It is with deep sadness that we announce that Lars-Ulrik Aaen Andersen, Head of Department at DTU Electro, has passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Lars-Ulrik Aaen Andersen was appointed Head of Department at DTU Fotonik in 2010, succeeding DTU’s President Anders Bjarklev in the post; since 2022, he has served as Head of Department for the combined DTU Electro, where electrical engineering and photonics were merged into a single department.
Anders Bjarklev extends his thoughts to Lars-Ulrik Aaen Andersen’s loved ones. He also expresses great appreciation for Lars-Ulrik Aaen Andersen’s research and leadership at DTU, which have had an impact far beyond the university’s walls.
“Lars-Ulrik possessed a rare combination of deep technological understanding and an eye for how to create strong research environments. Under his leadership, we succeeded in bringing together photonics and electrical engineering within DTU Electro whilst maintaining our ambition to conduct research at the highest international level. He has been a driving force in the development of a department where research, education and innovation go hand in hand, and where new technologies are transformed into solutions and businesses that create value for society,” says Anders Bjarklev.
A key achievement of Lars-Ulrik Aaen Andersen’s professional career is the establishment and development of DTU Electro as a unified academic organisation focusing on synergies between research areas, enhanced teaching and closer links between research, innovation and industry. He has also highlighted spin-out companies and the commercialisation of research as important ways of translating the department’s technology into societal value.
Lars Ulrik Aaen Andersen will be fondly remembered as a respected and committed leader, researcher and colleague with a keen curiosity about the world and the people around him.
Lars Ulrik Aaen Andersen was 63 years old.
