SALES MANAGER DACH

We are seeking for a dynamic and impactful Sales Manager, who will grow our business in the DACH region. You will be in charge to acquire new
customers as well as to upsell larger systems to existing customers in the DACH region.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

• Acquire new customers and grow existing ones, managing the entire sales cycle from initial contact, offer, and negotiations to final signature.
• Co-develop and lead sales processes such as forecasting, pipeline management, opportunity qualification, bid reviews.
• Identify, establish and grow commercial partnerships.
• Support ongoing product development through regular customer feedback.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• 5+ years of experiences in selling complex IoT and smart grid solutions to electrical utilities, including innovative/digital technologies.
• Established relationships with major utilities in the DACH region.
• Excellent networking skills.
• Languages: Fluent in German and English.

DESIRABLE SKILLS

• Experience with public orders and tendering processes in Europe.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Being part of a company committed in heart and mind to contribute to a sustainable future.
• Dynamic and passionate work environment with flexible working time models.
• Ability to help shape the company as it grows.

CONTACT

Interested? Fill-up our hiring form by clicking here. For questions and more information, please contact us at hiring@zaphiro.ch.

DATA SCIENTIST

We are seeking for a highly skilled Data Scientist / ML Engineer that would help us develop and integrate cutting-edge Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms in our products.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

• Develop innovative ML models for smart grid and power system applications, e.g., state estimation, fault location, etc.
• Deliver advanced data analysis to extract value from our clients’ data, identifying patterns and insights that inform business decisions.
• Contribute to shape the future of our products and meet the evolving needs of our customers.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in applying next-generation ML algorithms to address practical problems.
• Strong programming skills in Python, as well as hands-on experience with data analysis and ML frameworks (e.g., Panda, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch).
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• MSc or BSc in Computer Science or similar.

DESIRABLE SKILLS

• Previous experience in power system industry.
• Experience with MLOps solutions (e.g., KubeFlow).
• Familiarity with modeling and numerical simulation software (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink).

WHAT WE OFFER

• Being part of a company committed in heart and mind to contribute to a sustainable future.
• Dynamic and passionate work environment with flexible working-time/workplace (home-office) models.
• Creative freedom to innovate and create solutions for the energy transition.

CONTACT

Interested? Fill-up our hiring form by clicking here. For questions and more information, please contact us at hiring@zaphiro.ch.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

Security of data is key in the management of energy systems. Collected information can be exploited to attack energy infrastructures and disrupt an entire nation. The aim of this project is to explore the different options to encrypt data at rest with PostgreSQL, compare them in term of ease of use, level of security and performance impact.

Tasks

• Survey and document available solutions.
• Provide a framework to compare them.
• Compare solutions with the aim of defining the best trade-off between security, complexity, and performance.

Required skills

• Basic understanding of encryption.
• SQL knowledge to test and demonstrate different solutions.
• Analytical capacities to survey solutions and compare them.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

In the field of critical infrastructures, being able to detect security events and prevent and stop attacks is key to guarantee the security of infrastructures such as power grids. SIEMs are solutions that collect logs of events from different sources and facilitate the identification of threats. The scope of the project is to explore the space of open-source solutions providing SIEM functionalities following a Cloud Native approach (i.e., running on Kubernetes).

Tasks

• Survey and document available solutions.
• Provide a framework to compare them.
• Compare solutions with the aim of defining the best trade-off between security, complexity, and performance.

Required skills

• Basic understanding of cybersecurity.
• Analytical capacities to survey solutions and compare them.
• Docker and/or K8S (or strong interest to learn and use them) to test solutions and realize a demo.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• MSc thesis
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

Distribution System State Estimation (DSSE) is a statistical procedure that calculates the full grid-state by combining the grid model of the network with a limited number of measurements. The measurements input of DSSE can be categorized as: i) real-time measurements provided by metering devices installed in the field e.g., Phasor measurement units (PMUs) and Remote terminal Units (RTUs), ii) pseudo-measurements which are load/generation measurements derived from historical load profiles or forecasts data. Our goal is to increase the pseudo-measurement accuracy, thereby enhancing the overall accuracy of DSSE.

The objective of the project is twofold:

• Review the state-of-the-art techniques for calculating pseudo-measurements and determine the expected accuracy of DSSE, especially considering the type and amount of information required as input.

Develop new methodologies to compute accurate pseudo-measurements using different sets of information that are commonly available to DSOs.

Tasks

• Literature review of a set of candidate methodologies for pseudo-measurement computation.
• Realization of a proof of concept in MATLAB/Python to compare the existing and newly developed methods on Zaphiro’s proprietary DSSE solution.
• Writing up the final report.

Required skills

• Familiar with power system analysis and modelling, e.g., Load Flow, State Estimation, etc.
• Knowledge of and experience of programming in MATLAB and Python.
• Nice-to-have: Knowledge of machine learning techniques and applied data analysis.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• MSc thesis

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

Determining the optimal placement of PMUs (Phasor Measurement Units) within distribution networks has become a pivotal challenge faced by Distribution System Operators. In the literature, several methods for optimal meter placement can be found, each designed with different objectives. For example, these objectives include: i) achieving full system observability for State Estimation with minimum number of devices, or ii) maximizing the accuracy State Estimation given a certain budget of meters.

In this project, we aim at devising a methodology to optimally place PMUs with the objective of maximizing the accuracy of fault location algorithms.

Tasks

• Complete a literature survey on optimal PMU placement specifically for fault location (the initial reference papers will be provided by us, the student must use that as a base to complete the survey) and present a short report.
• Develop an objective function for fault location – may be different for different algorithms such as the directional, differential and distance calculation.
• Conduct a survey of the different solvers/solution methods and identify the most appropriate ones.

Required skills

• Understanding of mathematical optimization theory and application, e.g., linear programming, mixed integer programming, second order cone programming, semidefinite programming, etc.
• Knowledge of any open source/commercial solvers used for mathematical optimization, e.g., ECOS, glpk, Gurobi, Mosek, etc.
• Understanding of fault analysis.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

We have plans of migrating away from MATLAB towards Python for the R&D operations. The PMU code with the IpDFT is one of the components which is widely used when carrying out tests of our algorithms – and we would like to move and improve this code while migrating away from MATLAB.

We have identified two main objectives for this project:

1. Achieve the migration of the code from MATLAB to Python.
2. Understand better the parallel processing capabilities of Python so that we can speed up the offline analysis.

According to examples in the literature of FFT with parallel processing we plan to develop these coding techniques in order to make our code compatible with parallel processing.

Tasks

• Modularize the phasor data creation from waveforms – separating the data reading from the IpDFT, plotting and so on.
• Parameterize the IpDFT algorithm (by changing the window length or the bins being analysed or harmonics to be reported).
• Make the code parallel processing compliant.

Required skills

• Understanding of signal processing concepts.
• Hands on Python (or willingness to explore Python).
• Basic software engineering knowledge – how to make a code modular – how to test the code.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

Offline grid analysis methods can provide great insights on the grid, e.g., what are the components under stress, what’s the optimal placement of PMUs. Different solutions are today available in term of ML or analytical frameworks (typically in Python) for power systems analysis and platforms for leveraging such frameworks to define studies (as “notebooks”) and manage such studies in a reproducible and repeatable way. The scope of the project is to explore the space of open-source solutions providing MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) functionalities following a Cloud Native approach (i.e., running on Kubernetes).

Tasks

• Survey and document available solutions.
• Provide a framework to compare them.
• Select a set of tools to deliver a demo.

Required skills

• Basic understanding of modern machine learning and its operations.
• Analytical capacities to survey solutions and compare them.
• Docker and/or K8S (or strong interest to learn and use them) to test solutions and realize a demo.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

Modern electrical distribution networks increasingly require advanced monitoring to maintain high-quality power delivery. In line with this, Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are becoming indispensable tools. However, the current generation of PMUs often focuses predominantly on fundamental frequency analysis. This project aims to extend the capabilities of PMUs by integrating harmonic analysis directly into the units in order to increase the types of electrical events that can be detected and analysed on the PMU itself.

Tasks

• Develop New File Formats for Saving on PMU: Currently, PMUs use specific file formats for data storage. This task involves developing additional file formats like COMTRADE and PQDIFF to enhance the PMU’s data compatibility and interchangeability.
• Study Types of Harmonic Analysis: Before diving into implementation, it’s important to perform a comprehensive study on what types of harmonic analysis could be valuable.
• Online Integration: Upon determining the types of harmonic analysis to implement, the next step involves incorporating these algorithms for real-time, online monitoring.

Required skills

• Understanding of Signal Processing Concepts: A foundational grasp of signal processing techniques, particularly those relevant to power systems, is important for understanding and developing harmonic analysis algorithms.
• LabVIEW RT: This project will employ Labview Real Time for algorithm implementation and integration into our PMUs. Experience with this platform is important.
• Basic Software Engineering Knowledge: Understanding the principles of modularity in software design, as well as techniques for robust code testing, will be important for creating maintainable and reliable code.
• Use of GitLab: GitLab will serve as the version control system for this project. Familiarity with GitLab’s features—such as repositories, branching and merge requests.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• MSc thesis
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

As we transition into a more digitally connected era of electrical distribution, Zaphiro Technologies is looking to future-proof its Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). In the context of this work, we are looking to rewrite part of our codebase in embedded C. This port will optimize our PMUs for increased efficiency, lower power consumption, and more robust operational capabilities.

The primary objective of this project is to develop core functionalities in embedded C that are currently implemented in LabVIEW.

Tasks

• Synchrophasor to C37.118 Conversion Module: Develop a module that can efficiently convert synchrophasor data into a data frame that conforms to the IEEE C37.118 standard.
• UDP Streaming Module: Subsequent to the conversion, create a separate module responsible for streaming these C37.118 compliant data frames via UDP.
• TCP Protocol Support: While UDP is essential for low-latency applications, TCP support is equally crucial for applications that require reliable, ordered data delivery.
• C Applications for Synchrophasor Estimation: Develop applications in embedded C that can perform synchrophasor estimation.

Required skills

• Embedded Linux RT and Embedded C Development: Strong skills in embedded Linux RT (Real-Time) and embedded C are imperative for this project. Prior experience in developing real-time applications would be beneficial.
• Git for Version Control: A good grasp of Git for version control is essential. Experience with branching strategies, pull requests, and resolving merge conflicts will be advantageous.
• Understanding LabVIEW Code: While the primary language for this project is C, understanding LabVIEW is a significant plus.
• Network Protocol Knowledge: Familiarity with TCP and UDP, would be beneficial.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are critical in modern power distribution networks, providing real-time monitoring and state estimation. With advancements in our PMU architecture,  easier integration of the Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform (IpDFT) component directly into the Real-Time (RT) part of the code is now possible.

In this project you will implement and test advanced signal processing algorithms. Two key algorithms in focus are the enhanced Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform (e-IpDFT) and iterative Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform (i-IpDFT). Alongside these, different windowing techniques will also be explored for their impact on measurement accuracy and computational efficiency.

Tasks

• Implementation of i-IpDFT Algorithm: The iterative version of IpDFT (i-IpDFT) offers more robust performance under varying signal conditions. This task involves understanding the algorithm, implementing it, and carrying out performance assessments.
• Exploration of Different Windowing Techniques: Signal processing often involves the use of different windowing techniques to minimize errors due to non-stationary or time-variant conditions. Investigating how different windowing methods affect the performance of various algorithms in the PMU is needed to accomplish this project.

Required skills

• Understanding of Signal Processing Concepts. This includes familiarity with Fourier Transform techniques, and their real-world applications in power systems.
• Proficiency in LabVIEW RT: The project development environment will utilize LabVIEW Real-Time. Previous experience with LabVIEW RT will be highly advantageous.
• Basic Software Engineering Principles: Understanding how to design modular code, and how to implement rigorous testing protocols.
• Use of GitLab: Proficiency in using GitLab for version control is essential. This includes understanding of repositories, branching and merging.

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.

Project type

• Semester project
• Internship

Contact point

info@zaphiro.ch

Project description and objectives

The IEEE C37.118.2 communication protocol used in most Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) deployments nowadays does not encrypt the traffic. VPN solutions allow to add an extra layer of security by sending the traffic into a secured tunnel.

Zaphiro’s PMU is based on out-of-the-shelf components (an NI cRIO from NI, an optional router from DIGI, etc). Its modularity, for example, allows to add or remove the router according to the communication technology in place. As of today, it is possible to have VPN tunnels between the router and the destination. However, in all the cases where the communication is wired (e.g., fiber) the router is not present, and the VPN tunnel is not created.

The objective of the project is to integrate a VPN technology inside the NI cRIO device to establish a VPN tunnel also when using wired communication technology. Few VPNs technologies that can be run on cRIO have to be evaluated. The chosen technology has to be implemented and tested.

Tasks

• Evaluate compatible VPN technologies that can be seamlessly integrated into the NI cRIO device for wired communication scenarios.
• Select the most suitable VPN technology based on criteria such as security features, compatibility, and performance benchmarks.
• Implement the chosen VPN technology into the NI cRIO, followed by rigorous testing to ensure secure and efficient data tunnelling over wired connections.

Required skills

• Confidence with command line on Linux systems
• No LabVIEW knowledge required 
• Previous knowledge of VPN is desirable

Other benefits and/or compensation

Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.