From Operator to green leader

Civil engineer internship 
- now Energy Specialist at BIRN

As an Energy Specialist at BIRN, Emil Husted Brodersen has a mission: to help lead the iron foundry to a more sustainable future.

Emil Husted Brodersen was born in the Danish city Holstebro and grew up in one of the neighborhoods surrounding BIRN. But even though the iron foundry’s tall chimneys overlooked most of his childhood, the now 26-year-old civil engineer has not grown tired of Holstebro or BIRN.

After completing his master's degree in Sustainable Energy Planning and Management at Aalborg University in 2022, Emil has returned to Holstebro and now works as an Energy Specialist at BIRN. The job offered an opportunity he did not want to miss:

- Foundry production is an energy-intensive process and thus offers many opportunities to make an impact. So, when I got the chance to help BIRN optimize its energy consumption and thus reduce its climate footprint, I jumped at it, he says. 

Started in the machine factory 
It is not the first time that Emil has worked at BIRN. After completing high school in 2015, he worked for two years as a Set-Up Operator in BIRN's machine factory, and during his studies to civil engineer, Emil kept in touch with his old workplace. In several summer holidays, he worked as a substitute at BIRN, and the ongoing contact later allowed him to take his internship at the foundry.

The focus of the internship was the foundry's melting department. During the internship, he investigated how to optimize the melting process by improving the conditions for the melt operators – a work he continued when he was permanently employed by BIRN after completing his master's:

- BIRN saw potential in my work, which I have continued since being employed. We have just completed the first tests of a new operator tool that comes in the form of a tablet. It enables the melters to monitor the temperature in the ovens in real time and in that way optimize energy consumption. Emil Husted Brodersen explains and adds, that the test shows promising results.