Thomas Riisgaard Hansen Email & Phone Number

Head of Digital Research Center Denmark (DIREC), a joint venture between all Danish Universities, with the mission of making Denmark one of the best places in Europe for digital research and innovation. It's a challenging mission and combines neatly deep knowledge of digital technology, experience with research, and strong management and leadership skills. I enjoy the process of creating and building stuff. It starts with asking questions about the world, connecting thoughts and ideas, and being curious. Then a hunch forms and ideas and visions appear. From here on it’s all about pursuing the idea, execution, and letting it evolve into a product, a service, or an organization. My passion for building has let me start a handful of companies, invest in some as a business angel, and help many more as a mentor. One of the companies I cofounded was Cetrea (now Maquet, Getinge Group). It took the journey from being a university spinout to an international healthcare company with 40+ employees before being acquired in 2014. At Cetrea we were one of the first companies to introduce IoT, pervasive, and mobile computing to the healthcare sector coupled with a focus on usability and design. It resulted in several awards most notably the “Red Herring Top 100 Global” award in 2011. In 2014, Maquet, Getinge Group acquired Cetrea and suddenly we were not just a Scandinavian company, but part of the global healthcare system. And while I do not work dedicated within Healthcare, I still have a strong passion for the area.Based on my experience running my own companies, I have developed a strong interest in entrepreneurship. I have pursued my interest in entrepreneurship by teaching classes at the universities about entrepreneurship, invested in a handful of startups, and have helped many more startup getting off the ground as a long-time mentor. At DIREC we do also have a strong focus on entrepreneurship and how new companies can be created based on digital research. Before founding Cetrea I worked in academia for six years doing my Ph.D. in healthcare and interaction design at the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University with a guest visit at UC Berkeley in California. While I seldom have time to code anymore, I still try to squeeze in some hands-on courses, programming projects or censor assignments to keep in touch with the newest technical development within e.g. AI, Cloud Computing or Quantum.

Listed skills include Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, Software Development, Software Design, and 25 others.