Christoph is one of the specialists for the development of interactive visualization solutions at EDAG PS (Production Solutions). His team develops virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications for product and production development. They help customers with individual visualization solutions, to make objects which are digital and therefore invisible visible, tangible and palpable, so that robots can be virtually programed without the hardware being available, for instance.
His recipe for success? "I'm curious and enthusiastic about technology," he says with sparkling eyes, "also, I have a lot of patience and a way of handling people." For more than ten years, he has led a team of software developers, a team that he himself helped to build up, and in which he clearly feels at home. For him, it is essential that both the technical and the human chemistry is right: "The teamwork here is excellent, and many of our apprentices have been kept on after qualifying. It's almost as though we are good friends, most of the colleagues are gamers, so computer games are a mutual interest that connects us."
One thing that is important to him is that many of his colleagues or "many of his team" not only like to play games, but also love to really get stuck into things, and program in their free time: "They sometimes get the urge to do something for themselves, and then work their way into their subject and build new levels for their own games." The similar mindset in the team creates a bond and, in Christoph's view, promotes good cooperation. "Working with this group is a lot of fun," he says, beaming.
Christoph trained as a media designer, specializing in media operating, and was involved in modern technologies and mobile devices such as tablets very early on, when even the Internet was still young. "That's how I came to EDAG PS, and then slipped into programming because at that time, tablets were still very new to everyone in the industry," he recalls. And new technologies still continue to fascinate him.
What has kept him at EDAG PS for so long are the ever-changing technical challenges and the wide variety of tasks: "We work for a variety of different industries, for instance the semiconductor, automotive design, medical technology, electronics manufacturing and also other industrial sectors." The list is long, but what Christoph particularly enjoys is the combination of electronic engineering and visualization. Eliminating problems is what motivates and drives him. A good example of this is the "VR Paintshop" – a product that he and his team developed for a vehicle manufacturer. This project involved virtual paint shop training.
The customer had a problem: he was desperately looking for trained vehicle body painters, but none were available at the new site in Mexico. The solution: training using a special VR application. The "VR Paintshop" came into being, and is still one of his favorite projects: "For this project, we converted a real paint gun so that in virtual reality it can be used as an input device, as a controller, and so learn to paint virtually, explains Christoph." The advantage of virtual painting is that neither components nor paint are needed during training, making it environmentally friendly and money-saving. "The beauty of this application is that you can repeat the process as often as you wish, and several trainees can be trained at the same time." Thanks to this new development, the company was quickly able to meet its requirements for qualified employees. This application has proved to be so successful that EDAG is now marketing it as a separate product.
For Christoph, developing innovations is a part of everyday life. It's not uncommon to start out not knowing where to begin, he candidly admits. "The special challenges are often down to the hardware we get, which, if we're working in the prototype environment, is often not standard hardware - innovative input devices such as a round touch field for cars for example." So in cases like these, you first have to think of something for the user interfaces and give your creativity free rein: "Can this be used as a rotating wheel, does this even work at all? This is always a new challenge, but it's also something I really enjoy. I just like new things!"
Christoph's enthusiasm is infectious. So it comes as no surprise to learn that he also enjoys working on new projects at home, using his private 3D printer. He simply enjoys improving things that cause unnecessary problems in everyday life. To give a couple of examples, he has developed a mute button for online meetings and a stand for his headphones: "I was always looking for my AirPods case at home, so I thought to myself, 'you can design a little stand and print it out on the 3-D printer', and now my AirPods case is always in the same place in the holder I developed," he says with a smile. With an integrated charging cable, of course; that goes without saying.
