Working at HD Vision Systems – Interview with AI project manager Maximilian Sasserath
We sat down with Maximilian Saßerath, AI project lead at HD Vision Systems, for a short conversation. He told us all about his work, his time as a working student and gave us some insights into the working environment.
Maximilian studied physics at Heidelberg University until 2020. In his spare time he is a professional triathlete and competes in various races.
Who are you and what do you do at HD Vision Systems?
I work here as a full-time programmer in project development. My daily tasks cover everything from developing the hardware, such as the lighting and the camera, to structuring the software in general.
So I take care of everything to do with image acquisition, image processing and artificial intelligence, right up to the UI (user interface) and even direct interaction with the customer.
And in the final phase I often travel to the customer and help them get to know the applications and adapt the system to their needs, which makes the device easier for them to use.
But that wasn’t always your job?
No, I started as a master’s student. I wrote my master’s thesis on machine learning and depth estimation with neural networks, comparing it with our usual approach and looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each.
While writing my thesis I started working on smaller customer projects and was then given responsibility for bigger and bigger projects. Eventually I took over a project full-time and increased my hours to 40 per week.
How did you get to know us back then, and why were you interested in us?
I was looking for a company for my master’s thesis and met a former colleague from here. He had studied physics with me and simply told me about the company, the good atmosphere here, the flexible working hours and all the other great things.
Then I asked Christoph (CEO of HD Vision Systems) about a master’s thesis and a topic, and that’s how I ended up here.
You have been with us full-time since January. What has changed for you since then?
Not that much. During the last months working here as a working student I slid into full-time work, so I didn’t have to get used to any big changes.
One thing I have noticed is that I now have more time for planning than before. That often helps with projects, because you can concentrate on them fully without constantly thinking about your thesis.
What do you particularly value about your work here?
The flexible working hours or, let’s say, the freedom to take a two-hour lunch break, do my sport, or work early or late on topics where I don’t have to work with other colleagues. Being able to work flexibly on projects you are passionate about is great.
How has the pandemic changed your everyday work?
Not that much, but I think my flexibility has improved even further thanks to the option of working from home. For example, I worked from home four times a week. During that time I can be completely flexible and do what I want, when I want. That has even improved my sport and my free time with my girlfriend. For me, the pandemic wasn’t all bad. It helped me a lot. I think in the long run it will change the working environment for everyone – and not only for the worse.
Thanks for this insight, Max!
