Annual Report 2010 (4.1 MB) - Danish Technological Institute

Review > 2010
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and development activities under the
performance contract entered into for
the period 2010-2012 with the Ministry
of Science, Technology and Innovation.
These activities are set to be of great
importance to the future competitiveness
of the Danish business sector in a
large variety of technologies.
EU projects
The Institute is an active participant
in the EU’s Seventh Framework
Programme. In 2010, the Institute
submitted 18 project applications, of
which eight new projects were committed.
This means that the Danish
Technological Institute hit rate was
44% in 2010, which was above the
average EU hit rate.
New facilities
In concert with the National Environmental
Research Institute at Aarhus
University, the Kattegatcentret and the
Ocean Centre Denmark development
project, the Institute has set up new
cooperation under the name of Algae-
Centre Denmark. The Centre aims at
establishing an algae cultivation facility
at the Kattegatcentret in Grenaa
harbour. The facility will be Denmark’s
first recirculating facility for research
and development related to the use
of algae as a new resource for, e.g.
sustainable energy, feed, medicine and
food ingredients.
In March, the new pelleting test facility
in Sønder Stenderup was inaugurated.
More than 100 key persons
from Denmark and abroad attended
the inauguration. Established in a
strategic partnership with Andritz
Feed & Biofuel A/S, the facility takes
the Institute to the forefront of European
laboratories involved in biomass.
The strategy is to develop methods,
technologies and new knowledge that
are user-oriented and have a high international
level and market potential.
The establishment of a new motor
laboratory also takes the Danish
Technological Institute to the forefront
among European laboratories with motor
fuel testing and emissions measuring
as their lines of business. The new
motor laboratory was inaugurated in
the spring of 2010. The laboratory
contains a state-of-the-art motor test
bench with equipment for determining
fuel consumption and measuring pollution.
The Institute can now perform
measurements in compliance with
the strictest European and American
standards in the field.
In November, the Institute inaugurated
the newly-built rented premises
in Forskerparken in Odense, housing
Institute robot activities. The premises
are designed as one open robot laboratory,
workshops and offices, covering
an area of 1,100 square metres. The
robot laboratory was built together with
Region of Southern Denmark’s new test
hospital and will, in future, play a key
role in the development and commissioning
of new welfare technologies.
Consultancy services and training
Consultancy services for private and
public companies account for 18.3%
of total Institute revenue. Consultancy
services are rendered on the basis of
the knowledge developed from research
and development activities and
through long-term cooperation with
a large share of the business sector.
These tasks are essential in terms of
giving the Institute insight into customer
challenges.
Training accounts for 16.6% of total
consolidated revenue. In 2010, a total
of 39,505 people attended Institute
courses, seminars and conferences.
Operator projects
Following a tender, the Danish Energy
Agency decided to move the
“Secretariat for energy labelling of
buildings and inspection schemes”
away from the Institute. In return,
the Institute won a new scheme with
the Danish Energy Agency – Skrotditoliefyr.dk
– where citizens can apply
for subsidies for scrapping their oil
burners in return for more energyefficient
sources of heat.
The Institute has set up a new website
– Opfind.nu – under the Consultancy
Service for Inventors. More
than 300 user profiles have been
created on the website after only a
couple of months’ existence, and this
is very satisfactory.
Organisation and employees
The activities and development of
the Danish Technological Institute
require competent and well qualified
employees who constantly enhance
their competences. In 2010, the
Institute invested EUR 1.0 million in
supplementary training of employees
– primarily in short-term training
programmes in customer relations,
presentation techniques and project
management.
In 2010, Institute centres underwent
an optimisation process focusing on
commercial activities. The process
involved an analysis of business
potential, organisation and staff
composition, the purpose being to
identify the centres’ commercial