New Head of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute
Assistant professor Kasper Hallenborg – aged only 38 – has become the new Head of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute at University of Southern Denmark. He has conducted intense research in technological solutions for the elderly of the future and is a distinctive voice in the debate on welfare technology.
It is a recognised and ebullient researcher who will soon occupy the driver’s seat of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute at University of Southern Denmark. Assistant professor, engineer and Ph.D. Kasper Hallenborg will be directing the institute primarily known for developing robots and welfare technology solutions for the elderly of the future.
Despite his young age, he has already put significant fingerprints on research. After earning the highest possible grade for his final dissertation as Master of Science in Computer Systems Engineering, he has written a Ph.D. on software for intelligent environments, and he has taken part in the development a new luggage system for airports allowing them to improve handling of large amounts of luggage.
Since then, he has moved into the field of welfare technology where he is developing new aids for elderly people. He has developed systems improving the capacity of technological aids to cooperate with and help citizens. Among other things he has been working on improving the quality of life for chronic patients – for instance home training for COPD patients (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and guidance of demented via smartphones.
But he has also become a distinctive voice within welfare technology by daring to vent his frustrations as a researcher when seeing good, innovative projects within the field of telemedicine and welfare technology fall to the ground when hitting the wall of organisational challenges such as bureaucracy and unwillingness to innovate.
- When the care systems of the communities are not open for integration with the welfare tech solutions being presented almost daily, for instance for home training, medication, personal aid etc. then those solutions won’t help promote digitalization and free up the desired staff resources, writes Kasper Hallenborg among other things in an opinion piece.
Kasper Hallenborg lives and breathes for his research and hopes to be able to continue researching in the integration of software and welfare technology although there will now be more paperwork and budgets to attend to as Head of Institute.
Privately, Kasper Hallenborg lives in Odense with his wife and their son. His first day at work as Head of Institute will be on 1 September 2014.
For more information please contact
Appointed dean ad interim: Mr. Horst-Günter Rubahn
Direct phone +45 6550 1190 / E-mail rubahn@mci.sdu.dk