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Franz Baur
Franz Baur

Hi, I’m Franz.

An engineer who traded steam boilers and refrigeration plants for apps and AI.

The long versionLet’s have a chat
Portrait of Franz Baur

ABOUT ME

An engineer at heart

I want to understand how things work. And once I have understood them, I want to make them better.

I would rather get started on something than talk about it at length — and I finish what I start. Wrapping something up is almost more satisfying to me than beginning it. My motto: “If I do something, I do it properly.”

WHAT I CAN DO

A toolbox from two worlds

Industrial plants and apps: sounds like two different trades, but it is rather practical day to day.

Understanding processes and digitising them

Before I digitise anything, I look at how the work is actually done. Once the process is properly understood, the software almost follows by itself: it mirrors what is really needed and makes the working day easier.

Web apps, websites, CMS

From a company website to a web app with user management and a database behind it. What should come out at the end is something that loads quickly, is intuitive to use, and can easily be extended later.

Internal tools and automation

In our own company we built almost everything ourselves: project management, customer management and the many small things in between. A tool that fits our own process exactly supports us every day.

Building AI in where it helps

Over the past few years AI has found a firm place in my applications: drafting text, pulling information out of documents, making data searchable. I build it in where it genuinely helps day to day.

Designing and sizing industrial plants

For close to ten years I planned the utility systems of factories: steam, refrigeration, compressed air, CO₂, nitrogen and wastewater. From the first concept through sizing to execution.

Energy and sustainability concepts

Beyond a certain point it is no longer only about the technology; you look at the whole site: where is heat being lost, what can be coupled, what gives you the most? Add workshops and visits on site, and at the end there is a plan you can work through step by step.

WHAT I’M NOT

Honestly speaking

  • Not the best programmer

    But I quickly grasp what is needed and what can wait.

  • Not a natural speaker

    Big words suit me less well than results. But I do enjoy explaining how something works.

  • No half measures

    I sometimes take things a little too precisely. I know.

MY PATH

First plants, then code

Ten years in factories

I started out in chemical and bioengineering and ended up with what provides the basics in a factory: steam, refrigeration, compressed air, CO₂, nitrogen and wastewater. For ten years I designed and sized such systems for beverage plants, breweries and dairies, from the first concept through the quote to execution.

Water in a loop

One topic stayed with me for years: water. More precisely, treating wastewater so that it can go back into production instead of simply running off. Out of the same corner came a patent for water loop management in plastics recycling plants.

From the detail to the bigger picture

At some point it was clear that it could not stop at individual plants. If you think about utilities and production together, you see the connections between them, and that is where most of the potential lies. So it went on to whole energy concepts, workshops and visits to customers: walking through the site, asking questions, and coming away with a picture of what is possible and in which order to tackle it.

Covid, a friend and an idea

And then came Covid. Suddenly there was time. A friend and I wanted to build an app and taught ourselves to program for it. That never stopped: in 2023 the two of us founded a company and built web apps, websites and CMS for clients. What I enjoyed most was, of all things, what was officially a side matter: our own organisation. Building tools, tearing them down again, building them better.

The short version

  1. 2023 – today

    Managing Director & Web Developer

    ZenoDev GmbH · Regensburg

    My own company for web apps, websites and CMS. Just the two of us, from bookkeeping to code.

  2. 2023 – 2024

    Sustainability Consultant

    Krones AG

    Energy and sustainability concepts for entire plants, plus workshops directly with the customer.

  3. 2015 – 2023

    Project Engineer, Utilities

    Krones AG

    Designed and delivered utility systems for factories worldwide. Along the way, a patent on water loop management.

  4. 2009 – 2015

    Master of Science in Chemical and Bioengineering

    FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg

    Thesis on beverage filling in breweries.

HOW I WORK

Structure pays off

Whether it is a plant, an app or an internal process: this is how I approach a thing.

  • The plan first

    I think a thing through before I start. It costs time up front and saves more later.

  • Always the overview

    I write tasks and projects down rather than keeping them in my head. That way I always know where things stand.

  • Rather rebuild

    What no longer fits, I tear down and build again. That sounds wilder than it is.

HOW I WORK WITH OTHERS

What matters to me

  • I say honestly where things stand.

    Even when it is uncomfortable. Raised early, a problem is usually still small.

  • I come prepared.

    If we have a meeting, I know beforehand what it is about. That saves the first quarter of an hour.

  • A deal is a deal.

    And if something does go wrong, you will hear it from me before you have to ask.

WHAT I’D LOVE TO DO

Systems that help

Looking into a company and finding out how the work really gets done. Where does it get stuck, what is annoying every day, what no longer makes any sense here? And then building something that makes daily work noticeably easier.

Not digitising because that is simply what one does these days, but so that at the end of the day a colleague says: that was considerably more pleasant today. I like being around trades, engineering and industry. I enjoy it when there is a real plant behind the software.

WHAT MY FRIENDS SAY

And now without me

“Franz is good at what he does and always does a great job. But that is not what matters most to me. I can rely on him one hundred percent. That is what counts.”
Max
“I have known Franz for many years and have always loved working with him. Nobody else is as structured and as steady as he is. He is a doer, a problem solver, and he goes where it is uncomfortable too. Anyone on a team with him can count themselves lucky.”
Chris
“[Placeholder, still to come].”
Alina

CONTACT

So much for me

Do write to me, whether with a specific question or just because. I’ll get back to you, usually the same day.

Franz Baur, cut out