Listen to this article

Søren E. Nielsen stepped down as president of Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), a subsidiary of Teradyne, and is leaving the company. Nielsen stepped into the role in August 2020, taking over the role from Thomas Visti Jensen. Nielsen was previously MiR’s chief technology officer since January 2018.

In October, Teradyne announced MiR merged with the autonomous mobile robot (AMR) company and Teradyne subsidiary AutoGuide to become a single supplier of AMRs. At the end of September 2022, the integrated company officially became known as Mobile Industrial Robots. 

The merged company is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, where MiR has managed its global operations since its launch in 2013. 

Prior to the merger, MiR offered a range of AMRs capable of carrying payloads and pallets up to 3,000 lb. (1350 kg). By combining with AutoGuide, the portfolio will expand to include high-payload AMR tuggers and forklifts that will operate on the MiRFleet software.

Before his work at MiR, Nielsen spent five years as the R&D director at Danfoss, a company that engineers products to increase machine productivity, reduce emissions, lower energy consumption and enable electrification in a variety of industries. Nielsen also worked at Siemens Flow Instruments for over 12 years as a project manager and then a technology manager.

Teradyne president Greg Smith said Søren has had an immense impact on MiR’s success.

“Søren was CTO when Teradyne acquired MiR, during which time he led the product strategy that provided breakthrough ease of implementation for a broad range of customers. When he took over as the president of MiR in 2020, we had deployed about 2,500 AMRs worldwide. Exiting 2022, that installed base has grown to more than 7,000 robots. He also led the expansion of the MiR product line, from a single 100kg payload robot to a family of robots with payloads from 100kg up to 1,350kg.

“As we planned our AMR strategy, we saw an opportunity to better serve our core market by combining the MiR and AutoGuide product lines under the control of our next generation of MiR control software. After shepherding MiR through the critical startup phase, Søren decided that it was the right time for a leadership transition for the ‘post-startup’ phase we are entering, and we wish Søren the best with his next venture.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with the quote from Teradyne president Greg Smith.