Søren Westermann has been named the Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU) Honorary Alumnus for 2020 in recognition of his unique support for hearing research at DTU, the school announced.
Westermann graduated from DTU with a Master of Science in Engineering in 1981.
During his years as a student, he was very involved in the Widex family business where, for a number of years, he was Director of Research, IP and IT, and later, Vice Chairman of the Board, until Widex merged with Sivantos in 2019 and formed WS Audiology. Today, Westermann is co-owner of WS Audiology and chairman of the board of T&W Holding.
The award as honorary alumnus is given on the basis of a nomination from DTU Elektro. The department is said to have “benefited greatly from a close collaboration with Søren Westermann.”
Former DTU Electrical Engineering department head, Kristian Stubkjær characterizes Westermann as “a firm support with constructive and useful views on what to pay attention to and how to prepare—all presented in the quiet and constructive way that is so characteristic of the way in which Søren interacts.”
Westermann was a member of the DTU Elektro Advisory Board until 2016. He was also among the initiators of the Centre for Applied Hearing Research (CAHR)—started in 2003—and was involved in the establishment of the Centre for Acoustic-Mechanical Micro Systems (CAMM), which began in 2014.
“Søren’s engagement has meant a lot for CAMM to become a reality, and his direct support and commitment has had a catalytic power,” said Stubkjær.
Westermann is very honored to receive the title and has also been very happy with the long cooperation with DTU, “right from the ‘Odin project’ at the acoustics lab in the mid-1980s, to the start of CAHR with Torsten Dau, 8+ years on the DTU Elektro Advisory Board, and finally, the start-up of CAMM.”
Westermann is a celebrated engineer in the hearing industry whose late father, Erik Westermann, was one of the founders of Widex. Along with Jan Topholm, brother Anders Westermann, and their engineering teams, he has been involved in most of the groundbreaking technologies developed at Widex during the past 40 years. He has also been very involved in international technical/standardization committees related to hearing aids and hearing testing, and served as a contributor the The Hearing Review and other publications.
Source: DTU
Image: DTU
