Jørgen Hallundbæk
It is with great sadness and regret that we announce that, Jørgen Hallundbæk, founder of Welltec, passed away on Sunday 9 January, 2022.
Jørgen Hallundbæk was an entrepreneur. From his university days, his mantras were "what is impossible, is possible" and "if I have never tried it before, then I can do well".
Jørgen completed his Masters of Science and Engineering degree from DTU in 1988 and wrote his thesis around his early concepts for the design of the revolutionary "Well Tractor" - basically a robot to convey downhole tools and equipment in horizontal oil wells, often at depths of several kilometers below the subsurface. He received top marks for his thesis and instead of getting a "normal" job, Jørgen started to realize his robot concept.
That was the beginning of Welltec, but Jørgen not only wanted to develop, he also wanted to promote his ideas. At the time, customers had never heard of such an approach and certainly not imagined it was possible at all. In many ways, Jørgen's ideas were ahead of their time and that also describes Jørgen in many aspects throughout his life. His vision brought forward challenges, but they were overcome, and Welltec grew into a global player with revolutionary solutions in an immensely complex industry.
At Welltec, Jørgen managed like no other to make complicated technical solutions understandable to everyone else. With passion, structure, and strong technical ability, Jørgen helped people to understand and see his vision. His leadership style followed the same approach and he was able to breakdown difficult decisions into simple problems that could be put into perspective, justified with real examples, and answered with common sense.
In parallel, Jørgen started a family with Marianne, with whom he had two children, Emil and Clara, and the family traveled around Denmark fulfilling their passion for horse training and riding competitions. The family and the children were Jørgen's one and all. Of course, Jørgen himself designed the family's house in Gribskov and the “state-of-the-art” stables for horses to provide unique surroundings for the family's great love of equestrian sports.
Jørgen managed Welltec through its journey from “garage company” to a global company, whose hallmark has always been, and remains, the development of high-quality technical solutions for complicated processes. The company continued, and continues, to grow today in new and highly specialized areas such as geothermal and carbon capture. Since then Welltec has attracted international attention and investors alike and in 2021, Jørgen sold the remaining share of his life's work.
Jørgen will be missed, but never forgotten. He founded Welltec and it was his revolutionary ideas that created this global company. His entrepreneurial spirit and his belief that "the impossible IS possible" will always be rooted in the DNA of the company.
In honor of his memory,
Niels de Coninck-Smith
Chairman of the Board of Directors
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(DANISH)
Det er med stor sorg, at vi hermed meddeler, at Jørgen Hallundbæk, stifter af Welltec, afgik ved døden søndag den 9. januar, 2022.
Jørgen Hallundbæk var entreprenør. Fra hans universitets tid blev hans mantraer, at ”det, der er umuligt, er muligt” og ”hvis jeg aldrig har prøvet det før, så kan jeg godt”.
Jørgen blev færdig som Cand. Polyt fra DTU i 1988 og skrev sit speciale om et koncept for et design af en industri revolutionerende ”brønd tractor” - basalt set en robot til at frembringe udstyr i horisontale oliebrønde, ofte i flere kilometers dybde. Han fik topkarakter for specialet og i stedet for at få et ”normalt” job, gik Jørgen i gang med at virkeliggøre sit robotkoncept.
Det blev starten på Welltec. Men Jørgen ville ikke kun udvikle, han ville også sælge ideen. Ofte til kunder som aldrig havde hørt om ideen, endsige havde forestillet sig at det overhovedet var muligt. På mange måder var Jørgens ideer forud for sin tid. Og det var Jørgen nok gennem hele livet. Det skabte nogle gevaldige udfordringer, men de blev overvundet, og Welltec voksede sig til en global spiller med revolutionerende løsninger i en uhyre kompleks industri.
I Welltec formåede Jørgen som ingen anden at gøre komplicerede tekniske løsninger forståelige for alle andre. Med passion og pædagogiske evner så alle kunne forstå og se vejen frem. Og den evne havde Jørgen også som leder. Han gjorde vanskelige beslutninger enkle og kunne sætte dem i perspektiv, begrunde dem med virkelige eksempler og med fornuft.
Sideløbende stiftede Jørgen familie med Marianne og fik to børn, Emil og Clara, og familien kørte Danmark rundt i deres hestetransporter til træning og ride stævner. Familien og børnene var Jørgens et og alt. Jørgen tegnede selvfølgelig selv familiens hus i Gribskov med efterfølgende ”state-of-the-art” ridehus til heste og unikke omgivelser til familiens store kærlighed til hestesport.
Jørgen styrede Welltec gennem udviklingen fra ”garage virksomhed” til et globalt firma, hvis kendetegn altid har været og er udviklingen af højkvalitative tekniske løsninger til komplicerede processer. Oprindeligt primært olieudvinding, men i dag også indenfor højtspecialiserede områder som geotermi og CO2 fangst. Welltec tiltrak sig hurtigt både international opmærksomhed og mange investorer. Jørgen solgte i 2021 sit livsværk.
Jørgen vil blive savnet, men aldrig glemt. Han grundlagde Welltec og det var hans revolutionerende ideer, der skabte denne globale virksomhed. Og hans entreprenør ånd og hans tro på, at ”det umulige ER muligt”, vil altid være virksomhedens DNA.
Æret være hans minde.
Niels de Coninck-Smith
Bestyrelsesformand Welltec