Backstage: Research & Development

"We go to the limits of physics with the most qualified minds to become the technology leader."

Richard, Business Area Manager Research & Development | Anton Paar GmbH

As a graduate in Engineering Physics with a passion for working meticulously I felt it was an obvious step for me to work in the field of Research & Development. It was important to me to find a company that defines itself by its technology leadership as well as quality and doesn’t do things by halves.

In 2013 I started at Anton Paar as a project manager in R&D and was responsible for developing a new measuring instrument. I was impressed by the many different technologies that were put to use and even more so by my colleagues, who solved the most difficult problems with their seemingly endless expertise and experience. At Anton Paar, development work is done in small multidisciplinary teams which consist of representatives of several fields, such as mechanics, electronics, firmware, software, physics, chemistry, and many more. In these teams it is important to have a mixture of creative people who dare to push ahead and look for unusual approaches and also well-organized, analytical employees who take care of analyzing problems systematically and getting to the heart of them.

Project managers at Anton Paar have technological as well as economic responsibility. With technologically demanding projects there is a chance that the first development effort fails, even though it was well thought through. Every experienced developer knows the situation of going through a period in which technological problems seem insurmountable. The way we deal with these difficult periods is what distinguishes us from others. Developers at Anton Paar have the will and endurance to push themselves to their limits and solve even the most difficult problems together. Finding an excellent technical solution for a problem that seemed unsolvable is the greatest success there is for most developers. If there weren’t difficult problems to solve in the development process then anybody would be able to develop a measuring instrument! But only the company that pushes the limits of what is known and masters all challenges can be the technology leader.

Since 2016 I have been responsible for approximately one third of Anton Paar’s development resources in my position as Department Manager R&D. One of my main responsibilities is to provide all developers with a working environment that enables efficient handling of development projects.

The biggest strength of R&D at Anton Paar is the mix of employees and their great teamwork. Everyone brings specific knowledge and experiences to work which have to be put to good use in the team. To borrow the words of Galileo Galilei, together we will continue to “make measurable that which is not”.