About the "makers" of Zwischengas - Balz Schreier (chief technician)
Thomas M. conducted an interview with Balz Schreier, the CTO of Zwischengas:
Hi Balz, what exactly do you do at Zwischengas?
Bruno von Rotz asked me in spring 2010 whether I would like to become the person with overall responsibility for all technical aspects at Zwischengas. This is quite a big challenge, as it involves not only programming the entire platform, but also maintaining the infrastructure and servicing all the systems involved in running a platform like Zwischengas. Looking back, however, I can say that I spent almost 100% of my time programming new functions and services.
And did this new role fit in with your previous career?
Oh yes, very much so. Before joining Zwischengas, I worked for a Swiss technology consulting company for almost 10 years, mainly developing web applications for large well-known Swiss companies. The broad experience I was able to build up during that time was perfect preparation for my current role at Zwischengas.
Why did you make the switch to Zwischengas? You also had technical tasks in your previous job...
My technical passion is clearly "Java" and in this respect it's true that this didn't change much with the change, and that's a good thing! But at Zwischengas, I also have two great private passions that I can incorporate into my job: photography and motorsport in general. Since I regularly travel to Le Mans to experience and photograph the 24-hour race live, I've been on fire for this type of racing...
...Ok, but none of this has anything to do with historic vehicles...
Oh yes, the more I read up on Le Mans and devoured book after book, the more I discovered the fascination of historic racing and became increasingly interested in classic cars on the road. Thanks to Zwischengas, I now have to deal with this topic on a daily basis, which I am passionate about! It's very unusual and I really enjoy it every day.
Which vehicles do you really get excited about?
There are many, but the Porsche 917 and Porsche Carrera 6 really get my heart racing, but I also find older racing cars totally "cool", e.g. the Maserati T61 Birdcage Streamliner, a wonderful racing car!
