Bent Winther

William Henry Merrill Society
Corporate Fellow

Bent Winther's contributions and accomplishments over the span of his 36-year career with Demko and UL encompass his technical contributions to electrical safety standardization, his vision and creativity in shaping Pan-European and International Product Safety Certification Programs, and his leadership in his professional community. 

Mr. Winther has been a visionary for electrical safety, and has been a prolific author in drafting standards and documents on behalf of various committees.  He has been tireless in his persistence throughout the tedium of bringing standards to fruition through national and international standards development processes.  He has readily shared his knowledge through presentations to staff, manufacturers and authorities by presenting and explaining new developments in standards and programs.

Mr. Winther earned a reputation for his ability to take on and resolve a wide range of challenges.  Between 1978 and 1984, during which he also served as a member of the Demko Board, Demko experienced a period of considerable challenge as a consequence of a move from the use of Danish National Standards to the use of European Norms.  The Board gave Mr. Winther the task of investigating the situation and developing recommendations for their consideration.  His solution led to approval for construction of a new 5,000 square meter laboratory, addition of 34 new staff members, and purchase of $700,000 of new test equipment.  Successful implementation of these changes vastly improved the overall quality and timeliness of services performed by Demko's engineers.

Later, when the Danish government decided to put Demko into the private sector, Mr. Winther served as an indispensable advisor leading to the successful transfer of Demko to UL.

When other test houses challenged the method used by Demko for conducting testing of motor-compressors using a substitute cooling system, Mr. Winther convinced the IECEE Committee of Testing Laboratories (CTL) that the method was sound.  Since then, the method has been widely adopted.  For more than 20 years, Mr. Winther continuously worked on improvements of the Standard to cover changing technology in the construction of motor compressors, their increased use of electronic controls and protection, and the use of new refrigerants.

Mr. Winther has always had an active interest in the well being of his fellow employees.  In addition to serving as a member of the Demko Board, he served a position of trust as Chairman Spokesman for the Demko Graduated Engineers Association.  During this period, he served as the link to the upper management of Demko in all matters in relation to reorganization of Demko and all hiring of graduate engineers.  This position also gave Mr. Winther the responsibility to negotiate work conditions and salary and other conditions for the engineers.  He received much recognition for the many years he served in this capacity, from all parties involved, both inside and outside of Demko.

Mr. Winther served as a mentor and teacher, freely sharing his knowledge and providing leadership through technical advice and direction to others both at UL and elsewhere.

Mr. Winther has always placed his first priority on UL's Mission of Public Safety and the performance of the various European and international interpretation committees and agreement schemes.  His effectiveness has been greatly aided by his attention to maintaining strong, positive relationships, both internal and external to Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

Mr. Winther's work has been of utmost value in the achievement of good standards, good working schemes and good service.  This has been particularly evident by the addition of 14 new CBTLs to UL Demko, largely through his leadership and personal efforts.