Fritz Curtius, the inventor of the Wip chair

An inventor enriches the world through his innovations. But what is innovation? For Fritz Curtius something very simple: namely, to improve the daily things so that they serve people.

Whether he carries out environmental projects, or whether he improves coffee machines so much that the coffee is brewed really hot so that it becomes a joy.

Much work goes into all his developments; from the first thoughts, through the calculations, the practical tests and the proving tests in daily use and there is still the time-consuming "paper war" on the subject of patent protection. But in his face are the laughter wrinkles about the smiling eyes as the clear traces of the lifelong delight at good solutions.

Today at 58, he sits at his old desk with a view of the small wavelets on the lake of Constance, greets each project with equanimity and works out the solution with an equal amount of inquisitiveness, the determination to "get on with it" and the quietness of knowledge not to necessarily accept the first path to present itself, but rather to find the proper one.

He was not born with this quietness and equanimity. Movement was already a feature of his youth: tennis, sailing, skiing all with a liking of risk taking, and with the motivation to win, but already then without the doggedness of "must win".

The sport nourishes the student and, even after completing his engineering studies, is an important factor in his life, for instance as a certified ski instructor from 1966 to 1970 in the Rocky Mountains.

From 1967 he became interested in process technology, he met "invention" quite personally in contact with Felix Wankel, the inventor of the rotary piston engine.

In sport he discovered the limits of his own capacities, severe injuries forced him to give them up and confronted him with the choice of sport or technical challenges. The decision to take up the challenges of his profession led him back to process technology and plant design. There he sought out the "correct solution" for manufacture and handling: Vitamin C, green orange, artificial protein, explosives, sewage sludge, coking coal and soot. Plant construction and operation are part of his daily life. His employer, Sulzer Escher-Wyss in Ravensburg profited from this flexibility with a rise in turnover from 1 million to 40 million per year.

But success also meant having achieved his goal and this drew him in 1985 to Lindau, to a new challenge in the fields of refrigeration and gas scrubbing.

Sitting still at a desk is not his style, movement is also important when thinking and calculating his innovative solutions,. Because he knows from his own experience that sitting still is very unhealthy, he developed the WIP chair principle in order to make sitting at a desk as pleasant as possible for himself and others. Because work must be fun, only in this way success is possible for him.

From 1989 he sought this success in his own engineering consultancy. At an age when others are thinking of a secure retirement, he finds "standing still" unattractive, the world for him is not humdrum and boring but especially with the clear influence of technology, something which, if just viewed differently, can be greatly improved. He trains this ability of close observation and precise action not only on his daily work, but also with sport, with golf, with family and friends.

His innovative strength has been harnessed for years with success for clients from medium and large industries. Especially in a time when large companies are increasingly seeking to purchase innovation, he offers a combination of knowledge, experience, perseverance and joy in things new.