He makes researchers’ ideas a reality
Assistant Engineer Torben Sørensen recently received the Queen’s Medal of Merit for 40 years of service at SDU. In honour of the occasion, we talked to him about a dedicated career at the University where he has focused on paving the way for researchers in physics, chemistry and pharmacy to conduct their research.
When asked what he has been doing during his 40 years at the University, Torben Sørensen immediately invites you on a tour of the physics laboratory.
Because that's where his special skills as a precision mechanic have made a tangible difference for decades when SDU physicists have been investigating everything from surface physics to nanotechnology.
Torben Sørensen is an assistant engineer at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, and over the years he has built laboratory equipment for all sorts of experiments and studies – ranging from feasible to almost impossible – at the Department. In fact, the equipment is still running strong and continues to be used in the labs.
From idea to reality
It goes without saying that it’s no picnic having to translate the researcher’s wild ideas into something that can actually be built. But Torben Sørensen has over the years been committed to solving this very challenge:
- It’s been an exciting part of the task to discuss the projects with the researchers in order to clarify how their ideas and sketches for new equipment could actually be constructed mechanically and in practice, and then of course build it afterwards, Torben Sørensen explains about his collaboration with the researchers.
Indeed, our tour of the various installations in the physics laboratory clearly shows that Torben Sørensen has succeeded in turning the researchers’ ideas into tangible – and sophisticated – equipment that can be used to investigate the details of physics from widely different angles.
A precision engineer extraordinaire
Back in the day, it was a bit of a coincidence that Torben Sørensen was apprenticed as a precision engineer at the University of Odense, after his teacher at the technical school had pointed out the possibilities of the workshops at the University.
But when Torben Sørensen got started on his first projects at the workshop, the way was paved for a working life of more than 40 years as an assistant engineer.
Longtime colleague, Associate Professor Emeritus Per Morgen, has nothing but praise for Torben’s efforts:
- In fact, I don’t know where we would have been without Torben’s knack for constructing such high-quality equipment for us over the years. He truly is a precision engineer extraordinaire. He always has great ideas for remodelling or expanding existing lab equipment and is ready to help when equipment repairs are urgently needed, says Per Morgen when we meet him on our tour of the physics laboratory.
40 years of excellent workplace relationships
Once 2024 rolls around, Torben Sørensen’s tenure at the University’s workshops will come to a close. He is now retiring after a lifetime of work focused on providing the best possible engineering services to his colleagues at the University.
It is with a mixture of sadness and fond memories that he says goodbye to the University:
- I have always looked forward to coming to work and also sometimes popped into the workshop outside of working hours if I got an idea for a solution to a device I was going to build. We’ve had a great time at the department – we’re practically a big family – and everyone has been very like-minded, whether you’re a researcher, an assistant engineer, an apprentice or a student.
However, it’s by no means a farewell to precision engineering, as his home in Ryslinge boasts a fully equipped workshop, where he expects to do a lot more engineering in the years to come.