Vermont Business Magazine Torben Orla Nielsen, consular officer and science/technology attaché in Denmark’s Boston Consulate, met last Thursday with University of Vermont researchers and key leaders in Vermont’s energy sector at the university’s Davis Center.
Nielsen said he came away impressed by the resourcefulness of business, government and non-profit leaders he met.
Torben Orla Nielsen speaks during the presentation. Professor Mads Almassalkhi is in the background. UVM photo.
“I think the small size of Vermont helps the collaborative process,” Nielsen said. “One of the people I met said today ‘we know how to get things done.’”
Nielsen is an economist and a scientist as well as a diplomat.
“I see diplomacy moving from classical international politics to focusing on specific areas like science and energy innovation, things that we can all collaborate on,” Nielsen said.
The meeting follows closely on the heels of a memorandum of understanding signed June 7 by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Denmark Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Dan Jørgensen. The agreement outlines areas of collaboration between the two countries in clean energy research, science and technology.
The meeting was arranged by UVM Associate Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering Mads Almassalkhi. A Danish native, he invited Nielsen to come north to get a close look at Vermont, which Almassalkhi describes as a “rock star” when it comes to energy innovation.
“This is an opportunity to describe how Vermont’s energy vision, implementation, and execution is unique, world-class and impactful,” he said.
Almassalkhi sees the conference as a first step in positioning UVM and the state as key partners in joint Danish-American projects to commercialize and scale emerging technologies as fast as possible.
The meeting was followed by a series of visits to innovative energy and tech companies including Beta Technologies, Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET), Benchmark Space Systems, Hula and Packetized Energy.