Torben Sørensen,

1928-2009

Torben Sørensen was the founder and director of the Danish Hydraulic Institute DHI from 1964 to 1996.

Torben possessed profound knowledge of hydraulics and geotechnical and civil engineering - especially with regard to the coastal environment – and had a unique talent for leadership and excellent business acumen. He used these qualities to build the institute, which reached recognition worldwide under his direction. For this achievement, Torben Sørensen was honoured with the International Coastal Engineering Award by the Coastal Engineering Council in 2000.

Torben Sørensen was from his earliest years fascinated by the profession of port engineering, his father being the founder of a Danish consulting engineering firm specialised in marine works. Torben Sørensen finished his studies at the Technical University of Denmark in 1952 and worked for three years with consultancy. In the late fifties and early sixties, major marine works were planned in Denmark, and Torben Sørensen was employed as a research engineer at the coastal Engineering Laboratory at the Danish University to assist Professor Lundgren, who had initiated the transformation of Danish port and coastal engineering from mainly empirically based disciplines to a research-oriented speciality.

In 1964, the Danish Hydraulic Institute DHI was formed with Torben Sørensen as its director. His vision was not only to provide Danish society with professional services but also to create an international business, which could be a spearhead for Danish expertise within hydraulic engineering.

During the following decades, computational hydraulics took off with the ever increasing strength of the computers. DHI adopted this new technology, which would later on prove to become an indispensable tool for the engineering and decision-making world. Computational hydraulics was the answer to Torben Sørensen’s vision for the future of hydraulics, and he created the stimulating environment at DHI for this development.

Torben Sørensen realised the value and necessity of research and development and continuously strived for achieving even more accurate tools and methods. He was a strong proponent of the Danish technological service system, which provided a unique basis for conveying research and applications from the academic world to support the engineering profession. For several years, he served as Chairman of the Council of Danish Technological Service Institutes.

We are sure that many in the hydraulics research community will continue to appreciate him, respect him and admire him. And many people will be thankful for his friendship and the opportunities he created. All honour to his memory!

Asger Kej, Jens Kirkegaard, Ida Brøker, DHI