Welcome Patrick

Statistics show that many people are moving to the Municipality of Ludvika, and that's why we think it's great to introduce some of them. One of them is Patrick Dewsnup.

Welcome to the Municipality of Ludvika, Patrick Dewsnup. What brought you here?

– I got the chance to fulfill a dream of moving to Sweden thanks to a job at Hitachi Energy. I used to work at a power plant back home in Utah, where I happened to meet someone who worked for Hitachi. He told me they were hiring in Sweden, so I applied – and got the job.

– During the interview, they told me Ludvika was a small town. But I come from a place in Utah with about 200 people – and around 3,000 in the surrounding area – so I figured I’d probably manage just fine here.

Tell us a bit about yourself!

– I work as a Control & Protection Software Engineer, supervising the communication of HVDC systems making sure the systems communicate with each other properly. My background is in chemical engineering.

– I have some distant relatives living in Gothenburg, Norrland and on Gotland. My ancestors came from Sweden, Denmark and the UK and emigrated to Utah in the 1800s. My third great-grandfather was the last one who held dual citizenship.

– When I was younger, I lived in Germany and in several different places across the U.S. My dad served in the military, so we moved around a lot.

– I tend to jump from hobby to hobby, and I always try to keep at least one that involves some physical activity – whether it’s football, swimming or running.

What are your impressions of your new home municipality?

– I like that Ludvika has several distinct seasons and a chance to see the northern lights. It’s really beautiful here, though I expected the mountains to be taller.

– I feel somewhat familiar with Swedish culture. In Utah, we actually celebrate our Scandinavian heritage. And learning that HVDC originated here – that was so cool! You read about it, but you don’t realize it comes from a small town in Sweden.