Professor Hansen is an Emeritus Professor of the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
In 2010, he testified in an ERD proceeding for the Hallett wind farm in South Australia:
Hansen is highly qualified and an expert acoustic engineer, but he has very little experience with wind farms. Professor Hansen’s brief from the appellants was basically to provide a critique of Mr Turnbull’s evidence and other information about the acoustic properties of the proposed wind farm. He was not, therefore, in a position to put a prediction of his own up against Mr Turnbull’s. Professor Hansen was concerned that, at higher wind speeds, the wind may exceed Mr Turnbull’s predictions. Part of the basis for this was a desire for proof beyond the manufacturer’s assurance that the noise level would not increase at wind speeds over 12 m/s. No factual basis was provided for Professor Hansen’s concern. Mr Knill’s explanation of the manufacturer’s assurance was provided in his statement at para 42:
[…]
92. We accept Mr Knill and Mr Turnbull’s evidence on this point.
Hansen continues to provide submissions to wind siting proposals.