Universal Robots — How They Helped Create a Robotics “Silicon Valley” in Denmark.
How a municipal government, local universities, and a startup built a cutting edge robotics incubator in a small town in Denmark.
Universal Robots small robots are designed for industries that may have never thought of automating with a robot before — but now they can with technology even a nontechnical person could use.
Universal Robots has an interesting founders’ story as in it could only happen in Denmark (or somewhere with intellectual property laws that protect the individual). Three PhD’s developed the robot system after spending long hours in their university lab. They joined ranks via a clever collaboration with the local municipality and other universities in the area and also created a robotics incubator. The small town of Odense 1 1/2 hours west of Copenhagen is considered a leader in robotics technology and has even been referred to as the Robot Silicon Valley of Europe.
R & D is located in Odense with sales teams in 11 regions around the globe. Attracting diverse top talent has been the main driver of the company since inception. Jan Christian Klampe, HR Business Partner explains,
“We are solely focused on talent and top skilled employees and haven’t paid any attention to gender or religion or nationality. Our motto has simply been, get the best person you can find. This has actually attracted people from many places because they’ve heard about this new groundbreaking technology so they come to work with us. The other part is, of course, there is a lack of talent, locally in Denmark and it’s been difficult to find enough skilled people. So therefore we are forced to look abroad.”
While Denmark may be a small country it offers an amazing quality of life. It ranks in the top 5 countries in the world every year. And don’t forget hygge, a Danish word to describe a feeling of cozy contentment and well being through enjoying the simple things in life. Sweet yes? And cozy. While we can’t guarantee you’ll get hygge working at Universal Robots you will certainly feel it living in Denmark. Hygge is a well-practiced art.
Technical Java, Front End, and Application Developers this is your chance to work on the forefront of the robotics wave of the future. In case you’re intrigued but want to know more about the city, we also asked Jan for some insider information about living in Odense and Denmark.
Odense is best known for: birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen
Best places to go for a long weekend trip from Odense: Copenhagen, Hamburg, and the Nordic sea — the beaches are wonderful.
Best event in Odense: Tinderbox Music Festival
Best lunch spot close to work: The canteen is marvelous.
Best place for a date night: Downtown area
The most unexpected things about Odense: the buildings are very low
If you’re only in Odense for 24 hours what are all the things you must do? Visit H.C. Andersen’s birthplace, Odense Zoo, and the cozy downtown area.
Odense is: Right in the center of Denmark only 1½ hour drive to the border of Germany, 1½ hour drive to Copenhagen, 1½ hour drive to Aarhus (2nd largest city in Denmark) — and only 25 min from some of the best beaches in Denmark.
Want the chance to work on cutting edge robotics technology and live in one of the top quality of life countries in the world? We can help.
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