Meet the team: Cyrille

This is the second in our series of articles highlighting the great team members that we have here at Calyos. This time we have one of the original Calyos employees, Cyrille, who has been with us for over 10 years, starting off with Euro Heat Pipes from which Calyos spun-off.

What has kept you at Calyos for so many years?

‍Fundamentally I was drawn in by our technology. Passive systems are beautifully simple in terms of operation, but remain very complex in terms of design and simulation. I believe in the potential of our technology, notably in terms of the fact it has no maintenance, no control system and no moving parts. As someone who is involved when machines breakdown, it is great to be producing systems that are extremely reliable, with a really high MTBF (mean time before failure). Plus as I care about sustainability and the future of our planet, there is also the fact our system requires no power to operate, it's inherent passivity stands out from the competition involving pumps and fans.

I must also credit the team, we are like a family, I am originally from Nevers, France, as was most of the original team, although now we are awash with a great mix of native Belgian's which makes for great comradery round the office. I particularly remember during the world cup in 2018, Belgium played France in the semi-final and fortunately they won 1-0, this was a huge victory for France against a well-respected Belgian team. It felt like we had already won and the final proved to be easier. I have often thought about returning, but I am comfortably settled here, my wife is Belgian and we have our 15 month old.

Over time you have been given more and more responsibility – what ambitions do you have for the next 12 months?

Indeed, I have progressed through many roles at Calyos, from industrialisation and quality to project management and now operations. A highlight was when I successfully developed Calyos' first series production product back in 2018. Right now I am focused on our ISO certification and Factory 4.0 setup, these will provide great foundations as we continue to ramp up our production capacity. We also have some exciting automation projects ongoing which will help us to achieve these goals.

What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?

I come back to the team, as I said it is like we are a family, many of us having been here through thick and thin, together my team deliver Calyos' products and we take great pride in being on-time with good quality. Ensuring the customers are satisfied is our number one priority. Getting this right today again will be the backbone of future success. I am also engaged by continuous improvement, working in a small company like Calyos gives me the flexibility to explore new methods and approaches to further streamline our processes. As we discussed before I have had lots of different roles and I have and continue to enjoy the diversity of the challenges I face - they keep me focused and engaged, plus as I have progressed I have taken on more of a management position and working as part of the leader of a team not only brings me great pride but also enjoyment seeing them succeed too.

What do you like doing outside of work?

I do like my sports. At the moment I am regularly playing volleyball, its an explosively fast paced sport helping me to de-stress. We have to work together as a team, focus on our strategy and most importantly enjoy a few beers afterwards. I also love more extreme sports like mountain biking, skiing - I may have 3 pairs of skis at home, kite surfing and wakeboarding and while I don't get to do them as regularly as I would like (particularly now I have a 15 month old!) when I do get the opportunity I embrace it. My time is a stretched a little thin now with our daughter, but I wouldn't have it any other way - it's fantastic having them around.

Thanks to Cyrille for sharing his thoughts with us!