Our projects have similar team sizes, similar budgets and similar schedules to startups. The big difference at Hamilton is that we don’t have to chase after money. We can focus fully on our innovations.
The Work We Do at Hamilton Makes Life Better for Everyone
Improving and saving lives: In a nutshell, this is precisely what the high-tech company Hamilton does – both during a pandemic as well as in normal times. Ventilators, lab robots, sensors for vaccine production and other life science solutions are developed and manufactured in Bonaduz and Domat/Ems, in the canton of Graubünden. Find out why Hamilton employees find such fulfillment in their work.
With Heart and Soul
For the Bonaduz-based company, the maxim “We drive innovation to improve people’s lives” is embedded in its DNA: it develops products that don’t just improve, but also save lives. Every fifth ventilator worldwide, two thirds of all automated PCR tests and large numbers of sensors for global vaccine research and production come from Hamilton. It’s therefore little wonder that the 1,600 employees of this innovation hub are proud to work for the company, and love nothing better than beavering away at new products year after year. Steve Hamilton, whose father was the company’s founder, set the example many years ago when he launched the first intelligent ventilator after a conversation with a NASA researcher. The development phase lasted more than 20 years until the first model was placed on the market in 1984.
The work involved in developing a magnetically driven pipetting robot also lasted a long while, with half a decade elapsing between the initial idea and the finished product. An investment that paid dividends, comments mechanical engineer Jonas Hilti. “I’ve been at Hamilton for seven years now. I spent six of them working exclusively on this project and put all my heart and soul, not to mention my knowledge, into its development. The result is an innovation for humanity, and this makes me extremely proud.”
The Gyro Gearloose of Bonaduz
The Hamilton spirit is reflected in the continuous development of high-tech innovations. Some 30 to 50 patents are registered by the company each year, among them the invention by Jonas Hilti and his team. It all started with an experiment: “We tried out something new, and were suddenly able to pipette tiny droplets. Then we set about exploring the mechanism behind this.” Jonas and his interdisciplinary team kept on tinkering until the magnetic pipette was born. Thanks to its magnetic drive, it can speed up processes in a way that enables laboratories to process more samples – blood, for example – in less time. Jonas is clear about one thing: “In addition to expertise and drive, team spirit is essential for reaching your goals.” Freedom to contribute ideas and implement them effectively releases so much creativity in him that his inventive spirit knows no bounds. “Sometimes I come up with an idea when I’m lying on a sun lounger on vacation or taking a shower, which we then set about experimenting with together as a team.”
Learning New Things Every Day
“We understand that learning can be a lifelong process and we promote this throughout the company”, says Dr. Gianina Viglino-Caviezel, Managing Director Hamilton Services AG. Individual options for training and development and e-learning platforms help employees, whether they are in working in production or office based, to achieve growth in both their professional and personal lives – and find fulfillment in their work. “We want our employees to be happy. In this respect, a healthy work-life balance is essential”, Dr. Viglino-Caviezel emphasizes. Balancing the professional and private sides of our lives is more challenging than it sounds, but agile structures, family-friendly part-time work and individual measures for staff development definitely help.
(Green) Actions Speak Louder Than Words
From environmental protection to working conditions, Hamilton is dedicated to achieving sustainability all round. “We make a key contribution through our products, which help to maintain and improve people’s health”, Dr. Gianina Viglino-Caviezel explains. Production materials and processes are also being optimized on a continuous basis. Energy consumption has already been reduced by 25%, for example, thanks to solar panels, heating and cooling systems using groundwater and other optimization measures.
However, new concepts must be relatable if they are to take root in people’s minds. The new staff restaurant is one of the places that makes this possible: “Not just because it’s a meeting place for the whole company, but also because food is one of the big environmental offenders due to the high carbon emissions”, explains the Managing Director of Hamilton Services AG. From its energy consumption to the menu, the suitably named “Green Sense” cafeteria has been carefully designed throughout in a climate-friendly manner – and it’s also a very pleasant place to be. An indoor vertical garden transforms the light-flooded space into a green oasis that not only beckons people to eat and meet, but also offers comfortable retreats where colleagues can jointly work on ideas in peace and quiet. “With this approach, sustainability is becoming more and more established in our thinking and actions – across all areas”, Dr. Viglino-Caviezel continues.
No question then, that the Hamilton workforce will go on to develop more great visions and create even greater projects in the future. And when will you be joining us?
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