CEDES
No moaning, no groaning
Creating innovative sensor solutions through enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge
It is easy to find a subject that excites Klims Saikins. In fact, his enthusiasm extends to just about everything he does. Not just his free time, bouldering, travelling, hiking or, especially, anything to do with cars, but also his daily work at CEDES in Landquart and his photonics studies at FHGR Graubünden in Chur.
I always wanted to know how a cathode-ray tube worked. Now I do. But my parents had to buy a new television
Klims Saikins
From apprentice to engineer
While others might moan and groan when describing their daily lives, his eyes light up. Born in Russia, he grew up in Latvia, moved to Switzerland at 13 and has long since become a proud Graubünden local. “It might sound sentimental, but CEDES has become a family to me. And I learn something new here every day.” Some of the more experienced engineers are role models he looks up to.
That is why, for now, he cannot imagine working anywhere else. Here, at one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sensor solutions, he completed his apprenticeship and found his first job. And here, he will probably soon be working as a photonics engineer.
He tries to explain what a photonics engineer actually does: “We investigate how a photon interacts with an electron and what we can do with that. How can we harness solar energy, for example, or focus reflected light to capture an image?” In other words: plenty of mathematics, physics and geometry. And still not a groan.
“The more you can do, the more you can achieve”
Focus is probably the word for the remarkable determination this 23-year-old shows. Even before starting his electronics apprenticeship, he knew it would only be the beginning. His goal was to become an engineer. “Chasch meh, häsch meh” — roughly, “The more you can do, the more you can achieve” — is his matter-of-fact explanation for his restless ambition. Perhaps his background plays a part too.
Now, here in Graubünden, at CEDES, he can pursue whatever he sets his mind to. Earlier, in his mother’s home country, as part of the Russian-speaking minority in an underdeveloped country, that was rather more difficult. Then, with the same enthusiasm, he describes his current project. He has been entrusted with further developing a light sensor that controls barriers, lifts or sliding doors. Already leading a project in his mid-twenties.
Or he talks about animals: guinea pigs and marmots. He belongs to the first group, as one of the very first photonics students at HTW Graubünden. The second is a playful reference to “Murmel”, the German word for a marble, and the project his group developed last semester. It is no living creature, of course, but a platform that tilts on two axes, balancing a marble tracked by a camera. The image data is analysed and converted into commands for the motors, allowing the marble to be used to play golf, for example.
More about CEDES
Around the world
He discovered his fascination with electronics early on. Even as a child, he would take apart remote-controlled cars and all kinds of household appliances. The television did not escape either. “I always wanted to know how a cathode-ray tube worked. Now I do. But my parents had to buy a new television.”
After completing his bachelor’s degree, he wants to take an extended trip: around the world in a campervan he has converted himself. He already has the van and has mapped out the route in his head. And afterwards? “Ideally, I’d come back here.” During a short trip to Asia last year, he discovered that CEDES means more than Landquart. “I knew CEDES had a sales representative in Singapore. Once I’d made my travel plans, I thought: ‘I’ll send him a WhatsApp message. Perhaps he’d be pleased to hear from me.’ He organised everything: food, a driver, a city tour. And we’d never even met before. That’s typical CEDES to me.”
Singapore is not the company’s only international location. CEDES has operated a production site in Changshu, China, for eleven years. Engineers from Landquart regularly travel there for quality assurance work. Needless to say, Klims Saikins would jump at the adventure.
