all of which contribute to solving the challenges faced by our society. But he underlined that the government’s proposal to introduce 1-year MSc programmes risks jeopardizing this:

“Because the talented Danish students will seek other options—where they can take a 2-year MSc programme. And the international students that we really want to attract... Why, they won’t come at all when they can find a 2-year MSc programme elsewhere.”

Anders Bjarklev encouraged the government to start from scratch and to enter into a dialogue on the purpose of DTU’s daily work, which is tried and tested:

“We contribute to joint goals. We do this when we support the government and its visions on education across Denmark with our digital study programmes. The first students have enrolled in our digital Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Mechanical Engineering. And this summer, the next students will start on the digital Bachelor in General Engineering—at the same time as the first students will embark on the part-time MSc programme in Biomanufacturing in Kalundborg.”

Chair of Polyteknisk Forening

Nastasha Hougaard, Chair of Polyteknisk Forening (PF student association), said in her speech:

“We are under pressure. Our well-being is under pressure. As is our finances. And we are under pressure because politicians do not prioritize involving us and taking us seriously. These words may seem harsh, but it’s nevertheless the reality we find ourselves in. The reality we students have been put in.”

“Experiments are a cornerstone of all scientific disciplines and an essential part of our studies. Good experiments lead to good engineers. But education is not an experiment.”

“DTU prioritizes us. And we feel it. So thank you to the lecturers who make us students better, thank you to the researchers who are revolutionizing science, thank you to the staff who make DTU function optimally, and, of course, thank you to the Executive Board and management who collaborate with us and value our input. I would urge the politicians to do the same. Prioritize education. Prioritize well-being. Prioritize the SU (student allowance).”

Two awards for Lecturers of the Year

Every year, the DTU students nominate the lecturers of the year. This year the honor went to Maria Montanucci, associate professor at DTU Compute, and Lars René Lindvold, senior researcher at DTU Health Technology. — Associate professor Maria Montanucci and senior researcher Lars René Lindvold won the Lecturer of the Year award. Photo: Mikal Schlosser

Every year, the DTU students vote for their lecturers of the year. This year, the award went to Maria Montanucci, Associate Professor at DTU Compute, and Lars René Lindvold, Senior Researcher at DTU Health Tech. As Lecturers of the Year, they both each receive a diploma, DKK 25,000, and a small gift from PF.

The students describe Maria Montanucci as a skilled and committed teacher who is good at explaining complex mathematical formulas. When she gives feedback on assignments, the students have no doubt as to why something was or good or not so good, and they understand what to prioritize in their further work.

The students describe Lars René Lindvold as always welcoming and high-spirited. His teaching is anything but boring, and he stays after class to make sure everyone has understood today's lesson.

Occupational Health and Safety Award of the Year

The Occupational Health and Safety Award of the Year went to Karin Petersen, Laboratory Manager, DTU Offshore. The award comes with DKK 25,000. President Anders Bjarklev’s motivation included the following:

“Karin Petersen always leads by example and commitment, and she often contributes to occupational health and safety issues being solved quickly and smoothly. With credibility and clout, she communicates specific OHS challenges and possible solutions to her immediate colleagues and the rest of DTU. Through her work, she inspires us all to take better care of ourselves and of our joint physical and psychological working environment.”

“She works preventively with everything from chemical risk assessments, fire protection, and first aid courses to organization of resistance band exercises, which she always encourages colleagues to participate in.”

Doctorates

Niels Gerner Andersen received the technical doctorate for developing a model, which contributes to more sustainable fishing. — Emeritus, senior researcher Niels Gerner Andersen was awarded the technical doctorate. Photo: Mikal Schlosser

The Academic Council has awarded the technical doctorate (Dr.Techn.) to Professor Emeritus and Senior Researcher Niels Gerner Andersen, DTU Aqua. The technical doctorate is DTU’s highest academic distinction and is awarded in recognition of the candidate’s research having brought science a significant step forward.

Based on his systematic observations in the laboratory and out in the field, Niels Gerner Andersen has developed a model of gastric evacuation that can predict how much a predatory fish eats. This helps us determine, how many fish we can catch without negatively impacting either the stock of predatory fish or their prey—and even regulate the amount of fish if an excess of, say, cod suddenly occurs in an ecosystem.

The research that Dr.Techn. Niels Gerner Andersen has conducted promotes sustainable fishing.

Honorary doctorates

This year, two honorary doctorates were awarded. The honorary doctorate is awarded to a researcher from another university with longstanding close relations with DTU. The researcher has helped elevate DTU to the international stage through exchange, research, and collaboration.

One of the honorary doctorates was awarded to Chang-Beom Eom, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States. The appointment of Chang-Beom Eom was motivated by Nini Pryds, Professor at DTU Energy.

Professor Chang-Beom Eom was given the honorary doctorate for his research in functional energy materials advancing energy conversion and storage. The picture shows Professor Nini Pryds from DTU Energy, who nominated Chang-Beom Eom.

The other honorary doctorate was awarded to Abigail Allwood, who is an Australian geologist and astrobiologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology—Caltech. The appointment of Abigail Allwood was motivated by Professor John Leif Jørgensen from DTU Space.

Together with Abigail Allwood, DTU Space delivered an advanced camera system for NASA's unmanned Mars 2020 mission. The picture shows Professor John Leif Jørgensen from DTU Space, who nominated Abigail Allwood.

Scientific Commemorative lecture

Irina Borodina, Professor of Metabolic Engineering at DTU Biosustain, gave a lecture on the subject “Pheromones: From the sex life of insects to sustainable agriculture”. Her lecture was partly about her research into yeast cells and partly about her entrepreneurial adventure with the company BioPhero, which produces a biological and sustainable alternative to pesticides.

Student Start-up of the Year

The Student Start-up of the Year award went to IoTBee, which has developed an accessible IoT solution. They have developed a programmable device that offers maximum flexibility for collecting data and an unhackable secure transmission. Two DTU students are behind the start-up: Oline Stræke, who recently graduated as a Master of Science in Engineering (MSc Eng) in Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms, and Holger Weise, who will be graduating this summer with a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Electrical Engineering.

The award came with DKK 25,000 for further development of the product. The award was presented by Marianne Thellersen, Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Senior Vice President.

IoTBee has developed an Internet of Things product that can be connected to hundreds of sensors. This gives companies the opportunity to really kick-start digitalisation.

Julius Thomsen Gold Medal

Every year, DTU awards one of three academic gold medals to a person who has performed outstanding work in engineering. This year, President Anders Bjarklev awarded the Julius Thomsen Gold Medal for meritorious work in technical chemistry. The award went to Jens Nielsen, CEO of the commercial foundation Bioinnovation Institute.

Jens Nielsen has been Professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, where, among other activities, he founded the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering. He has also been Chief Scientific Officer at DTU Biosustain, and is currently affiliated to the department as honorary professor.

Jens Nielsen is an internationally highly respected researcher and entrepreneur who has published more than 600 scientific articles, taken out more than 50 patents, and founded a number of biotech companies.

President Anders Bjarklev’s motivation included the following:

“Jens Nielsen has been crucial to DTU’s innovation ecosystem in biotech, both as a strategic partner and as a researcher and manager at DTU.”

“Jens Nielsen also makes a great contribution as CEO of the independent commercial foundation Bioinnovation Institute, which has helped 80 early-stage start-ups in their accelerator programme, raise more than DKK 3 billion in additional funding.”

Party for 3,000 guests

The academic ceremony was followed by individual receptions for the President’s Office, the Executive Board, and other guests. The Crown Prince attended the President’s reception, where he wrote in DTU’s guestbook and congratulated this year’s award winners. The reception was followed by a dinner with approximately 2,000 participants.

The evening ended with music and dancing for around 3,000 guests, who had the opportunity to experience a concert with Saint Clara and Specktors, among others.