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They can do everything - except saying no...

When researchers at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy go to work in the laboratory, it takes a lot more than theoretical knowledge. And when young students at the department take a scientific education, not only textbooks, but also a whole lot of practical skills in the laboratory are involved.

There are spectrometres, measuring apparatuses, pumps and other assorted mechanical and electrical devices, and everything has to work and function optimally.

When as a rule it does, it is not least thanks to the craftsmen in the department's workshop who can fix nearly anything.

Always electricity

Danny Kyrping is workshop and building coordinator at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, and one of the 5-man team who makes sure that the department's technical equipment always functions as it should. The 39-year-old electronics mechanic and -engineer is a little reserved when he is asked to talk about himself and his job.

"I'm more of a listener than a talker, so it's a bit strange to be put in this position," he says with a smile and modestly stresses that he is only one fifth of the team carrying out the workshop's tasks.

But this task has fallen to Danny Kyrping - and he has said yes. It is immediately apparent that he is a man who keeps his word, so it only remains to take the opportunity to get an insight into who Danny Kyrping is, what he does and what goes on in this corner of the faculty.

"I was originally trained here in Odense in a small company called IMPO Electronics, where amongst other things we made measuring instruments for physics teaching in schools. We could do it all and made everything. You could say that sheet metal came in at one end and completed measuring apparatuses came out of the other. Those were different times, and I don't think there are many of that kind of company left, where they make everything themselves," explains Danny Kyrping who even as a child was crazy about electronics.

"It has always been electricity. I must have been about 8 or 9 years old when I took my great-grandfather's old radio apart to find out what was inside. Later, I trained as an electronics mechanic, and after serving my compulsory military service, where I repaired the electrics in tanks, I studied to become an electronics engineer," says Danny who  was ready to enter the job market after studying for a year and a half.

"I applied for a position at the Mærsk Institute, where they needed an electronics engineer. It was quite funny because the external examiner from my exam was sitting on the other side of the table from me at the job interview - and I got the job," remembers Danny. After a few years, he sought new challenges and was employed as a technician at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy - or the Department of Physics as it was called then. He has been there ever since.

We will help

It seems that Danny Kyrping found his niche at the then Department of Physics back in 2004. He lights up and leans forward in his seat when asked what he and his colleagues actually do.

"Here in the workshop we have to be able to fix everything, and we can. There are five of us: a mechanic, an instrument maker, two electrical engineers and an industrial engineer, so there's pretty much nothing we can't do," explains Danny and continues:

"We have a lot of exciting things to do. A lot of it is repair and making sure the apparatus is working, but also some construction and product development, and we have to be able to collaborate widely. Not just with each other at the workshop, but with many different types of people and disciplines. For example, there could be a researcher who has an idea for how to improve some equipment, so it's up to us to help as much as we possibly can. We have to help to clarify what it should be able to do and how it should work. So you get to be a bit "Gyro Gearloose", and I really like that because it also means that the job never becomes routine," says Danny Kypring, who thrives on never being sure what the day will bring.

"No two days are the same. I can turn up in the morning and have a clear plan for the day, but then there is typically something that has happened - something that has broken down and needs to be fixed as soon as possible, and then there's what was already on the programme," he explains.

Renovation and microscopes

So, Danny Kypring is certainly not short of variety at work. As Workshop and Building Coordinator at the Department, he is involved in both small and large projects. One of the largest projects was the major renovation of the laboratories at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, which concluded in 2014. It was a project that required someone who could see the big picture.

"Yes, we were involved in everything but went about it very systematically," explains Danny Kyrping. "We took one section of the building at a time until it was almost completely stripped down, and then all the new equipment was installed. It was a logistical challenge because it meant organising the renovation itself as well as finding the optimal solutions for everybody. For example, we had the opportunity to put "wet" chemistry in one end of the building and analytical chemistry in the other. It means that we now have flexible laboratories that can suit many different users," says Danny and adds:

"There are obviously always some things that could have been done differently, but I think that overall we have achieved a really good result. It will be interesting to see the laboratories in 30 years because a lot of the old equipment we threw out was about 30 years old."

A working day in a blend of workshop and research environments is part of what gives Danny Kypring a wide range of encounters in his everyday life.

"It's both contact with colleagues at the workshop and the very close relationship with the researchers we help and service - it's exciting because there are many different people and nationalities here who contribute to making an interesting work day," says Danny, whose skills extend beyond the corridors and laboratories of his own department.

"With professor Johathan Brewer from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, I've been involved in the development and construction of some fantastically powerful and advanced microscopes that open up completely new possibilities for the researchers. My part of the work has been about controlling the microscope with a computer, and I've made software that speaks to the ready-made units and also home-made electronic units which control lenses and filters," explains Danny enthusiastically.

Family life in the outdoors

Danny Kyrping is married to Jeanette. They have two boys who are 6 and 10 years old, and the family lives about 7 kilometres from Campusvej.

"It's nice and close to work and means that I usually cycle to the university," explains Danny, who generally speaking likes to be outdoors - and preferably with his family.

"We go kayaking around the coast. In the beginning I bought one kayak, but there wasn't enough room for us all in it, so it soon became necessary to get hold of one more so that we could all go together. In the winter we like to go skiing, and we spend the summer holidays camping. In that kind of holiday we now and then stay overnight in a youth hostel or hotel but we all agree that it's better in a tent," says Danny and smiles.

"It's how I grew up. When I was a child, our holidays always involved rucksacks and tents. I've been to France, Germany, Denmark - even to Greenland - to go hiking and sleep in the open air, and I would like to give my boys some of the same outdoors experiences that I had as a boy. Fortunately Jeanette agrees with me! So, we're an active family that enjoys the outdoors - and I always look forward to the next time we go away," says Danny.

So, when Danny isn't at Work, it's all about his family. Being the craftsman he is, Danny of course takes care of home repairs and maintenance himself. And if there were more time, Danny Kypring would also like to get started on other projects.

"I have my workshop, and I dream of having more time for various small projects. For instance, I have a motorbike that hasn't been out for a couple of years and could do with a little attention. But that will come in time, because at the moment, Jeanette and the boys are top priority," says Danny with conviction.

Back at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, our allotted time for the interview is about to end, and Danny has to go back to the workshop to take care of another task - and there are plenty of those! So it is great that Danny Kyrping has given up some time to talk about himself and his job. Danny smiles and makes a confession:

"I find it difficult to say no when someone asks me to do something. I'm not very good at that," he admits. And we are glad about that - thank you, Danny Kyrping! 

Editing was completed: 25.02.2016
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