I've been with Baumer since 2019 – so it's been a while now. At that time, I was convinced by interesting tasks in pre-development with the combination of optics and mechanics topics, which I was able to combine through my studies and phD. At the same time, Baumer allowed me to combine family and career through family-friendly, flexible working hours.

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What tasks do you do in your job?.

As a Senior Systems Architect, I lead various development projects as a project manager. In addition, I am often responsible for mechanical and optical tests and further developments. My job is to keep the bigger picture and to try to ensure that the individual specialists coordinate the functionally relevant points with each other, so that in the end a well-functioning and manufacturable product is created. Furthermore, I often carry out pre-tests on mechanical and optical components of encoders and am jointly responsible for patent observation in the optical and mechanical encoder sector..

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How did your career go after your training?

After studying mechanical engineering in Dresden, I worked as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and at the same time did my phD at the TU Darmstadt on dynamic crosslinking of surfactant solutions. After that, I started working as a development engineer in pre-development at Baumer..

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What stations did you go through in your role at Baumer?

I started as a development engineer in pre-development with responsibilities in optics and mechanics. Today, my role is Senior System Architect in Advanced Technologies – the tasks are basically the same, but over time they have become more responsible and have been given a larger project scope. In short: I am still an engineer in development today – and very happy in this role..

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What is special about the corporate culture at Baumer?

Baumer is an owner-managed, medium-sized company – and you feel that. What I particularly appreciate about it is the «short distances». In other words, that clarification of unclear points or decisions that have to be made does not take forever. You know the people responsible directly and you also have a lot of room for making decisions..

• Collaboration on the series suitability of an optical multiturn encoder, which is used in many applications worldwide. In the process, manufacturing costs and, in particular, production times have been reduced.
• Responsibility for the optimization of an energy-self-sufficient multiturn system. This enables us to offer multi-turn encoders without an internal battery, which expands the range of applications for our customers.

Analysis of a code disk under a microscope. In order to obtain a correctly functioning encoder, the measurement must be error-free.

A broad theoretical understanding is central to development. Franziska discusses with a teammate whether the calculated balance of forces corresponds to the real conditions.

Measurements are part of Franziska's day-to-day work. Here, for example, a printed circuit board is analyzed.

In addition to development tasks, technical tests and updates within the team, coordination with R&D colleagues from Baumer's international development sites play an important role.