Søren Christensen is the owner of the company StrokeImaging Solutions ApS, and a year ago he and his family decided to move from Sweden to Denmark. They chose to buy a home in Billund, and we would like to know why it was precisely Billund that was chosen as their new home municipality.
Søren Christensen started studying medicine in 1996, after just over 3 years in medical school, he saw an advertisement looking for engineering students. "It was a poster like We Want You, and I thought it would be very fun to hear about - and to make a long story short, yes, I replaced the last 3 years in medical school with 2 years in the engineering program.” says Søren, and continues: "It is often the case with the type of work I do that the engineers have difficulty understanding the medical aspects of it, and conversely doctors have difficulty with the technical aspects at the lowest level."
This gives Søren a clear advantage, because he has knowledge from both worlds, and thus can both understand the doctors' scientific articles and the technical aspects of the programming.
In addition, Søren has completed a Ph.D. at the Center for Integrative Neuroscience at Aarhus University Hospital, he says: "When you get a PhD, they want you to travel for a year - so I went to Australia and ended up in a department where they did something with a stroke, i.e. blood clots in the brain.", he continues: "I ended up getting a job in the department while I was still working on my PhD, as a kind of research engineer - I finished the PhD and stuck around in Australia doing clinical studies until we moved to the US in 2012.”
After 7 years in the USA, Søren Christensen and his wife would like to move to Denmark, but as the wife is from Australia, there are very strict rules regarding settling in the country. "It is difficult for non-EU citizens to be allowed to enter Denmark, but luckily you can use the more lenient EU rules in the rest of Europe," says Søren. "That's why we chose to move to Sweden, where I then also started independently as a consultant."
Last year they had the opportunity to move to Denmark, and since Søren Christensen's mother lives in Vejle, it was obvious to find something nearby.
3 crucial things
There were 3 very specific things that made Søren Christensen and his family choose to come to Billund. "The International School was absolutely central - it was clearly the one that made the difference." He continues: "Then in Billund you could also buy a house that was affordable, i.e. house prices that hadn't completely taken off, and last but not least that there are internationals in the area, so there was someone to get in touch with for my wife, who is Australian after all. Those were the 3 things that definitely decided it.”
When the family then arrived in Billund, several unique qualities appeared, which Søren would like to highlight: "When we came to Billund, it exceeded expectations in all areas! Everything is close, everything is only 5 minutes away... It's hard to find something that doesn't take 5 minutes to drive down to." and then he adds with a smile: "And then you have the airport just around the corner, so you can quickly get to a bigger city, if that's what you miss - my wife is mostly into big cities, so..."
Søren Christensen also highlights one thing that is completely unique to Billund: "The international culture in Billund is really good. Both via the International School, where you quickly build a network with other parents, and the international community in Billund. You quickly come into contact with others from the international environment – there is a super culture of integration in the city, which is really cool in terms of getting in touch with others. We did not expect that in a city of Billund's size.”
About StrokeImaging Solutions
StrokeImaging Solutions is a company where Søren helps detect blood clots in the brain via software. He explains: "When you get symptoms of a blood clot in the brain, it's about getting treated as soon as possible. During this treatment, some images are taken of the brain to find out whether it is a blood clot or a hemorrhage.” he continues: "Today, it is generally the case that if you come to the hospital many hours after the blood clot occurred, special scans are required to be sure that you can benefit from the treatment. Unfortunately, it is not the case that you can just look at the scan to see if the patient will benefit from the treatment, an analysis must first be made, and that is what I do – I develop the software that analyzes and image processes the scans.”
StrokeImaging Solutions became a member of Billund Erhverv earlier this year, when Søren Christensen sees opportunities in the business network: "When you sit alone in a small office, you don't meet many other business people, so for me it's really good to be part of a network , where it is possible to meet others with whom you can spar - It may be difficult to find someone specifically from my industry, but it could be if you wanted to start something with the internet, web, AI or the like." Søren concludes.
Billund Erhverv's settlement coordinator Marianne K. Thomsen helps movers into a place in Billund municipality, and is always ready to answer questions about everything from municipal waste sorting to schools and day care centers to vacant homes and houses for sale.
Contact Marianne at mkt@billunderhverv.dk and 2269 2498.
