“Machines have always interested me,” says Fabian Caduff as the robot arm he is controlling reaches for a paper clip. “I wanted to understand how they work from an early age.” He was never really interested in cars or planes. The boy from Graubünden was fascinated by huge production machines like the ones used to make biscuits. “When I was young, I dreamed of becoming an inventor.”

His interest never wavered. Today, Fabian is a mechanical engineer and spends his days designing and constructing custom-made products for Gritec in Grüsch.

Once Gritec, always Gritec

Gritec designs, develops and produces technical equipment, automation solutions and industrial processes, and has gained an international reputation. Each product they manufacture is designed to meet completely different requirements. Every stage of every project is completed in-house – from the first draft to final delivery. The company has been around for almost 30 years and employs a team of around 20 engineers who have to work out a whole new concept for each order – or rather, they have the opportunity to.

One of these engineers is Fabian Caduff, 27, from Igis. He has found his dream job here, just a few kilometres from his parents’ house. After finishing school, he learned about the company and about working as an engineer during an internship, and spent one day a week working in the development department while he was studying in Zurich.

Always facing new challenges

Now he is employed here on a permanent basis – and is allowed to do the job he has dreamed of doing since he was a child. “In mechanical engineering, you are basically employed as an inventor. That’s what I love about it,” says Fabian. “At other companies, you concentrate on one product, which can be exciting, of course. But I prefer to always be taking on new and different challenges.” After starting his career right after graduating from the ETH Zurich, he finds it amazing how much of the theory he studied can be applied in practice: “I attended a few really complicated, highly mathematical lectures on robotics and automation, and sometimes wondered if I would ever be able to use that knowledge again. Now I actually need it for the work that I do, constantly. I’d be lost without it, and I’m really glad the effort is paying off now.”

Although Fabian loves faraway places and travelling to foreign countries, he moved back to Graubünden right after finishing his studies in Zurich. Didn’t he ever feel the urge to see something completely different? Others his age are looking for jobs all over the world. “Well, I do live in Chur now, and not Igis,” he points out with a smile. “But of course I’ve thought about that a lot. They say when someone from Graubünden returns, they stay forever. I just love it here. Chur is a great city, and there’s always something going on. "A lot of my colleagues who were working all over Switzerland are coming back now. Maybe they miss having a stunning natural paradise right on their doorstep. I do all the typical Graubünden sports – biking, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, hiking. It’s almost impossible not to here!”

To sum up: Fabian wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Everything he loves is right here in Graubünden. But if he ever does happen to get itchy feet, he’ll find a solution. It’s his job, after all.