Gritec
Graubünden symbiosis
“Machines have always fascinated me,” says Fabian Caduff as he uses a robotic arm to pick up a paper clip. “I’ve wanted to understand how they work ever since I was little.” Cars and aircraft left him relatively cold. Growing up in Graubünden, he was fascinated by large manufacturing machines, such as biscuit production lines. “To me, being an inventor was the coolest job in the world.”
That fascination has never faded. Today, Caduff is a mechanical engineer at Gritec in Grüsch, designing and building bespoke machines to order.
As a mechanical engineer, you’re essentially paid to be an inventor. That’s what I love about it.
Fabian Caduff
Once Gritec, always Gritec
Gritec has built an international reputation for designing, developing and delivering technical equipment, automation solutions and industrial processes. Every product meets a different set of requirements, and each project is completed in-house, from the first sketch to delivery. Approaching its thirtieth anniversary, the company employs around twenty inventive minds, each having to immerse themselves in a completely new subject with every assignment. Or rather, getting the chance to.
One of them is Fabian Caduff, 27, from Igis. He has found his dream job just a few kilometres from his childhood home. After completing his school-leaving qualification, he got to know the company and the engineering profession through an internship. Later, while studying in Zurich, he worked in the development department one day a week.
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A constant stream of new challenges
He now has a permanent position here, doing the job he has wanted for years: being an inventor. “As a mechanical engineer, you’re essentially paid to be an inventor. That’s exactly what I love about it,” says Caduff. “At other companies, you focus on one product, which can certainly be interesting too. But I like taking on new and different challenges.” Having recently graduated from ETH Zurich, he is surprised by how much of his degree he can apply directly at work. “I took some really complex, highly mathematical courses in robotics and automation, and I did wonder whether I’d ever need that knowledge again. Now I use it constantly, and in real depth! It’s rewarding to see the hard work paying off.”
Although he loves travelling and exploring other countries, the young Graubünden native returned home straight after his studies in Zurich. Did he never feel the urge to try somewhere completely different, when others his age were looking for jobs around the world? “Well, I live in Chur now, not Igis,” he points out with a grin. “But of course, I thought it through carefully. People do say that once someone from Graubünden comes back, they stay for good. Ultimately, I just love it here. Chur is a great city; there’s always something going on. Many of my friends who had moved to different parts of Switzerland are gradually coming back too. And then there’s nature on your doorstep. I do all the typical Graubünden sports: mountain biking, skiing, cross-country skiing and hiking. You almost can’t help it here!”
Graubünden is his home by birth and by choice. Everything he loves is here. And if wanderlust does strike again, he will find a solution. That is his job, after all.
