May we introduce? ...

... Stefan Faller is a development engineer at H2O GmbH. His baby is the ZLD post-concentrator. This new technology reduces the concentrate amount from the VACUDEST to a residual water content of up to 20 % and thus also reduces disposal costs enormously. Find out what his bicycle has to do with the successful implementation of this project in this interview.

Planning, building and turning good ideas into reality - does that describe your job with us as a development engineer?

Yes, you could say that. At H2O, we have regular innovation meetings. This is where we collect ideas. And I then check the really good ones to see if they can be implemented. I research prices and find out what challenges there might be in construction.

What has shaped you more in your life: your ideas or building?

Both. Maybe a little more the building.

Did you also build Lego cities as a kid? Always following instructions or free will?

YES! (laughs) I love Lego! My whole room was full of them! I even tried to recreate Schopfheim, which was the biggest town near me that I knew well as a child. With trains, supermarkets, gas stations, bridges and tunnels - everything was there. I never needed a plan for that.

And what great ideas did you have?

I once had the good idea of building my own tree house. I was 6 or 7 at the time.

And did it work out?

No, not at all. (laughs) I was just too young and the tree was much too small for it.

What was your best idea so far here at H2O?

I would say leaving my car behind and riding my bike to work. The best ideas for ZLD always came to me on the bike.

For example?

Recently, I was asked to implement a calculation tool that indicates whether the ZLD makes sense for the customer or not. Various parameters of the VACUDEST, the ZLD and from the laboratory analysis of our application technology are entered there. On the bike, I suddenly had a lot of good ideas about how to implement and visualize this in detail.

The ZLD was your baby, wasn't it?

Yes. I wrote my bachelor's thesis on the ZLD as part of my mechanical engineering studies. I dealt with the question of how to make even better use of the steam from the VACUDEST to further reduce the backlog. The thesis was a complete success. After I finished my studies, my boss then came to me and said, "Start with us and we'll build it!" So, I was involved in this project from the idea to the implementation. This creative process was really fun! We've just finished building the prototype, it's running great, our customer is super happy with it - now it's off to series production.

What's next? Do you already have a new project?

I'm still busy with the series production of the ZLD. But I can imagine that the topic of Industry 4.0 will continue. Automated reporting. There's a lot of music in that.

Now something private to finish:

What was the nicest compliment someone once paid you?

That I have a likeable charisma.

What would you get up for in the middle of the night?

For my girlfriend and my family. And my mom's cats, which are currently in my care.

If you had three wishes: What would they be?

The first wish is: One wish more! (laughs) No... well...

• I would wish for a pleasant climate. And with that, a stop to climate change.
• A house of my own. Maybe a log cabin by the lake.
• A happy family.