Embostory Aldo Zgraggen
At Embotech…
we are almost 40 individuals,
we carry more than 15 nationalities & many of our last names are likely to twist your tongue,
we have a team full of bright minds & full of diverse characters.
Meet these characters in our sequence “EMBOSTORIES”, featuring one of our employees, providing a little insight into our company.
This Embostory is presenting Aldo Zgraggen, Embotech’s Head of Aerospace.
Q: 3 words you would use to describe Embotech?
A: passionate, ingenious, kind
Q: What is your current position and what does it mean?
A: As the Head of Aerospace I am leading a small team of highly skilled engineers. What I like about our small team is that it is very dynamic and I still get to do some of our exiting core technology development. Besides the technical work, I also take care of the non-technical aspects of our team and the projects we are conducting. This ranges from project acquisition, planning, and management to everything around people management.
Q: Could you give us a quick description of what your typical workday looks like?
A: For about a year, we have now been mostly in home-office. Since then, my usual day starts between 5:30 and 6am. After a good breakfast I start up my machine and get a quick overview of what should be done today. My daily job includes a wide variety of tasks: from writing proposals, software architecture design, implementing and testing new features, to planning tasks for the team. Once all team members are online, we have a quick stand-up call to discuss what has been done yesterday and what is on the menu for today. I usually have a few meetings during the day but still a good amount of time available for focused work. Before lunch I usually do a short workout such as a run or a core strength training.
The afternoon is again filled with either focused work or meetings to discuss projects or ideas. Depending on the day and weather, I do another workout in the late afternoon before dinner. Since working from home, it is easy to put in some extra hours of work after dinner. However, I am trying to not let this become a habit. ?
Q: What do you like the most about your job?
A: No two days are the same. I am facing different challenges every day. This keeps me busy in a good way and ensures I am staying flexible.
Q: What is most challenging part of your job?
A: To juggle with all the different tasks and prioritize them. At the same time though, this is what makes my work very exciting.
Q: If you could have any other job just for the fun of one day, what would it be?
A: Doing the real moon walk would be my choice. I was just a bit too young during the last ESA astronaut selection 13 years ago. Being an astronaut for one day would be something I would love to experience. But of course, only an exciting day and not one of those days where you just sit in a tiny capsule and wait for it to arrive somewhere. By the way, the next ESA astronaut selection is starting as of today.
Q: Let’s jump to the last question: Something your colleagues at Embotech certainly don’t know about you yet?
A: I guess most of my colleagues know that besides triathlon, my other big passion is skydiving. I have been doing this for 20 years now.
However, I guess most of my colleagues don’t know that I actually am a licensed skydiving instructor.
Thank you, Aldo!
You can download the pdf here.