At the age of 73 and with 50 years in the ”service of the state”, as he jokingly puts it, Associate Professor Arne Skou has seen it all – or at least most of it. It all started with a keen interest in mathematics.
- Already in primary school, I got interested in mathematics. I had some very good teachers, both at school and later in high school, and I think that played an important role for me when deciding on studying mathematics at the university.
Originally from Sjælland, the University of Copenhagen was the obvious choice. Already during his first year – and we are back in 1967 – there were rumours about this new education called Computer Science (“Datalogi”). Arne and a group of fellow students jumped at the first opportunity in 1969.
- It was new and exciting technology. The fact that you were able to carry out complex calculations fast and under your programmatic control really fascinated me. Up to then, manual calculation or a slide rule were your options.
Arne took a minor (“bifag”) in both mathematics and computer science, went on to take a major (“hovedfag”) in computer science, and graduated in 1975. This does not compute with a 50th anniversary in 2021, you may say, but Arne does the calculation for us:
- When I started in my major, there was a call for instructors, so in September of 1971, I taught my first course in programming, which means that September 2021 marks my 50th anniversary as an employee of the state.
Move to Aalborg
By 1975, Arne and his wife, Gitte, had two children and wished to move out of the city.
- Back in the 1970s, Copenhagen was not really an attractive place to live for a family. So, when I saw an opening for a scientific staff member at the Aalborg University computing centre (AUD, Aalborg Universitets Datacenter), I applied and I got the job.
Computer Science at AAU was in its infancy in those years. A minor degree programme was introduced in 1975, but Computer Science and Mathematics were units under the Department of Electronic Systems, and Arne’s association with Computer Science at AAU was still years away.
In 1977-1981, Arne participated in a network group formed by the central computing centres of the Danish universities. The task was to define a call for tenders to a national research network (Centernet) – leading to the later introduction of the Internet in Denmark in 1988.
- At the time, I saw it as a mail server and not much more than a handy way of getting in contact with colleagues around the world!
In 1986, Arne got a year’s leave from his job at AUD to participate in a network group formed by the computer science departments in Denmark. The task was to study and experiment with network protocols and systems and also their design and validation using various techniques – including formal methods. This was later on applied as a case study in his PhD thesis.
Interest in the scientific world
The 1980s saw an increase in decentralized computing environments at the Danish universities, and centralized services like AUD would eventually be phased out.
- At that time, the scientific world had caught my interest, among other things due to two-week courses in Alpe d’Huez and Marktoberdorf that I was lucky enough to attend. Famous computer scientists like Peter Naur, Per Brinch Hansen, Tony Hoare and Edsger W. Dijkstra taught classes during the day, and the afternoons and evenings were spent on social events and scientific discussions. I remember that my interest in the theoretical aspects of programming really took off at that time. Up to then, my work at AUD had primarily been a combination of system development and testing, so this was a new and very interesting world that opened up to me.
Consequently, Arne started as a PhD student with the now Professor Kim Guldstrand Larsen as his supervisor in 1987.
- Kim had just finished his PhD at the Edinburgh University, so the timing was great. The subject matter of Kim’s PhD was process algebra, so it was a natural step for me to work within that area. As part of your PhD, you had to spend a year abroad, so I studied for a year at the Sussex University under the renowned Professor Matthew Hennessy, who was originally at the University of Edinburgh.
Arne finished his PhD in 1990 and took up a position as Associate Professor at the Department of Electronic Systems, which at that time was still formally the home of Mathematics and Computer Science.
In addition to his involvement in a number of research projects, Arne took on some administrative duties including Head of the Computer Science unit from 1993 to 1999.
Embedded systems
At the beginning of the new millennium, substantial government funding was made available to establish centres of competence west of the Great Belt with IT as a focal area. Arne and Kim were involved in the strategic discussions at the Department of Electronic Systems related to the new centres, and it soon became clear that the focus should be on embedded systems.
- ‘CISS - Centre for Embedded Software Systems’ was established in 2002 with Kim as Head and myself as one of the Deputy Heads. We started out in our own premises at Fredrik Bajers Vej, but it turned out to be too far away from students and colleagues, when the Department of Computer Science moved to the Cassiopeia building in 2007.
The focus on embedded systems grew out of an already well-established collaboration across research units.
- There was, and still is, an obvious and very strong synergy between the worlds of physical electronic systems and the more theoretical approach of computer science. Already then, we were very conscious that this interdisciplinary approach gave us a unique identity and an edge in relation to other computer science environments in Denmark, and it is a strong area of expertise that we have maintained to this very day.
Arne is a member of the DEIS - Distributed, Embedded and Intelligent Systems research group, and has been involved in numerous projects over the years within different domains. However, use of digitalisation on energy optimization soon became an area of particular interest.
- Energy is a very interesting domain, not least because of the societal impact which has always been an important driver for my research activities. It is also a domain that has triggered a lot of joint efforts across the three research units at our department.
An engine in the larger machinery
Since 2017, Arne has been on a two-day work-week. He does not in any way find it hard to maintain the interest and curiosity needed to involve himself in new projects.
- I always tend to discover new angles and opportunities, either through contacts within the scientific community or through the different research activities I am involved in. I guess being a researcher is part of your personality or identity, so you do not just stop looking for those new angles. In that respect, I think it has actually been an advantage for me that during the first approximately ten years of my career, I worked with something more operational than scientific.
A question that needs to be asked is of course: How about a professorship – was that never the dream?
- It has never really been relevant for me, and I have never sought a professorship. So, it is in no way a broken dream for me. I have always felt very comfortable being what you may call one of the engines in the larger machinery.
Surrounded by good colleagues
Arne has no concrete plans for retirement. He was involved in the start-up of the three big projects FED, FEVER and domOS and his intention is to follow through on those projects – all ending in 2023. It is, however, on one condition.
- I have been fortunate enough to be able to continue working at a reduced number of days without feeling that I am taking the place of somebody else. The minute my staying on blocks for filling out new positions, I will for sure not stand in the way.
An important reason for still checking in at the Cassiopeia building is the work environment.
- I really like working here at CS. I am surrounded by good colleagues that I have known for many years now, and we have a really good research community both in my unit and in the department at large.
When he is not at CS, Arne enjoys spending time with his wife, their three children and their seven grandchildren. He also spends quite a lot of time playing the violin – jazz, classical and any other genres that give him pleasure playing, and he is also one of the operators in the local cinema in his hometown Skørping, some 30 km south of Aalborg.
To the final question on when and how the anniversary will be celebrated, Arne reveals that the plan is to wait and combine it with his retirement reception – whenever that will be.