My role
First of all I see my role in a kind of “global perspective”. With all the efforts I put into my daily work I want to help make a difference in order to keep the fragile world we live in as beautiful as it (still) is today. Utilising the unrestricted natural power of the wind to human favour seems so much more convenient than deploying our planet by burning it off. As Senior Specialist in Blade Technology R&D I have a broad range of responsibilities. From doing design work on high priority blade projects, to more research flavoured material science to mentoring new colleagues in blade design theory and procedures. Together with my colleagues we are driving the technology of Vestas’ blades to be the lightest and most efficient on the market – and thereby contribute to making wind energy a technology as robust and cost effective as possible.
My career path
After achieving my masters’ degree in mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, I got a two-year research contract at the DLR (German Aerospace Centre) in Stuttgart. As the two major projects were “Cost effective use of carbon fibre in wind turbine blades” and “Design and test of a sectional blade for wind turbines”, this was my first real contact with wind energy. After these two years in research I decided to stay in the business, but I wanted to work more hands-on. Therefore I applied to Vestas in the year 2000 and got my first industry job in the R&D Blade Design department.
My network
Beside my working relationships I have a big network through my hobby – gliding. From many international events I have friends all over the world – and interestingly many of them are working with renewable energy. For sure it has something to do with experiencing the nature very intensively when flying by only utilising natural forces.
My Vestas
For me, Vestas is one of the most exiting companies to work for – never standing still and always at the cutting edge of technology. It is fascinating, that so many different engineering skills are needed to make a product that captures the energy of the wind and makes it usable for humans. Every time a new prototype is “born” and all the small bricks have fallen into place, is really a great feeling – because you know, that the new turbine also contains some of your own input. Working with blades in particular is very demanding and exiting at the same time. The use of composite materials gives you the possibility to really optimise the structure and the shape of a blade – and thus gives you the possibility to make a difference.
My life
My life has been very much dominated by my hobby – gliding. Since I was 14 years old, I was in the air whenever I had the possibility. I have competed in more than 50 competitions including many European and world championships, won the European championships two times, was gliding instructor and finally coached the Danish national team for three years. But in the meantime also other things in my life got more and more important. Today I am happily married, have three children and enjoy the life at home. Together with a demanding job at Vestas, the time was right to change priorities, and so I have put my passion for gliding on hold. But I will come back to it when the time is right.
