DTU Electro

Industry partners, researchers, and curious minds joined us for the hottest takes in sound🔊

Our annual acoustic technology presentation day is over. Researchers and students spent the day presenting their latest research and demonstrating technology to guests from the public.

We covered a wide array of acoustic applications including:

🎤 Microphones
🦻Hearing aids
🤖Machine learning
🧠Neural networks

Our acoustic technology group develops improved technological solutions for communication within room acoustics, loudspeakers and hearing aids and noise control within transportation, vibration control, noise in buildings and the propagation of outdoor noise.

We hope to see you at the presentation day next year – in the meantime you can learn more about the acoustic technology group’s activities in the comment section👇

Inspection technology but make it ✨non-destructive✨

Our spinout Applied Material Intelligence (AMI) (formerly Glaze Technologies) offers inspection without radiation harmful to humans and damage to materials.

We joined their recent relaunch for a live demo of their product Chameleon and dialogue with the industry on how this technology will change the game💭

Chameleon makes it possible to see composition and defects beneath the surface of materials, much like X-rays, but without harmful radiation❤️

Simultaneously, Chameleon is not limited to a single industry or material. It adapts to your needs.

This will radically change the way the industry develops, produces and maintains advanced materials, by directly inspecting materials where they are located and used, without the need for special safety precautions.

What will this mean?
💨 Better materials faster
💸 Lower production cost
⏳ Extended lifetime in operation

AMI makes this possible by delivering hardware, software, data storage and analytical tools as integrated products to Danish and international customers.

Follow their page to keep up with their work🤝

The last place you want mistakes is when you’re in a tin can soaring through the sky✈️

A new research project backed by Innovationsfonden is here to detect hidden flaws in aerospace components faster and more accurately, ensuring both heightened safety and sustainability.

Every year, large quantities of expensive and safety-critical composite components are discarded because existing inspection methods can’t detect all defects🤔

In the aerospace industry, even small hidden flaws can have major consequences for safety, delivery time, and cost.

Without x-ray or even physical contact, the THz-NEXUS project will integrate decades of knowledge from the labs into a terahertz-based measurement tool, aiming to:

⚠️ Catch defects earlier
💸 Reduce costly rework
♻️ Minimise material waste
✅ Improve overall production efficiency

“The goal is a solution ready for use in the composite industry, capable of detecting small hidden defects while operating in a busy production environment where quality, speed, and documentation must align,” says Professor Peter Uhd Jepsen.

In short: better inspection = fewer errors, less waste, and safer skies.

The project is developed through close collaboration with AMI – Applied Material Intelligence and Space Composite Structures Denmark🤝

Learn more about the project in the article in the comment section👇🏼

Sustainable mining. That’s an oxymoron… right?🤔

Deep beneath the Arctic lies a tough dilemma: minerals crucial to the green transition… sitting in one of the planet’s most fragile environments.

Traditionally, extracting them has meant making a trade-off costly to the environment, but the BOREAS project reimagines this – from the ground *down*💭

Instead of destroying the underground with a “drill now, fix later”-mentality, the project, supported by Horizon Europe, introduces a new approach.

By combining autonomous robotics, real-time environmental sensing, and digital twins, mining becomes something radically different:

🧠 Systems that adapt in real time
✋ Operations that slow down or stop before damage happens
🔎 Full transparency from extraction to supply chain

It’s less like traditional mining… and more like a self-driving system constantly recalculating the safest and least damaging route.

Demand for critical minerals is exploding. And if we’re serious about sustainability, how we source materials matters just as much as what we build with them🌱

BOREAS signals a shift from rigid plans and damage control to intelligent adaptation and damage prevention, creating a blueprint for balancing resource needs with environmental responsibility at scale.

The future of the green transition won’t just be powered by better materials, but by better decisions🤝

Learn more about the project in the article in the comment section👇

1 year, 10 spinouts. From research to reality at record speed🚀

In just a single year we took a surge of spinouts from research to real-world impact, across climate tech, computing, and autonomous systems.

Different teams. Different technologies. Same pattern: ideas reaching reality faster than ever.

So what stood out?

🌱 Climate solutions are getting more precise. Better measurement of emissions isn’t just technical progress, it’s decision power. And decision power drives real change.

⚡ Energy is becoming embedded. We’re moving beyond “adding” sustainability. Buildings and materials should generate energy by design.

🌐 The invisible layer is evolving fast. Optical technologies are quietly reshaping how we process and transmit information, faster, leaner, and closer to where data is created.

🦾 Machines are getting smarter (and safer). New sensing and adaptive systems are improving how humans and machines interact, across robotics, drones, and beyond.

✏️ Translation is a force multiplier. Design, visualization, and communication are no longer “nice to have.” They’re essential to turning complex research into real-world impact.

This wasn’t luck.

We’ve built an ecosystem that consistently turns knowledge into action, through strong research, support structures, and a culture that prioritizes execution🤝

If this is what one year can produce, the real question is: How fast can we go from here?

Learn more about the 10 spinouts and momentum as an asset in the article in the comment section👇

Light is life – and much more than that💡

Tomorrow we mark the International Day of Light. It may sound simple, but in reality it’s both one of the most fundamental and advanced things we have.

Without light? No life.

Photosynthesis alone makes light the very foundation of our existence.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Today, light is also a driving force behind some of the greatest advances in our society:

🩺 Health
Light technology is used to diagnose diseases, monitor patients and develop new treatments. From scans to laser-based interventions – light saves lives.

🌱 Climate and environment
Advanced sensors and satellites use light to monitor climate change and give us data so we can make better decisions.

🌽 Agriculture and food
With light, we can map soil, optimize production and even grow crops indoors all year round. This makes us less dependent on weather and seasons – and more efficient.

☀️ Energy
Solar energy is one of the most obvious and promising sources of sustainable energy – and the technology is constantly improving.

🌐 Communication and knowledge
The Internet? Largely built on light. Fiber optics and photonics connect people, knowledge and opportunities across the globe.

Why tomorrow? May 16th marks a historic breakthrough: The very first laser was demonstrated by physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman.

Since then, we’ve only broadened our knowledge of what light can do – and we aren’t done.

Kan man hacke en satellit?🤔

Spoiler: Ja. Og det er ikke kun noget fra en Hollywood-film.

I den nyeste “Ingen dumme spørgsmål”-podcast, joiner Oscar Theilvig Strømsborg Esben Pretzman og Jonas Kuld Rathje for at afdække satellitters sårbarhed og mulige løsninger💡

Satellitter er ikke urørlige, de kan rammes af klassiske angreb som spoofing, jamming og man-in-the-middle. Og nej, det er ikke kun teenageren i en kælder. Det kan være statslige aktører med seriøse ressourcer.

Fra cyberangrebet under invasionen af Ukraine i 2022, der slog internetforbindelser ud i hele regioner, til den ikoniske “Captain Midnight”-episode i 1987, hvor en satellitudsendelse blev kapret, er det tydeligt at angreb kan have meget virkelige konsekvenser🛰️

Men hvordan forsvarer man noget, der flyver rundt i rummet? Der er heldigvis muligheder:

🧠Maskinlæring ombord
⚔️Zero trust-arkitektur
🧐Overvågning af intern bustrafik.

Et nyt kapløb er i gang.

Med tusindvis af nye satellitter (hej Starlink 👋) vokser både mulighederne og angrebsfladen. Det er Space Race 2.0, og denne gang handler det ikke kun om at komme først… men om at være sikrest✅

Hvis du vil blive klogere på, hvorfor cybersikkerhed i rummet er tættere på din hverdag, end du tror, kan du finde linket til podcasten i kommentarsporet👇

Exploring the robotics innovation brewing in Denmark before they hit the big stage🤖

In preparation for the 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation, researchers in Denmark met up at the Natural History Museum in Copenhagen to present and discuss their work🔎

From keynotes to workshops and papers, researchers from across universities and disciplines shared a vibrant mix of ideas within robotics and AI🤝

The format struck a great balance between short talks and in-depth poster discussions, making space for both inspiration, questions and constructive feedback.

Amongst colleagues from DTU, University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University, Lazaros Nalpantidis and Evangelos Boukas presented their work on:

🌽 Perception in agricultural robotics, where AI meets sustainable farming
🚢 Drones for marine infrastructure inspection, removing human risk from dangerous environments

The poster session brought energy and curiosity, and created space to explore contributions rather than rushing between sessions at the main conference.

Big takeaway? Strong communities don’t just happen at global conferences. They’re built locally, through open exchange, early feedback, and a shared curiosity about what’s next💭

Thanks for the talks and the thrilling discussions! We look forward to seeing many of these ideas take the stage at ICRA in Vienna next month🦾

The Internet’s climate footprint is huge, but it may be crucial to solving the climate crisis🌍

Professor Leif Katsuo Oxenløwe highlights that this paradox isn’t a contradiction to solve, it’s a trade-off to understand💡

Yes, the Internet and its surrounding infrastructure consume a lot of resources.
But they also reshape how we use them:

🎵 Streaming replaces physical production and distribution
🌐 Digital systems reduce travel, waste, and inefficiencies
🧠 AI accelerates solutions in areas like energy, health, and logistics

So the real issue isn’t whether the Internet is “good” or “bad” for the climate.

It’s whether we’re using it in ways that reduce total impact.

For every 1kg of CO2 the Internet emits, it saves 1.5kg elsewhere🤝

But with the explosive growth within AI and the continued growth of Internet usage, will this continue to be the case?

Maybe, but that requires us to continue developing knowledge on how to harness the powers of communication technologies, and yes, AI.

Digital technologies are not inherently sustainable or unsustainable, they’re amplifiers.

Used wisely, they can cut emissions, reduce waste, and accelerate innovation. Used poorly, they simply add to the burden🤔

Learn more about what Oxenløwe and other researchers at DTU say on this matter in the article in the comment section👇

What if closing the STEM gender gap starts at home?💭

We hosted the NGO High5Girls for a workshop on coding and AI for teenage girls and their mothers👩‍👧

Statistics show that 75% of the time, mothers are the ones talking career options with their daughters, making mom the most important role model when it comes to education and work life.

Graduates from our Autonomous Systems master’s programme, Oda Byskov Aggerholm and Helena Hauter, taught the participants how to code a model to play the classic game Snake🐍

The mother/daughter-duos trained AI to recognize their movements and transform them into game controls, unlocking a whole new dimension of gameplay🕹️

The evening offered hands-on experience as well as meaningful conversations about education and the ways in which mothers can support their daughters’ STEM journeys.

The combination of technical exercises as well as deep talks about stereotypes and biases, and how we can impact them, the evening shined a light on what’s important for girls’ way into STEM🔬

The event was free for participants thanks to the Code Week Small Grants Award and ECWT - European Centre for Women and Technology, coordinator of the Nordic Regional Coding Hub🤝