Seattle and the Nordic nations have strong ties — from Norway’s first astronaut launching on a SpaceX mission to Scandinavian companies supporting the efforts to electrify the region’s ferries. And those connections stretch back more than a century when John Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant, co-founded an eponymously named shoe store in Seattle’s downtown.
“As we look towards the future, we build on our history and also our heritage. But today, we reach for much more. We are partners in innovation, from high tech in the AI revolution to building more security projects,” said Anniken Huitfeldt, Norway’s ambassador to the United States.
On Tuesday evening, Huitfeldt helped kick off the annual Nordic Innovation Summit, held in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood at the National Nordic Museum.
The event continues through Wednesday and features speakers and panelists discussing clean energy topics such as data center operations, microgrids and recycling; cyber security initiatives; innovation in biotech; and sustainable transportation.
“We’ve seen innovations come out of the summit,” said Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss, speaking Tuesday. “The ability to integrate technology into new business practices is something that has happened here before, and I’m excited to see it occur here again.”
Other speakers at the opening session included University of Washington Nobel Laureate David Baker, who shared new research published since he received his award from the Swedish institution one year ago. Baker is leading efforts that harness AI to create proteins that can be used in health care, environmental cleanup and other challenges.
Norwegian Astronaut Jannicke Mikkelsen livestreamed a presentation from Oslo to share the story of her journey to space, which began at age 10 when she had a devastating horse riding accident. During a five-year recovery, Mikkelsen became obsessed with NASA — even calling the agency’s Johnson Space Center seeking employment as a 12-year-old.
“It cost us a fortune,” she said. “My dad can’t afford to drive his car to work for a week because we can’t afford gas because I called the U.S. and I applied for a job.”
Mikkelsen ultimately pursued a career in 3D photography and 3D filmmaking, residing in Svalbard, a frozen tundra that ranks as one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas.
“This is a place that equipped me the best to become an astronaut, because it’s sort of fear-based learning,” she said. “As soon as you leave town, any mistake you make could potentially kill you. It’s exceptionally cold. There is no communication to the outside world as you leave town.”
In March of this year, Seattle-based SpaceX launched Mikkelsen and three other non-governmental astronauts on the first crewed orbit over the Earth’s polar regions. The Fram2 mission spanned 3½ days. The astronauts performed scientific research, including data collection on the Northern Lights, which are beautiful but poorly understood and can destroy satellites.
Mikkelsen highlighted the importance of the collaboration between nations.
“We have four non-American astronauts on board an American spaceship. This, to me, just shows great trust that the U.S. showed in us,” she said. “But it’s also American technology that flew the first Norwegian astronaut into space.”
Speakers participating in the summit on Wednesday include Mathias Sundin, founder of the Warp Institute Foundation; Douglas Kieper, director of the Paul G. Allen Research Center; Nick Huzar, co-founder of OfferUp; Sunil Gottumukkala, CEO of Averlon; Petri Hautakangas, CEO of Tupl; Maiken Møller-Hansen, director of energy and sustainability for Amazon Devices; and other corporate, government and academic leaders.
