By Julie Christiansen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photos: Peter Witten

25 years – or was it 30? 

To be precise, Torben Bach Pedersen has actually been employed in public service for over 30 years. When he and his former supervisor tried to figure out when to celebrate their anniversaries, they had to dig into the ATP employment registry to get a full view of their careers.  

"When we started counting, it turned out I suddenly had 30 years of public service – everything from substitute mailman on the weekends to part-time teacher at the university." 

The road to Computer Science at AAU

Torben’s career started at Kommunedata in the 90’s, where he helped develop some of the first client-server systems and Data Warehouse solutions. However, the desire for deeper technical engagement grew, and in 1997 he started an industrial PhD. 

When he finished in 2000, it became clear that his skills and ideas were a bit ahead of Kommunedatas plans – this marked the beginning of his career at Aalborg University: 

"I had to come up with something else, and my supervisor said: Why don’t you come to Aalborg and get a job here? So I did, and started the 15th of march, 2000." 

International community and scientific service

Over his 25 years at AAU, Torben has built lasting relationships with colleagues all over the world. Several of them date back to his time as a PhD student – one of them is now a part-time professor at AAU, while Torben holds an honorary doctorate from Dresden. 

"What’s special about the academic world is that you have colleagues all over the world that you’ve worked with for 20-25 years." 

But the job also comes with a lot of scientific service – from reviewing papers to organizing international conferences. This year, Torben serves as program committee chair for the international conference on digital energy held in the Netherlands.  

"Scientific service is what keeps the academic world running. It’s a lesser-known part of the story." 

Synergy between research and teaching 

Torben is committed to creating synergy between research, teaching, and students. He brings research directly into the classroom and encourages students to engage in dialogue:  

"Just go ahead – there are no stupid questions or answers. We’re here to become smarter together." 

In one course, students work with sales data from the department’s student bar. They use both wellknown standard tools and open-source tools developed by their teachers – and often end up preferring the latter: 

"They get to understand, that this isn’t something that just falls from the sky – it's something you can actually sit down and build yourself." 

PhD students also play a big role in Torben’s daily work. As he puts it: "They’re kind of like your academic teenage kids." 

What does the future hold? 

The past 15 years of Torben’s research has focused on digital energy – where computer science and sustainability meet in practice. He has worked on optimizing flexible electricity consumption to align it with the predictions of renewable energy production and how to work with flexibility. 

Another branch of his work has focused on making data processing and artificial intelligence more energy efficient: 

"There’s a lot of talk about the energy consumption of data centers – and you can actually reduce it significantly, almost without noticing, if you focus on optimizing the data." 

And the future? That part is already mapped out: 

"There’s definitely plenty to do in both areas of my research. I think they’ll continue to keep me busy for the next 10 years as well." 

Snapshots from Torben's anniversary reception: